GLENDALE, Ariz. — As Connecticut breezed through this NCAA Tournament, treating each opponent like they didn’t belong on the same court as the mighty Huskies, the question arose:
What place does Dan Hurley’s Giant have in the history of the sport?
Over the past 40 years, we have seen a handful of dominant teams. Kentucky in 1996, Connecticut in 2004, and Florida in 2006-2007. North Carolina in 2009. Villanova in 2018.
Based solely on the way UConn sent six opponents by double digits each time at the Dance, it’s at least in the conversation with the aforementioned teams.
But what’s more impressive is what this program has accomplished the past two years under Hurley, winning it all in such lopsided fashion a year ago. His six Huskies wins came by an average margin of 20 points without ever being challenged legitimately. — then do it again with a significantly different roster. Three new starters are Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer and Donovan Clingan. After losing five of their eight leading scorers.
In modern times, these two years stand alone for their dominance, professional team building, player development and unparalleled stability. A record of 68 wins and 11 losses and 12 double-digit wins in the NCAA Tournament.
Nowadays, it is very difficult to produce consecutive teams that can win the title. Players progress to either the professional ranks or the transfer portal. Parity eliminated dynasties. Connecticut became the fourth team since Florida in 2007 to win it all and advance to the Sweet 16 in a season (the others being Kansas in 2009, Louisville in 2014 and Duke in 2016). It was Florida’s first time advancing to the Elite 8 in 2007.
On Monday night, Connecticut became the eighth team to win back-to-back championships with a 75-60 victory over No. 1 seed Purdue, led by National Player of the Year Zach Eady, at State Farm Stadium. Something like this hasn’t happened since Florida in 2006-2007.
Those Gators returned all five starters for their second championship. The last repeat team, Duke in 1991-92, had similar continuity. It’s one thing to have attention on your back, it’s another to have the pressure that comes with it. Everyone is gunning for you and expectations are through the roof. It’s another thing to do it with a new group of players who didn’t deliver last season and have that pressure.
That’s what Hurley and Connecticut were dealing with. A new student at Castle from day one. He moved to Spencer, where he had never won anything before. Clingan’s third starter has potential but only has experience coming off the bench and playing bit roles.
“What’s so impressive to me about UConn is when you have to add five new players and the culture and standard that they play continues with three new starters, that’s really impressive.” said Florida’s two-year championship coach Billy Donovan to the Post recently. “There are different challenges that you deal with. I had to endure the pressure of being unranked and being number one. [after winning a championship]. They are dealing with the pressure of winning a championship and getting three new starting pitchers. Because of this situation, I end up having conversations with the characters in the program. ”
Oddly enough, that worked in Connecticut’s favor. They have a roster of players with a lot to prove, inspired by the crazy Hurley who found a way to motivate them. He pushed the idea that his team was slighted after being picked third in the Big East and ranked sixth in the AP poll to open the season. Returning starters like Karavan and Newton found themselves in more prominent positions. Klingan was now expected to be a leader, not a backup. Spencer and Castle are experiencing something like this for the first time. Hurley used that to avoid a championship hangover and dangled the idea of making history with a program that is extremely difficult to achieve, as a way to challenge a talented group.
“Coach Hurley, never let the returning players be satisfied with what happened last year,” said Alex Karaban, one of the two returning starters. “The new players are hungry for what we did last year and want to have that feeling. We’re not going to give up.”
That never happened until Monday night when the final horn rang. Connecticut outscored its opponents and chased another title like an underdog. There will be debate as to where this team ranks among the great teams.
There is no question that the last two years have been better than any other year in the past 40 years. I have never seen such results over two years.
