B (1:53)

Yeah, well, I mean, it was a. It was a 36 hour window that we had between literally practice ending and then I had about a 36 hour window where I tried to do as much as I could for the book. And then maybe you throw in there a couple more zooms where you jump on and talk about the book itself. So listen, the project, you get involved with Ian o', Connor, who's an amazing writer who's known me my whole life in basketball, to tell your story, you know, and then it's something that.

A (2:28)

You.

B (2:28)

Know, something that I put my heart and soul into that. I. It wasn't just something where it's like some money grab or something you do because you win a couple championships. It's like there's a lot of really personal family, career, professional development struggles in there that I wanted to share with people, and it's been worth it. The emails, the direct messages, the letters I've gotten from people that. The book of help, people that are dealing with mental health struggles, struggles in their marriage, struggles in their career. It's made it worth all that.

A (3:04)

Well, I remember when we sat down in your office in Rhode Island 7 1/2 years ago, and I don't know if that was the first time you had ever truly opened up, but I know that I think that kind of maybe helped pave the way to even getting to this point. So you, you know, you've been willing, open. I always give you a ton of credit for this, Dan. You have been available to talk about, like, the highs, the lows, the fortes, the flaws and all that stuff. So I'm not surprised that you wrote the book, but I just think about where you were when we talked in that Rhode island all those years ago, where we are now. It's just kind of. I don't know, it's kind of astounding to me. Are you astounded by your journey over the past seven years since you got to UConn now?

B (3:45)

I think doing the book makes you a lot more introspective and appreciative about the journey. I think, really, both things. I think having a year like we just had, that was very challenging and, you know, and took me to a point where, you know, I did think about taking a gap year or just, you know, being done with it.

A (4:10)

I was getting there. I mean, we can dive right into it.

B (4:11)

Yeah.

C (4:12)

Yeah.

A (4:12)

That was, what, a good week. Yeah, Close to it.

B (4:17)

A couple days minimum. Yeah. I mean, a couple days minimum.

A (4:19)

And it wasn't like. It wasn't you being. You being like, I catch you on the wrong morning and last November, and you might be like, I'm going to retire. Like, this was, like, serious, like, do I need to. Do I need to step away? Do I. Is it. Do I need. You got. You got legitimately close to thinking, like, maybe you should be doing this.

B (4:38)

Yeah. I mean, I had such a. I had a year. You know, it's just a. It was a year for me. I mean, it was. I didn't coach my best, I didn't lead my best. You know, I didn't put together, you know, a Group that could compete for the things we wanted to compete for. You know, add on top of that just some of the fatigue from, you know, what the last couple of years, as great as they were, there's a tax you pay for that. And then, you know, then you end the year with an emotional loss and a game like you felt like you had a chance to win and keep it going. And then you have one final incident to end the year, which takes all the focus from what you had done the last couple of years. And for, I would say how emotional I was in the press conference, how emotional I was talking to Tracy after the game.

C (5:32)

All.

B (5:32)

And it was all my doing. I'm not a victim. We got enough victims in the world. You know, I did it to myself and I did it throughout the year. Was not able to kind of celebrate the run that we had because all the attention was on the. The jackass that I acted like in the tunnel. And I think all those things combined to put me in a. In a state where I had to consider, you know, what I wanted to do next.

A (6:01)

Are we going to see, and I'm not going to lead the witness here. I'm not saying I want to see this or we should see this, but, like, after all of that going through the book process, are people going to see, like a different Dan Hurley on the sidelines or are you just still. Are you still going to be you like.

B (6:15)

No.

A (6:16)

Okay.

B (6:16)

No, you'll see the same.

A (6:17)

Okay.

B (6:18)

I would say just, you know, for me where. Getting back to my values as a coach and you know that there's always going to be as. As the coach at UConn or as a. As a Hurley in basketball. There's going to be a life or death urgency to your pursuit of championships and greatness and excellence. And there's going to be an intensity or an energy that you bring to the sideline that. That won't change. But I think it's. But also while that's going on, enjoying the relationships, getting the most out of your team. You know, some of the stuff I've talked about with how Gino was able a couple times to kind of talk me, you know, talk me out of some bad mental states I was in with last year's team where I coached him angry and I coached them with too much ego, where, you know, if we weren't performing at a NCAA championship level, instead of helping them get better and max out their potential, I just got mad at my team all winter. And that's where it's not A problem with this year's team because we're going to have all the requisite things, if we're healthy, to compete for the national championship again, because we've got the traits, we've got the talent, we've got the depth. But I think, yeah, I think I'm going to be a better leader for my team. And if I can avoid the fan stuff at the end, that's. I mean, there's always going to be some level of conflict with officials because part of the art of coaching is working the refs. I may not do it well all the time, but it's player development, tactics, leadership, motivation, program branding. Got all these different aspects of being a coach. You know, like, working the officials is part of it. You may say I absolutely suck at it, but it's part of what my job is. But the fan stuff. I would love to be able to just take myself from when the game is over to the tunnel, just back to the locker room nicely this year. That's. I would like that.

A (8:23)

Do you think you're going to be able to do it? I don't know. You're gonna catch yourself in a moment. It's gonna be a close game. You might be pissed because you're up with four minutes to go and then you lose and you just don't know how it's gonna.

B (8:33)

I don't know.

A (8:34)

You gotta find. You gotta find, like, something that can, like, Zen you and focus you in, you know, like, I feel.

B (8:40)

That's right. I've done. I've done a lot of work on myself in the off season to prepare for that. I think I do. I. I would just like to get to and from the court at the end of the games more seamlessly and avoid that, because I think that is the. The part that I think deserves the criticism. I think that part of it, you know, just not. Not like when a. When a fan's yelling at you in the tunnel. Even as obscene as it is and as nasty and as personal as it is. Just. Just go in the locker room, man. You know, just get to the locker room.

A (9:15)

Okay. I want to ask about your players, but one more thing. I think the way that you have relationships and handle yourself with the media has. Has mostly been pretty good, but mostly pretty good. But I just wonder how much, like last year with some of the struggle. I mean, you gave me one of the. I wish I had it on video, but after the first loss and now I. Not to bring it up, but you're like, what I gave the cameras Today was Oppenheimer. I don't even know if you remember telling me that you're like, I gave him Oppenheime. Where I'm like, you absolutely did. But that brought on a certain level of, of criticism.

B (9:51)

Yeah.

A (9:52)

When it comes to your relationship with the media at large, and that's a, what's a wide swath of people. How would you, how would you evaluate it in the big picture? I guess. And how much does it have an impact on what you do as a coach?

B (10:05)

Hey, listen, I thought it at, you know, it, it became personal at times. You know, for me, the, you know, I think the, the critiques and the criticism, they go with the territory. You know, when you become a two time national champion back to back and going for a third, you've got a lot of eyeballs on you and you know, like being highly critical or, or is part of, you know, what the media is looking for to produce something that's going to be viral worthy, something that's going to create, you know, clicks and likes and discourse and all of the fans that hate me are going to like it and comment and then the UConn fans are then going to attack that. Me, I understand, you know, the mechanisms behind what the media is trying to do there. I provided the ammunition. I'm again, I'm not a victim in a lot of cases. I deserved some form of criticism. I don't. The part for me that I think is challenging is. And it's not an excuse for poor behavior or poor sportsmanship. But I do think that sports is only great, excellent, what the fans want. When you have intense, really, really intense people participating in it, like, really like people that look at it like a life or death struggle or a battle when they're going to those extremes for their f. And you've got intense rivalries and coaches that don't like each other because they're desperate to win. And you just, that's what makes sports great. Not coaches that. Or players that are. Did we win? You know, yeah, we'll get them next time. I don't think that, I don't think that the fans want to hear that from their coaches or players that are making millions of dollars.

A (12:02)

All right, let's do rapid fire. Your Sid is looking at me. I think he's giving me the desk there. But let's go real quick here on just a few things. You St. John's was picked to win the league. Oppenheimer, you told me the cameras today was, was Oppenheimer. I'll never forget It Saint Saint John's picked ahead of you in the league, but you're picked ahead of them in the AP post. It's eye of the beholder. I got you ahead of St. John's in the conference. Other people don't. Motivating or not, like at this point, like, whatever. Like you were driven by a lot of things. I just wonder if, like you remotely care that the preseason poll came out today and coaches in the league said St. John's narrowing will be better than UConn.

B (12:42)

I think that just the experience of the last couple of years at times I'll use some, some wood to throw in the fire. But preseason polls I find to be maybe the most meaningless things. Right. That awards. Sure. Polls, they tend to be pretty meaningless. My 23 team was not ranked in the preseason.

A (13:02)

We talked about that in advance of the, of the, of the season.

B (13:05)

And I'm not. I don't think you had us on your preseason ballot that season.

A (13:08)

I did not. Yes.

B (13:09)

Okay.

A (13:09)

We have talked.

B (13:10)

I just wanted to rewind you.

A (13:12)

I think, I think I had you like top five last year, so I was wrong about that as well.

B (13:16)

So you over.

A (13:17)

You over. And now I have you. I think I got you five or six. No one cares.

B (13:21)

Yeah, it's. I have no, I don't care. I think I'm most focused on fixing our defense, you know, getting Taris healthy and on the court.

A (13:30)

Yep.

B (13:30)

And that's my focus.

A (13:32)

Okay. Solo ball.

B (13:34)

Yeah.

A (13:34)

Can. He will be one of the best three point shooters in the Americas. Does he. Is he. Is he going to be the guy that's most likely to be your All American? You got a lot of talent. I mean, solo ball, Caravan Terrace, go on down the road. But I'm wondering if, you know, at this point if there's going to be an Alpha. Do you need an alpha? What's, what's the report on Solo as we, as we ready for the season? Less than two weeks.

B (13:50)

I mean, I think Alex has looked like, like we, like we thought he would look, you know, going into last year. I mean there's a maturity, there's like a man thing about him right now. So I just think with those three guys, Solo, Taris and ak, you know, we've got a big three that we've built the rest of the roster around. Similar in 23, you know, where we had the Hawkins, Andre Jackson, Adama, Sanogo, Big three. And then we went out and got a Tristan Newton, a bigger point guard like we did with Silas Demery. We went and got Hassan Diarra, you know, a guy who would give us a little bit of a different element at that position. You know, like Malachi Smith. You know, we've got multiple centers behind Taris. I think Ryba's really talented and he's going to be a really good complement. And then we got some depth on the wing to supplement, you know, the scoring punch with, with Alex and Solo, with Braylon Mullins and Jalen Stewart. Jaden Ross, Jacob Furphy. I mean, this is a deep and talented team. And it's all going to come down to can we fix the defense? Because we're going to be better offensively than we were last year. But it's just, can we fix the defense? And obviously Silas has got to play a big role in that. And Solo, it's got to play a big role in that because he did not defend well last year and our perimeter defense was total crap.

A (15:08)

Yes. You're saying you're going 10 deep. By the way, am I hearing there's a chance.

B (15:12)

I mean, at roadie, my last year at roadie, we got nine or 10 deep because we were just so loaded with talent. I mean, we were so deep that year. We had three point guards that were able to play. Jeff Doughton.

A (15:23)

Yeah.

B (15:23)

Jeff Downton.

A (15:25)

Let's remember some dudes right now.

B (15:26)

Jarvis Garrett. Yes. Fats Russell.

A (15:28)

Fats Russell.

B (15:29)

I remember that guy. Dynamic, incredible player. But we were able to play nine or 10 deep that year. Stan Robinson, E.C. matthews, Cyril Langevine, Jared Terrell. I mean, Andre Berry. I mean, that was an awesome team that went very deep.

A (15:45)

Okay, last thing. Braylon Mullins. General expectations for him, and he's a different kind of player. But Parrish and I talked about you guys on our Biggies preview. He's not. He's not McNeely in terms of what you're gonna ask him to do in his build, all that. But is he going to be asked to produce at a near McNeely raider? You don't need that from him because I know he's got plenty of talent.

B (16:03)

Yeah.

A (16:03)

But I'm. I'm most curious to see how much he plays and how much he factors into your whole operation this season.

B (16:08)

Yeah, I don't think that. Yeah, he's not going to have that level of expectation whatsoever. I mean, he's. He is surrounded and insulated with, with all types of production and veteran players. And I think it's gonna be a cluster of players for us in, in that, you know, eight or nine man rotation that, you know, average between five or six points and 14 points. You may have a cluster of five guys like that 23 team or even the 24 team over. We had five double figure scorers in the starting five and our two, two lowest scores in the starting five were Donovan and Steph Castle, who went fourth and seven in the draft. So I think you're going to see a cluster of players that all take pressure off of each other. And I think the thing about Braylon is he's got a toughness about him and he's got a little bit of a physicality about him where I think he's going to be able to guard for us. And he's one of the most beautiful shooters of the basketball you'll ever see.

A (17:08)

Okay, I like to see that. Well, I told we had Alex Caraban on the, on the show as well. 360 coaches wish they had Alan, Alex Caraban on the roster. You're blessed to have him. He's going to be a key piece. And as we let Dan go, here's a reminder. Byu, Illinois at Kansas, Florida here in the Garden. Who else do you have? You've got Texas, Arizona. I'll be at those games. You want to know how a coach feels about his team, you look at what they do in the non conference. I think this is objectively the toughest non conference schedule of any team in the country going into the season. That tells me that you think you can win a national championship because frankly, you and I both know coaches will not schedule up to that level if they didn't think they had the dudes to do it.

B (17:47)

No, you got to because those are, those are, those are monsters. And you know, I feel the majority of those teams are national champion contenders, Final four contenders, teams that can win their league. But I don't, I don't. I think you're better off playing games like that. I mean, they're games that you can, if you win them, if you win enough of them, they put you in a position coming out of the non conference where you're playing for seating, you know, and not playing to get in the tournament. But yeah, I mean, we believe in the team. This is, this is a team. I think you're at ease this time of year because you, you believe that the team's got the requisite characteristics to fix the defense and the depth, the depth to go the distance.

A (18:33)

And none of those games are happening in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. So we're good to go.

B (18:38)

I mean, avoiding, you know, avoiding Maui and avoiding. And my brother.

A (18:46)

Yeah, Bob.

B (18:46)

Now oh I didn't Bob I'm sure.

A (18:51)

You didn't scare him off from from.

B (18:52)

Back well he already had signed the copy track and now they're awaiting try to top Bob will Bob be able to top what I what I did on the island?

A (19:03)

No because what you did on the island was Oppenheimer. Dan Hurley joining us on the ion college basketball podcast I appreciate you can't wait to watch the team this season.

B (19:11)

Yes, can't wait. Masterpiece of insanity in Maui. Oppenheimer.

C (19:26)

I know you can be anything.

B (19:55)

Paramount podcasts.

D (20:00)

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C (20:02)

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D (20:16)

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