UConn men’s basketball prepares for all-inclusive ‘family’ trip to Houston for Final Four

Dan Hurley looked to the very end of his UConn bench with an 80-52 lead over Gonzaga in the final two minutes of the Huskies’ Elite Eight game and called for his son, Andrew, to check in at the scorer’s table.

On the next UConn possession, Andrew caught the ball in the corner and put on a stepback move that cleared space for his second 3-point attempt of the season. As he took the shot, his young cousin Gabe, on his feet next to his legendary grandfather Bob Hurley Sr. behind the team’s bench, gleefully jumped up and down with his hand in the air as if the ball had already gone through the net.

It hit the side of the rim, but it didn’t matter. At the final buzzer, Andrew raised both of his fists like he was Rocky Balboa.

“It’s been a really magical experience,” Andrew said.

Thanks to large leads late, coach Hurley has been able to play his son, a walk-on, in each of the Huskies’ four tournament games.

And, after each one, he’s only had to turn around to embrace his parents, Bob Sr. and Chris, his son Danny and his wife Andrea. With his ticket punched to the Final Four, Hurley shared another special moment with his older brother Bobby, the sun-tanned Arizona State head coach who made the trip to Las Vegas.

“It’s a lot of internal pressure,” Dan Hurley said. “My dad’s getting older, he’s had some health things. He goes to the Final Four every year for like the last 30 years, so I felt some pressure to have my dad going to a Final Four to watch his son and to be a part of the travel party and to be on the bench during the open practices. And to have Bobby there, for him to fly in twice to be with his little brother, it speaks to the brotherly love.”

Bob Sr., the legendary, Hall of Fame former high school coach at St. Anthony’s in Jersey City, N.J., has been sure to get to as many UConn games as he could whether at the XL Center or Gampel Pavilion, Madison Square Garden in New York or T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and now NRG Stadium in Houston.

On the court, the Huskies have embodied the Hurley persona, playing with relentlessness to the final buzzer. Off of it, it’s a family affair for all.

“It’s such a unique experience to have this family dynamic and have success in front of them,” said Andrew, a junior who has played in a career-high 13 games this season. “It’s a really cool experience.”

Amidst the celebration was another embrace between high-profile father and son. Assistant coach Luke Murray, who has prepared the scout on UConn’s opponents for most of the year and acted as head coach at Seton Hall when Hurley and associate head coach Kimani Young tested positive for Covid, found his dad, the movie star Bill Murray and posed for a picture with the West Regional championship trophy.

Bill Murray, a multi-generational icon for his various roles, has hung around the UConn program throughout the tournament and even joined his son and the coaching staff on the sideline in Vegas as they scouted the Gonzaga-UCLA Sweet 16 game, anticipating their Elite Eight opponent.

Luke’s son, a toddler, climbed the ladder with him to cut down a piece of the net.

And Hassan Diarra, the backup point guard, hasn’t had to go far to find a blood relative all season with his older brother, Mamadou, on the bench as UConn’s Director of Player Development.

“You could feel the energy, everybody’s all in,” said Andre Jackson, the co-captain who Hurley has shown a father’s affection toward all season. “It’s a family over here. Coaches, players, managers, GAs, cheerleaders, we’re all a family.”

“All that time you’ve spent together, you know?” Hurley said. “We spend 11 months a year together. Every day these guys are on campus we’re on and we’re together every day. So you truly are – you’re family. And to do this together is special, not just the great moments, but having to pick each other up after great failures. Just doing it all together, the roller coaster ride. It’s like it’s a bond that you have with other people that most people don’t get to experience.”

Hurley has made sure to embrace every bit of this tournament run. He wants his team to remain loose – to play to its relentless identity, but just as importantly, have fun while doing so. And now he’s 80 minutes away from adding a UConn national championship ring to the proverbial Hurley family trophy case that already includes his dad’s orange Hall of Fame jacket and his brother’s national championship ring from when he played at Duke.

“What my dad taught me and my brother is that your basketball program is your family. We’re all family. These guys are as big a part of my family as anyone in my family,” Hurley said. “I love coaching this team. I’ve gotten emotional – Andre saw me crying before the game I think, because I just can’t think about coaching this group for the last time. It makes me sad.

“It’s a family affair with both my family – we’re all family.”