UConn's Dan Hurley Hilariously Gives Behind-the-Scenes Look at Transfer Recruiting Grind

The Huskies boss is as candid on social media as he is in real life.
Apr 8, 2024; Glendale, Ariz, U.S.; Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley cuts down the net.
Apr 8, 2024; Glendale, Ariz, U.S.; Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley cuts down the net. / Joseph Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY

For UConn men's basketball coach Dan Hurley, this week began with him cutting down the nets after his second straight national championship.

It ended with him lying prone on the ground.

Nothing particularly disastrous happened between these two events. Hurley was simply thrust back into the cold reality of college basketball, as he indicated to Huskies fans in a Friday afternoon tweet.

"Day 1 in the portal...," Hurley wrote, accompanied by a picture of him sprawled out on the ground in front of a whiteboard.

The whiteboard contained the quote of hazy origin (most often attributed to author G. Michael Hopf), "Hard times create strong men... strong men create good times... good times create weak men... weak men create tough times."

UConn is enjoying some of the best times in program history at the moment. Its 75–60 dismantling of Purdue Monday followed a 76–59 win over San Diego State in 2023's national championship.

However, Huskies center Donovan Clingan announced he would declare for the 2024 NBA draft Friday, signaling Connecticut's need to turn over a new leaf.

Only John Wooden's UCLA teams have won three or more national championships in a row. Whether an exhausted Hurley will get up to begin his team's title defense in November remains to be seen.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .