NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL FOUR: MIAMI (FL) VS UCONN

March 30, 2023

Dan Hurley

NRG Stadium

UConn Huskies

Semi-Finals Pregame Media Conference

COACH HURLEY: Obviously, really excited to be here. Exhilarating, the reception here and the great state of Texas, but the great city of Houston, just feel so welcome by the people. It's great to get in the stadium today and get on the court and put the work in, preparing for our biggest challenge of the season, this Miami team that's playing great.

Q. Isaiah Wong said you were --

COACH HURLEY: Heartbreaking distant second.

Q. What do you remember about recruiting him, and did you feel you had a good shot to get him?

COACH HURLEY: I think you get a sense on the visit whether you're going to get the gold or the silver. I think we always felt we were a little bit behind. But we imagined the potential back court of him and Bouknight. It was an exciting dream that didn't come to fruition.

Loved him as a player. Jersey guard. Athletic. Could score. Can play-make. Heck of a defensive player. It's not surprising that he's led his team to this point and eventually is going to have a long career in the NBA.

Q. Some of your players were talking about the reason why they think they've been good throughout this tournament is because of the depth they had. How important was that to you in crafting this team and building this team throughout the season? When did you feel like it became strong for you?

COACH HURLEY: Last year, lack of depth caught us up in the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. Our bench was really short last year. And I just think coming out of that loss to New Mexico State, we understand -- I understood the best teams I've coached in college were eight, nine, even ten deep with quality because of how hard we play. You've got to have a deep team. Felt like last year's team gassed out.

And the depth, we're able to play at a pretty relentlessly fashion defensively on the backboard and then attacking you offensively because we were able to keep people fresh. Adama Sanogo has been one of the best players in the NCAA Tournament in large part because we've been able to keep him fresh this year. Last year this time of year he was playing 34, 35 minutes a game as a big guy. This year Donovan Clingan being able to keep him fresh has been a big reason he's been able to dominate and that we're still playing.

Q. Andre Johnson's a walk-on. He's got an NIL deal he told me with Degree. Just what does that mean that even a walk-on can get an NIL deal and what's that say about opportunities for everybody with NIL?

COACH HURLEY: Listen, he works hard. Walk-ons, it's not real glamorous. They're practice dummies and they rarely get a chance to play. And it's all about how they help your team to prepare. We goof on him. I goofed on him today. He screwed up a couple of drills. I started making fun of him about that because my wife walked out this morning on the street and saw him on like a video advertisement. I don't know. It's great for him. He's a great kid. And it was just strange that she saw him in an ad this morning on her walk.

Q. I know, like everybody in your profession, you're aware of the NIL activities going on around Miami a year ago, it was very highly public. At the time what did you make of that? Was it the kind of thing as a coach you're looking at that going, boy, this is going to be interesting to see how it plays out when it's this public?

COACH HURLEY: Yeah, I think it's a real shock, I think, to the system because NIL, I just know, consciously, during the course of our season, we're pretty locked into the coaching piece, but it's almost like the NIL during last season was still like -- I don't want to say a rumor, and then that hit you like -- that sent shock-waves I think when we saw that and how it was playing out publicly.

Obviously it's where things are headed. These are incredible athletes that deserve everything that they can get.

And I think obviously Coach and their staff did a heck of a job like with this team because I know that there was like a lot of that public stuff, I think when Pack got the money, and then I think some of the other guys were where is mine, and that's like some high-level leadership and coaching to be able to have this team in that position while some of that stuff was kind of the first big NIL stuff that was going on.

Q. Very often coaches going to the Super Bowl first time are overwhelmed by the whole scene and what's behind it. What's your take on that? Is any part of this blowing you away, or where you say, wow, I didn't know that's what it was going to be like?

COACH HURLEY: All my mentors tried to get me ready for this, Coach Calhoun and Geno and Tom Izzo and Coach K and Jay Wright, like I was smart enough to try to get great advice from people of what to expect.

You don't expect a lot of the media demands, and just the feeling of exhilaration and just how big this is. I think I've said to Kimani and Luke and Tom, like, hey, this is kind of a big deal, huh? It's different than you expect.

I'm just happy that I kind of changed my sleep schedule. I got to bed earlier. Got myself up super early so I could consume the 10 to 12 of the Miami games I needed to consume so that I have my team ready to play on Saturday night, because it's a lot.

Q. What's enabled your team to stay kind of so calm in such a big situation?

COACH HURLEY: It's automatic this time of year. Every player knows what to do. They understand your style of play. They understand your tactics on offense and defense. Obviously you're tailoring it to your opponent and how you want to attack them at both ends of the court. Everyone knows their role.

So everything kind of this time of year is automatic. You know as a coach how you're going to call the game. For me, it's just I'm trying to keep these guys in that balance between like the edge that you need to have as a team so that you don't get complacent but not making them uptight and nervous keeping that confidence.

That's like that balance that all these great coaches have kind of talked to me about. Don't allow your team to be happy to be here but they deserve to feel good about it because it's really hard to get here.

Q. How important was it when you guys went from the American to the Big East, and do you feel like you would have been here had you stayed in the American? That's number one. Number two, I talked to Andrew Hurley --

COACH HURLEY: Andrew or Andrea?

Q. Both. But I won't say what Andrea said about you. But Andrew, when I described him to one-word describe you, "bizarre."

COACH HURLEY: (Laughter).

Q. Any response to that?

COACH HURLEY: To the second part? He's a chip off the old block. He's just a mini me. Both my boys are. The first part, we would still be here. It's been a great relationship for both of us. We've obviously brought a ton to the Big East. The Big East has been unbelievable for UConn. It's a great partnership. I think we're great for every team in the league. I think having big brand programs that are playing at a high level, it only enhances everyone's opportunity in the league.

And obviously at St. John's and Georgetown, and all those moves in our league, I think it's great for everybody. And again, like we recruited James Bouknight and RJ Cole and Tyrese Martin and Akok, and we started putting this thing together, and none of those players -- they knew nothing about the Big East.

So I think quality people and the UConn brand would have been able to attract good enough players for us to get here. But the relationship certainly has been beneficial for both parties. It's not one-sided in either way.

Q. You've talked a lot about the UConn standard. Take us back down memory road of when you took this job, when you thought about what success looks like in Storrs and how it compares to tasting the reality of it now?

COACH HURLEY: You don't go from Rhode Island to a place like UConn unless you have like high-level internal motivation to be challenged at the absolute highest level as a coach and as a player because you're going to be graded against the greatest coaches and players to play college basketball in the last 25 years.

You've got to have the stomach to handle that. You've got to have the toughness, the self-belief as players and coaches to want to put yourself in a situation where if you're not getting to Final Fours and not competing at the top of the Big East that you're failing. It's a lot easier to coach at places where making the tournament is enough.

But for me, when you grow up in the way I grew up, you want to go and challenge yourself all the time.

Q. What has having Jim Calhoun around meant for you? You brought him around a lot. You talked about he thinks the best thing you've done is how you've navigated tough stretches. What's been the biggest kind of help for you has he been?

COACH HURLEY: Just great advice. I met with Coach before the season. He talked about the importance of some basketball type of things, like transition offense.

But I think it was more like leadership and having him come to practice and kind of tell me things that he liked. And then I think also like he spent a lot of time talking with our players. Like when practices are over, he's grabbing Andre Jackson or Adama Sanogo, and he watches every game. He lives and dies with all of our games.

Him and Geno are -- they are UConn basketball. So just to have those two guys around -- obviously it's hard for me to meet with them together (laughter). But I get a lot of time with them separately. I hope to get a picture with the both of them. Coach is coming out I think tonight. I know that will go viral if I could get those two guys together.

Q. What stood out about Miami's 12 games that you watched them, and is there a team you played this season that reminds you of Miami?

COACH HURLEY: I think Miami reminds me a little bit of Marquette, Arkansas in terms of athleticism on the perimeter, length, size, some of the pace offensively that Marquette could put on you and the pressure they put on you off the dribble.

And what's probably the thing that stands out is the only game that they've lost recently besides, I guess, that Florida State game, which is one of those games you play during the year that's just kind of inexplicable, we had one of those as well this year, was they would not have lost in a while if maybe Omier doesn't sprain his ankle in that Duke game, and they were still in position to win that game maybe win the ACC championship while losing maybe the most physical rebounder in the country.

So they stress your one-on-one defense. They've got multiple guys I think that are NBA players, like Miller is one of the most underrated players in the country. It's hard to say Isaiah Wong -- Player of the Year in the ACC. It's going to be the hardest game of the year. We know that. We're excited to play against somebody that's that good.

Q. Seeing Jalen Gaffney here, happy things worked out for him both parties?

COACH HURLEY: Thrilled for Jalen, thrilled for his family that it's played out so great and that he's had such a successful season. I have a lot of appreciation and gratitude towards Jalen, because just like the Bouknights, and Isaiah Whaleys and Tyler Polleys and Akok Akok's, everyone, Christian Vital and Jaylen Adams, he's a huge reason why we're here as a program. He helped us build the culture and begin to have success.

And Jalen, I'll always be grateful to him for what -- he's another reason why we're here.

Q. Last season you had every single upperclassman on your team exhaust their NCAA eligibility or transfer out. In a different age of college sports, that might totally crater a team. But you're able to bounce back and rebuild and be in this spot. How did you approach that situation when you realized that all of a sudden you were going to be really young really fast?

COACH HURLEY: We knew that we had a big 3 in Andre Jackson, Jordan Hawkins, and Adama Sanogo. We knew the big sophomore jump was coming for Hawk.

We knew that if we could get another perimeter starter like a Tristen Newton that could shoot and score and a 4-man like Karaban and adding Karaban to Adama, that it would unlock Andre's playmaking facilitating.

We had a big 3. We knew we had two blue-chip freshmen. We knew going into the portal we needed specific things, especially perimeter shooting. And older players.

We had like Nahiem Alleyne, we were desperate to get Nahiem because of his success in the NCAA Tournament at Virginia Tech. Particularly in the Florida game, I think he had 29. And we had struggled the year before. So obviously that was appealing to bring something into a program that had struggled the year before. A confident March player.

Obviously Joey California. And then the bulldog backup guard in Hassan Diarra. So we had a vision for how we could put it together. But we knew the big 3 would deliver.

Q. Beginning of the year, you come out and you guys are one of the best teams in the country. Beat Alabama. Win 14 in a row. Now you're here. So, obviously, one of the best teams in the country. Then there was January. What happened in that month that sort of diverged from the rest of the season, and does it help you to have gone through that?

COACH HURLEY: Yeah, it's funny, I add to this answer. You just get better at answering it, right, because a lot of things happened. Our defense tanked. We went from an elite defensive team. We didn't guard anybody for two weeks. So we got soft. We got away from our identity.

I think part of it was like the Big East got us. I mean, our top four, five in the Big East this year, Providence. Before Providence, kind of struggled late. Our top five was better than any other conference's top five. Especially our top four. If Freemantle doesn't get hurt -- Xavier is a much different team and we played Xavier with Freemantle. That easily could have been a Final Four team with him.

That happened to us. I started fighting with the refs, and it distracted me from coaching and it had a negative effect on the team. That went on for -- I was on the phone with the head of officials more than I was watching film. It was a mistake.

So it was multiple things went on. But I wouldn't underestimate just scheduling getting us. When you go to Xavier and you go to Providence and your breather is Creighton at home, who I think had swept us since we'd been in the league, and now your next game is at Marquette, it's easy to get in a bad way.

But I think it was multiple things. But we burned -- we burned that. We didn't actually burn it, but we left that behind. In November, December, February, March, we've been as good as anybody.

Q. You mentioned Donovan. Could you talk about how he's been able to take in this tournament without even missing a beat? His production has been where it's been all year.

COACH HURLEY: You realize how important, especially I think being successful in this tournament helps you to identify like those traits that are so important to a team that sometimes you don't evaluate recruiting, but like people with pop and personality, and like that guy is alive. He changes your locker room. He changes the huddles. He changes your bench when things are going well or poorly.

Obviously, the challenge for Donovan as a player he was in 290s in terms of his weight at the high school level. And just getting him down to 255, obviously, has put him in position where he can move well enough to take advantage of his amazing skill set as a player, his hands, his feet, his feel. But, really, you learn a lot about how important personality is in your program. And we've got a lot of guys vying to be everyone's favorite teammate. But he's one of them.

Q. You talked the last game about how emotional you were pregame and things like that, the possibility of coaching them for the last time. I wonder how you feel about that kind of half hour leading up to Saturday night and both yourself and your guys kind of handling the moment, the enormity of it, playing on that stage and all that goes into that?

COACH HURLEY: I think the good thing about like, I guess, this week is that you are so busy doing stuff maybe there's less time to think about the moment.

Obviously, the first couple of days were chaotic. But it's been a lot more normal for us in terms of meeting multiple times a day, getting multiple practices in on the court. And I think you just have to be stone cold as you can about this situation. I think all four teams are trying to do the same thing. It's like hey, fellas, this is a four-team event that we're trying to win. It's us, Miami, San Diego State, FAU, and the winner of this four-team tournament that's going to go on over the course of, whatever, 48 hours is to win the national championship.

And that it's the team that plays best and closest to their identity is going to walk away with it. You don't necessarily have to rise to the moment, just be at the absolute best of our identity. And I think you've got to be stone cold about it, though.

Intermittently, when the players aren't around, -- I just mostly cry around Luke and Kamani and my wife and then just my family. The players -- Andre Jackson probably saw me prior to the Gonzaga game while I was writing like game keys and game goals. He saw me sniffling. He saw the tissues come out. Because I just looked at him and it just made me -- the guy's so awesome to coach and be around.

Q. How do you decide when to use Adama versus when to use Donovan, and what separates those guys and makes them unique as post players?

COACH HURLEY: Sometimes it's matchups. Sometimes it's guys got it going. It's feel for the game. Foul trouble. There's all those things that come into play. And I would just say -- when you have a center like Adama that has gotten better on the ball screen game but he's a guy you could throw the ball in the low post to and the other team has to seriously think about trapping because he's very hard to guard one-on-one in the post. He's a physical positional rebounder and defender.

He takes away your team's low post offense because he's hard to score on because he gets such great leverage, and we can bury you with him in the low post.

And then you've got to deal with that. And the 7'2" guy comes in who is just a ball screen and roll, and the 7'2" guy is rolling to the rim and he's a lob threat that teams can't deal with because of the size. And now obviously it gets them to think paint. Now it opens up the 3-point line.

So I think what makes it work so well is why I tried to study a lot of Matt Painter, one of the best coaches in the country when he had Williams and he had the two-center attack. We really this summer tried to go to school on what some of that great coach was doing. And that was really helpful.

Q. How would you describe the personality of the team, and there are a couple of guys on the team that set that personality?

COACH HURLEY: I think we knew it last March, just what we needed to look for in terms of how guys, I think, would have the ability to handle the pressure moments. I think it's a fun group. They're very, very hard working, obviously, very serious about the game. But we've got tremendous leadership, world-class leadership in Andre Jackson in terms of vocal and by example.

Adama is probably a little more by example, but he gives the team tremendous confidence because how good he is. He's than all-time great big at UConn's history. And all these other guys, Karaban and Clingan, Hassan Diarra, and Joey California. It's a great locker room.

It just makes you aware moving foward maybe not always to go for the guy that's maybe a little more talented but you want to have locker rooms like this. It allows you to weather the storms during the year, and you're going to have a team that is loose in March rather than uptight.