UConn’s 6th national championship made an impossible task look way too easy

GLENDALE, AZ — university university The Huskies were sweating bullets. They encountered rough waters and began to openly question whether all this was worth it. Was it too late to turn back?

Leave it to Donovan Clingan to put the group back together. The big man, now in his second season in a leadership role, knew there was only one way to overcome adversity. It was a matter of jumping in headfirst.

UW’s journey to win the first national championship in men’s college basketball in 17 years began in August when the team embarked on a European tour. After completing an on-court exhibition schedule, the team rented a boat and headed out to the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Nice, France.

It’s like stepping into a postcard, right? Not exactly. The waves were big and it was a bumpy ride. Freshmen Stephon Castle and Jaylin Stewart had stomach problems and needed to lie down. Some of the athletes did not know how to swim and were not interested in getting into the water. Still, Clingan, the largest husky at 7-foot-2 and 280 pounds, was jumping off the boat one cannonball at a time. Some of his other UConn players eventually followed suit.

“He’s a whale,” senior guard Hassan Diarra said of Klingan’s comfort in the water. “I think he was swimming with them.”

This season never seemed to be smooth sailing for UConn. The team lost three players to the NBA and lost five of its top eight scorers after an incredible run to the national championship last year as a No. 4 seed.Huskies join this season Ranked 3rd in his own conference Behind Market and Clayton. As it progressed through European competition, UConn began to realize once again how good it really was. I think it’s probably even better than last year. Along the way, they began to build chemistry off the court that sustained them throughout the year.

UW had the most dominant run in postseason history in 2023, winning six NCAA Tournament games by a combined 120 points. That was as the No. 4 seed. In the encore, the Huskies earned the No. 1 overall seed in the field and topped the bracket with a cumulative +140 differential, the largest in March Madness history.

If there was any team that was going to give UW a real test, it was Purdue, their opponent in the national championship game. UW hadn’t had to play a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in two national championships before this game. The Boilermakers have the best player in the country in Zach Eady and have played an incredibly difficult schedule since the beginning of the season. The Huskies couldn’t wait to take on the challenge, but it didn’t turn out to be much.

“Our pregame message was that UW is clearly the best team in the nation and Purdue is clearly the second best team in the country,” head coach Danny Hurley said as confetti fell from the sky after the 75-60 victory. “They said we were an excellent team.” “UConn has dominated basketball for the past 30 years.”

Hurley is only 51 years old, so it doesn’t look like the Husky’s dominance will end anytime soon.

Alex Calaban remembers the moment he realized Cam Spencer was fiercely competitive. I met him for the first time.

Karavan was taking target practice when Spencer visited the university to enter the transfer portal as a graduate security guard. rutgers. Karavan told him that he needed to do his best to be competitive in target practice. Spencer’s reaction? “Let’s do it now.”

“That’s when the wheels started turning,” Karavan said. “Well, this kid is special.”

Spencer only received one scholarship offer from a high school, from Loyola Maryland. After he lit up the Patriot League for three years, he transferred to Rutgers, where he hit 43.4 percent from three. He decided to enter the transfer portal again in search of playing on an even bigger stage.

With Jordan Hawkins leaving early to become a lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, UW needed another mobile shooter. Spencer was a perfect fit for the role of jumping around screens and taking shots. He could easily play against a crazy person like Hurley in the locker room.

UW players say it’s not uncommon for Spencer to punt the ball and curse at himself after missing a few shots during practice. After growing up as the younger brother of a former NCAA lacrosse champion and incumbent; golden state warriors Guard Pat Spencer says all he’s ever known is compete.

Walk-on Andrew Hurley said, “If he wanted to do a singing contest, he would give it his all.”

Spencer came alive in the national championship game, sprinting off screens, attacking closeouts and fooling Eadie with one drive that led to Clingan’s dunk assist. As UW celebrated in the locker room, Spencer was still trying to get past his teammates.

There may have been no other player in the country who could match Hurley’s intensity while filling the hole in Hawkins’ off-ball shooting. He worked hard for his UConn.

This UConn team has been unusually dominant since the beginning of the season.Well, not really very start.

The Huskies’ title race began in secret with a closed-door scrimmage against Virginia at an empty John Paul Jones Arena. UConn was strong in the first half. According to Hurley, the Huskies were “shattered” in the second half. Was he angry?

“He wasn’t happy, that’s for sure,” his son, walk-on Andrew Hurley, said ahead of the Final Four. “Every loss here is really bad. You can’t afford to lose. A crowded, packed venue, it doesn’t matter.”

UW’s performance in that scrimmage seems even more incredible in hindsight. They would become the most dominant champions in the history of the sport based on goal difference. Meanwhile, Virginia had a pathetic showing in the NCAA Tournament, embarrassing the selection committee by choosing Virginia over a more deserving team. UW players say they needed that moment to re-center themselves.

“It reminded us that we’re not going to lose,” senior Hassan Diarra said.

It certainly didn’t look that way for the rest of the season. Of his 37 wins at UConn, only six of his wins were by single digits. The rest was a blast. You would never know it from the way UConn coaches.

Photo by: Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Freshman Yusuf Singare had a brain fart during practice during the middle of the year, forgot his responsibility and had his coaches cancel practice and reset the game. Harley has lost her mind.

Harley took off his shirt and lay on the floor screaming.

“Yusuf! Are you kidding me?”

This was mid-year and UConn had already made it through the Big East. That’s when the young players on the team realized it didn’t matter what the Huskies’ record or win margin was. Hurley was meant to demand excellence, even in the smallest moments. Without it, UConn wouldn’t be able to celebrate another championship here.

Continuity is considered impossible in this era of college basketball, with the NIL and transfer portal influencing every decision. Somehow, UConn accomplished that despite significant turnover.

Andre Jackson served as UConn’s Swiss Army knife in pursuit of a title last year. He dropped out of school after the national championship and was subsequently selected for the selection tournament. milwaukee bucks In the NBA draft. Jackson is a player who cannot be replaced. At 6’6, 210 pounds, he is a hyper athlete who can do just about anything on the basketball court other than shooting threes. Somehow Harley found a seamless replacement.

Stephon Castle came to UConn in the 11th grade. He would continue to climb the rankings, eventually emerging as a McDonald’s All-American, a five-star recruit, and a sure-fire No. 1 pick in the lottery. Castle was a perfect fit for Jackson’s role. He was incredibly physical for a freshman, with rare body control and touch near the basket. The only thing Castle couldn’t do was shoot threes, but Hurley already knew how to get around that. In the national championship game, Castle was used several times as a screener who could play in a short role. He dominated Purdue guards all night.

“I never won a state championship in high school,” Castle said of why he chose UConn over many other offers. “I wanted to come and win.”

Adama Sanogo has been named the 2023 Final Four Most Valuable Player. When he left for the NBA, UConn already knew they had a monster in the middle to replace him. Donovan Clingan could have been a first-round pick last season had he declared for the draft. He was the Huskies’ secret weapon as a freshman, a minute-by-minute superstar with his length and ability to dominate opponents defensively. The biggest challenge will be keeping him on the floor. Clingan only played more than 20 minutes once as a freshman. At 280 pounds, how many minutes can UConn realistically get out of him?

Clingan suffered a foot injury in a loss to Seton Hall in December and was sidelined for a month. The Huskies continued to move on without him, going undefeated until he returned to the lineup. Hurley was conservative when his star big man returned, playing just 22.6 minutes per game.

It didn’t matter. When Clingan was on the court, UConn had everyone in their way. It’s best to manage the minutes and start garbage time early, and that’s exactly what the Huskies have done all year.

With Tristen Newton and Alex Karaban returning as starters from last year’s title game and Clingan moving into a larger role, the University knew it had a solid foundation to compete. When Harley saw how good Spencer and Castle were, he believed he had a title team. Spencer may not have been as quick as Hawkins, but he took just as many shots and probably provided more ball handling and defense than Hawkins. Castle wasn’t as good a jumper as Jackson, but he was a slightly better shooter and more eager to score. UConn never missed a beat.

“Yeah, we lost three NBA players,” Diarra said in the locker room. “But there are five people on this team now.”

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

UConn greats roamed the floor in the glow of the program’s sixth national championship. Ray Allen talked about the dedication it takes for parents of young players to keep their kids in the right mindset to play for a player like Hurley. Richard Hamilton beamed as he talked about how much this meant to the show’s past greats. Emeka Okafor said there is no place like Storrs.

UW had never won a national basketball championship until 1995. Since then, the women’s program has won 11 titles and the men’s program currently has six titles.

UConn, the sixth-time national champion, passed Duke and tied with North Carolina on the men’s side. Only Kentucky (8th) and UCLA (11th) are better.

“This is the hardest playoff game to win,” Hurley said. Said after the national championship game. “We made it look a lot easier than it actually was.”

Another big rebuilding job awaits UW. Clingan and Castle will be chosen by lottery. Tristen Newton just dominated her second consecutive national championship game en route to Most Valuable Player honors, but she was disqualified. So is Spencer.

How does UConn keep this going?

After the game, Hurley said, “We’ve got a whole team of NBA-level talent with the right stuff.” “We have the best staff in the country and UConn provides the resources.”

Hurley is the new face of men’s college basketball at a time when older players are retiring. UConn has set a standard that the rest of the sports world is following. The players may change, but the principles remain the same. Hurley has instilled in his program his confidence to always find a solution, even in rough waters. The Huskies reign supreme once again.