UConn's Coaching Staff Praised By Leading Analyst: 'Best Staff In The Country'
UConn is the best college basketball program in the nation, first and foremost, due to its coaching staff.
What else could explain the sustained excellence — including consecutive national titles — that UConn has achieved with markedly different rosters each season?
The Huskies entered 2024-25 with less high-end, lottery talent on the roster, but a potential for more depth than in the previous two seasons.
As UConn stumbled in Maui, critics pointed to a lack of supreme talent as the reason why there wouldn’t be a three-peat happening this year.
Less than three weeks later, many of those critics are silent.
There might not be a more accurate way to assess a coaching staff than to look at how adequately — and how quickly — that staff’s basketball team adjusts to changes in the middle of a game, and, to a larger extent, in the middle of a season.
Over the last three weeks, UConn has evolved (for the better) more drastically than most programs do over multiple years, which speaks to the greatness of not only Dan Hurley but his associate head coach Kimani Young and assistants Luke Murray and Tom Moore.
UConn is one of the most fascinating programs in the nation to track because their season tends to resemble an upward incline toward higher-quality basketball.
Hurley and his staff are better than anyone in the country at identifying their team’s flaws and, more importantly, implementing change by effectively communicating with the players.
UConn’s crisis in Maui was largely due to the crammed, three-games-in-three-days situation that doesn’t allow for the type of profound adjustments that Hurley and his staff continue to make week-to-week.
This is something that FOX Sports’ beloved analyst John Fanta commented on in a new episode of The DTF Podcast presented by The Field of 68.
“I think the Maui trip was just a perfect storm – pun intended – for just a disaster of a week where (UConn) couldn't work on anything,” Fanta said.
Asked about whether this UConn team can make history in March, Fanta replied in the affirmative, citing UConn’s staff as a primary reason.
“Yes, Connecticut can three-peat … I'm never doubting Dan Hurley … anybody doubting him … they have an agenda against him,” Fanta said.
“(UConn has) the best staff in the country right now.”
It is not the first time Fanta has highlighted the talent of Hurley’s staff.
The fab four — Hurley, Young, Murray, and Moore — will be back in action on Wednesday night in UConn’s Big East opener versus Xavier.
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-6cddf44b9a81eadb9d1a4c19c1b3db49.jpeg "Colin Keane")
Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org