Dan Hurley gave his returning players two weeks to enjoy last season’s national title.
Then it was time to get back to work.
Of course, trips to the White House, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium were mixed in, but by the end of April, training for the 2023-24 season had begun.
The hard-driving Connecticut coach intended to start early to eliminate the possibility of a post-championship hangover.
“It’s really easy to be seduced by the idea that it’s going to be easy to do it again or it’s going to be easy to make another run, especially when we played in the dominant fashion that we did last year,” he said. Hurley spoke Thursday as the top-seeded Huskies prepared to begin their title defense against No. 16 Stetson at Barclays Center. This is the first consecutive championship since the 2006-2007 Florida Games.
“I’ve been tougher on the group throughout the season because I’ve been trying to eradicate any form of complacency or entitlement with this team. Especially at this time of year, you have to You have no rights.”
An argument could be made that this year’s Connecticut State (31-3) is better than the team that found the net in Houston last April.
That team was a No. 4 seed and failed to win the Big East regular season or postseason tournament.
This group is at full strength with only one loss, is the No. 1 overall seed, and is one of three teams ranked in the top 15 in offensive efficiency (1st) and defensive efficiency (13th).
Perhaps what makes these Huskies so unique considering their level of talent is that they play hard.
They are an elite defensive team, 10th in rebounding margin, and can win in a variety of ways.
In the Big East Tournament semifinals, Yukon defeated St. John’s in a shootout.
The next night, they overwhelmed Marquette, the second seed in the Midwest Region, with their defense and physicality. Huskies can beat you with their style.
It starts with Harley.
He’s definitely been tougher on this team this year, more intense and demanding in practice.
I’m a perfectionist and pay close attention to every detail.
He talked about repeating himself in the offseason with a number of coaches, from Billy Donovan to Tom Izzo, Jay Wright to Mike Krzyzewski.
A message from Donovan, the coach of the Florida team: Don’t chase repetition. If you fixate on it, “you’ll go crazy,” Bulls coach Donovan told him.
Early on, he set the bar high.
He picked a path that would lead to Connecticut being the No. 1 seed in the East, from Brooklyn to Boston to Phoenix.
“It’s been something we’ve been aiming for for a while,” assistant coach Luke Murray said. “Maybe that’s why we won in the first place, that attitude of moving on. The same thing applies this year, after a great win you have to be able to turn the page quickly and get back to what’s next. not.”
Another important factor is that so many players in this group had different roles or were not part of the champions.
Donovan Clingan was a substitute.
Alex Karaban was a role player.
Samson Johnson and Hassan Diarra will be key cogs in the second unit.
Freshman Stephon Castle and shocking Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer are new additions.
Despite the many familiar faces, it’s a different team, and several Big East coaches believe it’s an improved version.
“If we get this far, by the first round, yes. But to say we were better than last year’s team, we have to win everything,” said Diarra, a Queens native. “I was on last year’s team, so maybe that was a little bit of motivation.”
This is clearly a highly motivated team.
The results bear that out.
Harley wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Coach’s motto is governance and repetition. We live that motto and we want to make it happen,” Diarra said. “He doesn’t talk about it [Florida in 2006-07]But he talks about us making history and that we have a huge chance to do so. ”
