UConn men notebook: Hurley has Huskies focused ahead of Final Four

Mar. 29—STORRS — The UConn men's basketball team is arguably the favorite to win the national championship entering the 2023 Final Four in Houston.

But Huskies coach Dan Hurley doesn't plan on allowing others' opinions to impact his team.

"The struggles during Big East play I think are a great reminder and something that we can reflect on," Hurley said following practice Tuesday. "If we get away from our identity — be the hardest playing team on the court, play defense at an elite level, move the ball offensively and win the rebounding — if we get away from that, we're as vulnerable as anyone else. We've already experienced it.

"We were not a ranked team in the preseason. That was something that we utilized a lot early on. It's harder now because we've had a great season. But we didn't set out a goal for the season of going to the Final Four. It's an incredible accomplishment, but we want to play for a national championship on Monday."

West Regional champion UConn (29-8) battles Midwest Regional champ Miami (Florida) in the national semifinals Saturday at NRG Stadium (8:49 p.m., CBS).

"I jumped them today a little bit because they do, they have to get their head out of their phone," Hurley said. "There's obviously a lot of media attention that comes with this. That's great for the university, it's great for the basketball program. When you get on this stage, it's a great opportunity for everyone. But we've got to be focused on the work.

"We've got like 101 hours or something, no one is counting, but like 101 hours until we play. We need to be completely immersed when not in front of (the media) in our work and our preparation for a great Miami team."

Hurley's journey to his first Final Four began in 2001 when he took his first head-coaching job at St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, New Jersey.

"I probably learned most at St. Benedict's if I'm being honest with you," Hurley said. "Best thing that ever happened to me was getting fired at Rutgers (as an assistant coach following the 2000-01 season) because then I didn't just become a college coaching robot. I went and I taught history, I was responsible for homeroom in the morning and afternoon cleanup. I coached, I learned how to be a leader. I made a lot of mistakes and I learned from them and I developed my own coaching style. Father Edwin Leahy at that school taught me a lot about how to be a leader."

Twenty-two years later, he's led his team to within two wins of a national championship.

"Crazy right? It's been unbelievable," Hurley said. "I've been just mining Coach (Jim) Calhoun for information, advice, wisdom, especially in the last month but recently on overdrive. Just to try to squeeze every bit of information from him. He's been a fixture here, and he'll be back before we go for one last message to the boys and then he'll be with us. Obviously Geno (Auriemma), Geno has been an incredible resource since I've been here. He's been helpful getting ready for this weekend.

"Then for me, Jay Wright has been great to me, Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski), with their Final Four experience. And then I have my own people. My brother, my dad, Seth Greenberg. The people that give me great advice just as a coach. Really smart people that I respect."

Hurley has been building the program towards reaching this stage since he became its head coach prior to the 2018-19 season.

"Back when I took that job, you had to build a program," Hurley said. "That was pre-transfer portal, that was pre-NIL. There were a lot of things different about taking a program from where ours was to back to this level. The timeline with the way that we did it in terms of building a culture and doing it without cheating, without lying, doing it with integrity and building it the right way, we're exactly on time."

Hurley said he first began feeling that a trip to the Final Four was in the cards for the team when it rattled off 14 straight wins to start the season.

"Obviously during the PKI (Phil Knight Invitational tournament), then going on the road to Florida back when they were going to be at least a bubble team until they lost their center and we played in such an impressive fashion," he added. "Even in Oklahoma State at home. With Avery Anderson in there, they were a tournament team. We kind of handled those two teams and we handled all the big non-conference games. Even when we went through the tough stretch in league play, we knew once we got to more non-conference-type of opponents that we could do it."

At the same time though, Hurley knows that his coaching is not the sole reason the Huskies are in Houston.

"Having an incredible brand is great because that means you have a huge fan base and generally there's going to be a pretty good commitment in terms of resources," he said. "But if you don't have the right people, if you don't have the right head coach, the right assistants and the right type of players, being a blue blood doesn't mean, there's a lot of teams at home right now that are blue bloods."

Regional honors

Huskies sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins' performance in UConn's two games in Las Vegas earned him West Regional Most Outstanding Player honors.

Media members covering the regional voted for the five-player regional all-tournament team and the Most Outstanding Player.

Hawkins averaged 22.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game in UConn's two wins. He shot 42.9 percent (12-of-28) from the field, 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from deep and 91.7 percent (11-for-12) from the free throw line.

Hawkins had scored a total of 25 points in UConn's first two tournament games.

Teammate Adama Sanogo was also on the regional all-tournament team. The junior forward averaged 14.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in the regional.

Julian Strawther (Gonzaga), Drew Timme (Gonzaga) and Jaime Jaquez (UCLA) made up the rest of the West Regional all-tournament team.

Castle at McDonald's All-America game

Stephon Castle, a member of UConn's high school Class of 2023 recruiting class, participated in the 46th annual McDonald's All-America game Tuesday at the Toyota Center in Houston.

The 6-foot-6 combo guard out of Newton High in Covington, Georgia scored 13 points as Team East came back to top Team West 109-106.

Castle was one of five East players to reach double-figure scoring. He finished 5-of-6 from the floor, including 1-of-2 from beyond the arc, while also adding two rebounds and two steals in 13:12.

Castle had previously competed in the event's dunk contest Monday night, finishing with a two-round score of 100.

"Steph, unbelievable in the scrimmage (Sunday)," Hurley said. "I don't know if I can put him in First Night dunk (contest) after last night. He had problems in the dunk. I just think strategically, he made some mistakes. He tried to go off the backboard first, which now you're relying on another person to help you. So I don't think he had great strategy with his dunk contest. But more importantly, he's been great. People have been raving about him this week. The fact he's in Houston in pretty cool."

Castle was just the 12th McDonald's All-American in team history and first since 2016. He committed to the program in 2021 before signing his letter of intent in November 2022.

Worth quoting

"It's been a very mutually beneficial relationship. I think we've been unbelievable for the Big East and the Big East has been unbelievable for us. I think it's a perfect fit. This year, I think the top four, and when Providence was playing really well top five, of our league was as good or better than every league in the country. If (Zach) Freemantle doesn't get hurt, who knows if (Xavier) is in the Final Four. Creighton was obviously very close. We're there, and Marquette had an unbelievable season. It's a great partnership, I think we both needed each other." — Hurley on UConn's return to Big East.

For coverage of UConn football and men's basketball as well as area high school and local youth sports, follow Adam Betz on Twitter: @AdBetz1, Facebook: Adam Betz — Sports Writer, and Instagram: @AdBetzJI.