NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL FOUR: SAN DIEGO STATE VS UCONN

April 2, 2023

Dan Hurley

Jordan Hawkins

Andre Jackson

NRG Stadium

UConn Huskies

Finals Pregame Media Conference

COACH HURLEY: Obviously thrilled. The euphoria, excitement of yesterday, or last night, obviously turns to the preparation and the San Diego State team.

As you enter into your preparation for them, just so much respect for how well-coached they are. Their defensive abilities, their physicality, their rebounding, the depth, both front court and perimeter. And obviously the most experienced team that you probably could possibly play against at this point.

So it's exciting to share the court with a team that we mirror each other I think in a lot of ways.

Q. Andre, when all these new guys are coming in in the springtime, what sort of things did you do to kind of help start building the chemistry?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: I think I was just trying to make sure everybody was on the same page, that we all had the same mission and goal in mind. I think those guys did a great job of inserting themselves into the culture of the program and accepting the mission that we were going on. And I think all those guys did a great job of just integrating themselves into the team, into the culture that we had built.

Q. Jordan, I know you had a visit with Ray Allen during the season. Could you speak to that and what it means that these past UConn legendary players, they're not just pictures on a wall, they're not just statues, they're flesh-and-blood guys that show up and support and talk to you guys.

JORDAN HAWKINS: Means the world those guys came back, showed their support, talked to the team. I had to grab them for a couple of questions. He's one of the G.O.A.T.s here. I was like a sponge, soaked in everything I could to put it into my game. I appreciate those guys coming back. It means a lot to us.

Q. Andre, speaking of kind of along those same lines, the guys coming back and things, how do you feel like Adama should be remembered after this year's run?

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: I think Adama is a really good player. I think he's been like a stable player for us ever since he stepped into the program. And he's helped us in a lot of ways. I think he's definitely going to leave a big legacy here at UConn. I'm just grateful to have him as a teammate.

Q. I know you're focused on the game. Wanted to ask you about the NBA one-and-done rule. Seems like it's going to stay in place. What do you guys think about that? Do you think kids should be able to go straight from high school to the NBA? Or is it better that they spend at least a year in college and get more mature before they go?

JORDAN HAWKINS: Whatever is best, whatever you feel like you're ready for, I think you should go for it, whatever your instinct tells you.

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: Really same thing as Jordan said, just whenever you're ready to go, you should be able to go.

Q. Do you think high school guys should be able to go straight out of high school?

JORDAN HAWKINS: If they want to, yeah, go ahead. (Laughter).

Q. You mentioned that you see the two teams kind of mirror each other. Do they seem like almost sort of a Big East-type team in a way, their physicality? Aside from yourselves, is there any other Big East team they might remind you of a little bit?

COACH HURLEY: I feel like I'm already working the officials for freedom of movement. Yeah, they're physical. They're an older team. I don't know if I read that they've got an older team than like five NBA teams or at least I saw that graphic during the NCAA game, one of the six I've watched since we were done playing last night.

I mean, they're physical. They defend. They play really, really hard. The good thing for us is we do that every single day. Like we practice really, really hard. We come from a really, really hard-playing league. I think it's just going to come down to obviously who outplays the other.

Q. Win or lose tomorrow, this season will end and soon this group will disband. Would you mind sharing what this group of players has meant to you personally and professionally?

COACH HURLEY: It's a special group. You make a recruiting pitch when the program's down in the place we were. And you get in front of guys like this, and your pitch is you're going to bring this program back to its rightful place of playing March through April and bringing that excitement back into a program.

Not everyone could deliver on that. And bringing it all the way back. And these guys have kind of brought this program all the way back, this collection, these two guys next to me, obviously Alex, Donovan and Adama and the older guys we brought in, that transferred in.

We're so focused on just the San Diego State team and the preparation that I don't think that anyone is like...

Q. You mentioned earlier this week when you guys lost to New Mexico last year, you talked about they had a little bit more offensive firepower, and I'm curious how that affected your thinking of how to address this roster with the transfers you brought in on the perimeter, in particular, and sort of how the transfer portal sort of changed the way you think about addressing needs within a roster that's coming back?

COACH HURLEY: First thing we did was I brought these two guys in with Adama, like literally that Monday, and I said you guys are both going to play like high-level NBA draft picks. Like on the wing. And then we're going to have one of the best big guys in the country. So we've got our big three.

Then they knew what Alex was going to bring, what Donovan was going to bring. And I got clear to them that I was going to put a lot of really good supporting players around them that would put them in position to get to this stage.

But I think that the number one thing I remember post New Mexico State was that meeting that the three of us had in the boardroom. We were very clear about what we were going to do this year. But it's only come together like this because these two guys are high-level NBA draft picks, and you have long, successful careers at that level.

And Adama as well. Adama doesn't have the same draft buzz as maybe these guys have, but he's an NBA player. And he's going to play in the league for a long time.

Listen, this isn't that hard. I had three NBA players returning. And we put the right pieces around them.

Q. Jordan, you mentioned yesterday that you weren't exactly 100 percent after your illness, but you mentioned that you were going to play because of that will and that desire to play. Has your condition improved since yesterday?

JORDAN HAWKINS: Yes, sir. I will be 100 percent on Monday.

Q. What do you think is the main thing you have to do on defense to stop San Diego State? The two players.

ANDRE JACKSON JR.: I would say guarding the ball one-on-one and being able to guard the ball screens. And the way they're going to be ducking in our bigs, making sure we cut off those drives and not let them get points at the rim, also keeping them off the offensive glass and defense rebound the ball.

JORDAN HAWKINS: What Andre said, being in the gaps, helping your teammates, defensive rebounding will be the biggest thing for us.

Q. The perception on the outside looking at this championship game is UConn's rolled, winning their five NCAA Tournament games by combined 103 points, they're the frontrunner. How do you keep your team focused? What do you make of that viewpoint that you guys are the heavy favorite in this title game?

COACH HURLEY: The heavy favorites haven't fared very well in this one. So we're just going to try to ignore that tag. I just think it helps us a lot just what we went through in January. We know that if we get away from our identity for a tick, we become very vulnerable.

We obviously, with the experience and the physicality and the age and just how well-coached the San Diego State team is and the teams they've beaten to get here, we expect a much different type of game, much more of a fight.

Q. Andrew said the other day that you have given painting a crack. You said in January that this was something you're going to take up. How has that gone?

COACH HURLEY: I'm almost finished with my second piece of artwork for Kimani, because he's very jealous of what I gave Luke. I don't know if you've seen that. But it's a New York City skyline in winter. For Kimani, he's from Queens. Not great. Embarrassed. Just embarrassed to give it to him. It's actually done. But I don't have the nerve to give it to him. It's so bad. (Laughter.)

Q. I guess your father was telling a story that he brought you to the 1990 Final Four in Denver and you guys did some demos for Strength Shoes. What are your recollections of that? And could you have ever imagined at that point that you would be coaching in a Final Four?

COACH HURLEY: I mean, I remember nonstop demonstrations for what felt like 48 hours in those platform shoes, which it was probably not great when you're 15 years old.

I remember just the excitement -- in that Final Four, too, Georgia Tech was in that with UNLV. So Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech team was there, and obviously Bob playing that UNLV game and how heartbreaking it was for him in a championship game as unbelievable as the season was. And then obviously much better memories of Indy, the following year, when they beat UNLV.

Q. When you were coming up as a kid and also while you were at Seton Hall, what were your impressions of UConn as a program and sort of what they represented?

COACH HURLEY: Initially when I was really on the way up, up until Tate George committed there, I didn't know anything about UConn. With all due respect, when you're watching those early Big East games, it was Pearl, it was Georgetown, it was St. John's. Seton Hall was still -- P.J. still hadn't gotten it eventually where he would get it.

So really not much. And then, boom, it was like -- then Chris Smith commits. And before you know it, I'm watching Bob play them in Sweet Sixteens at The Meadowlands in Elite Eight games, and all of a sudden they're like the elite program in the Northeast and one of the best programs in the country.

But up until Tate George, to be honest with you, I didn't even know they were in the Big East.

Q. Flashback question. I covered the game in '92, Sweet 16 when you and Bobby guarded each other. Bobby was super uncomfortable. How was that for you, and what was the family dynamics going into that game?

COACH HURLEY: Back then you didn't really play on -- obviously the media, that type of attention, especially when you're like a backup guard playing ten minutes a game, you're not used to -- this is the first time you meet Lesley Visser. And like, wow, why is she talking to -- she should be talking to Terry Dehere.

I just remember just the nerves, anxiety, just because of the media buildup. Hurley brothers, City of Brotherly Love. I wasn't exactly on top of my game at that point in my career, and I was going against my brother and Christian Laettner and Grant Hill.

So, yeah, I knew I was in trouble. I was a nervous wreck. And I was relieved, to be honest with you -- I played as hard as I could, but I was relieved in a big way when it was over.

Q. Since UConn's first championship win in '99, you guys have more titles than any other program. And now tied with North Carolina for most title game appearances. Can you just talk a little bit about where your guys' program fits in with the more upper-echelon teams?

COACH HURLEY: I think we have the fan base. We have obviously a huge fan base that travels and has a huge social media presence, and the state and the university supports the program in the best possible way in terms of resources.

Obviously Geno and Coach Calhoun created this brand that makes it very appealing because of the history and tradition. But really, in the end, it's like what type of coaching staff can you bring in to a university that's going to attract the type of players that can help you win big.

You could have the greatest brand in the world; if you don't have like head coaches and the great staff I have with Kimani, Luke, Tom, just a great brand isn't enough. It's got to attract the right type of people, or it's just a place that's not guaranteed anything, especially in today's game.

Q. How close were you guys to not getting Adama?

COACH HURLEY: (Laughs.)

Q. And the second part, what has he meant -- you talked about the build. What's he meant to where you guys are now?

COACH HURLEY: We were really close. And that was me and Kimani on that one. And Kimani is usually like trying to keep my head in the game and not panic. But Kimani was melting down because he looked like he was not going to come to us.

And I think Adama began to kind of tell us he was going that way. So I had to convince Kimani, hey, we're good, he's a reasonable guy, he's not going to ruin his life and make a bad decision, he's very smart, he's going to pick us.

But I can't imagine that. I'd be in trouble right now.

Q. (Off microphone.)

COACH HURLEY: I don't want to do that and tell the other schools how close they were.

Q. You have the poster-sized cardboard cutout of the trophies. What spurred that?

COACH HURLEY: Just back at Rhode Island, when we hadn't won an Atlantic 10 championship since Lamar Odom had played there, I don't know how long that stretch was, if it was 15, 16, 17 years, hadn't had a regular season Atlantic 10 championship in the history of the program. So that was our aim. That was our target.

Obviously you need reminders. In basketball, so many things in today's game, now you have NIL and the portal, and you have these guys, rightfully so, trying to get to the NBA, with the amount of money those guys are making as quickly as possible.

You've really got to turn from September through to when the season ends into the "we" season because you know the "me" season is coming very soon. It really hits you as soon as you play your last game where it goes from "we" to "me."

So we tried to make it like this "we" target on the mission of the group because you know that the "me" part is coming with guys going to the NBA, guys understanding their value with NIL, having the freedom to go wherever they want in the portal. You know the "me" season is coming. So during the season you want "we," "we," "we" and focused on something.

Q. What has Adama meant as you guys built this program up to you guys, especially what he's done this tournament while he's been fasting?

COACH HURLEY: He leads by example. Obviously the production and performance gives confidence to the group. And bigger than that, I think when he came into the program, our culture was still a little bit -- it wasn't fully formed in terms of a work ethic. People in the gym, like there wasn't a seriousness to what our program was all about. We were still trying to -- again, you couldn't turn the roster the way you can now and quickly turn the page and get in the mix.

So we were still trying to build a mentality, and I just think him and Andre Jackson coming into the program increased a level of seriousness and work ethic because these guys, they live in the gym.

Q. You've done both. So what's harder, building a program from scratch or rebuilding a legacy program?

COACH HURLEY: They're equally tough because I think when you're rebuilding -- or when you're building or rebuilding, whatever it is, like a Wagner or Rhode Island and you're playing in the Atlantic 10, you probably don't have the same cache as like a VCU or a Dayton in terms of the branding.

And even back then, my first couple of years in the Atlantic 10, Temple was still in there, Xavier, Butler. You're not necessarily getting everyone's best shot. You're not the game that's circled on the calendar.

You could kind of sneak up on people a little bit. When you coach UConn, you don't get to sneak up on anybody. You get everyone's best shot. And then you don't get the same level of patience from, not folks like you, Joe, you've got tremendous patience, but the media, the fan base.

You get everyone's best shot, and then there's a lot of external that the players, you're concerned with your players in terms of how they're going to handle the criticism, the critiques. On the way back up the mountain, it's not linear. There are setbacks. And a place like UConn you have to be mentally tough and have to have the stomach for it as a player or as a coach.

Q. Post-pandemic, we've seen a lot of coaches take the opportunity to dress down. Some do it better than others. You're still looking sharp, though. You wore the slacks and the coat. Wondering what goes into that thought process.

COACH HURLEY: I just didn't want any memories -- thank you for the compliment; no one ever compliments me on how I dress. I just didn't like the way it felt coaching that COVID year. It sucked, not having the fans as a part of it. Like the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, they were a shell of themselves without the fans and the band and the cheer and the dance team and your donors and all your fans traveling with you.

Like, I just didn't want -- just dressing like that reminded me of that season. And then for me, our job is a lot different than NBA coaches. And there's some things we want to model that the NBA does. There's some things that go on in the NBA that we shouldn't want to model.

Q. I'm sure your brother has told you about San Diego State. They beat him in his building, but as predominant East Coast guy, what, generally speaking, has been San Diego State's national perception or perception on the East Coast, and how do you think this run is going to change that?

COACH HURLEY: The perception is tremendous respect because of what they've done and what Coach has done over the course of like long seasons. Just the rate that they win at and the way they do it, the culture, the balance, the defensive commitment, the rebounding commitment. It kind of reminds you a little bit of like Mick Cronin, Mick Cronin's teams, maybe a little bit of Villanova, in terms of the way they're as one out there.

And I would liken like Mick's been one of the best coaches in the country for a long time. And it almost took like making that deep run in the tournament to get that validation, and it's probably something Brian, I think, to coaches, like coaches coaches have always known that San Diego State is one of the best programs in the country and have one of the best coaches.

Q. How would you describe the Joey California experience?

COACH HURLEY: (Laughs) just been awesome in our locker room. Obviously he's the exact type of player from a guard standpoint that you want coming in off the bench, super confident, gunslinger, Maverick from "Top Gun" type mentality.

But we knew, just when he took his visit, you meet his parents. He got the great pedigree. We told him you may not play. You're going to have to earn it in practice because we may not go nine or ten deep, we may only play eight. If you're not good enough to get in the rotation, then go somewhere where you know you can play.

But he like called the next day and, I'm coming to UConn and get myself on the court. Tells you everything you need to know.

Q. You and Brian Dutcher, both sons of longtime coaches. What is it about the uniqueness of that upbringing that sets the foundation to be a successful coach?

COACH HURLEY: Everything is second nature to me and Brian. Just having been in locker rooms our whole lives and practices and postgames after great wins and tough losses. I think both of our careers, I think, to this point, they parallel.

I have a lot of respect for his road to this point because he's had to earn it. He's had to put in so much time as an assistant coach. He wasn't gifted some high-level head coaching job without having accomplished or paid his dues.

Just so much respect for coaching against somebody like that for a national championship. I think it's fitting for both of us, with our backgrounds, to be meeting in this game.

Q. Feels like we're headed towards this inevitable conversation about expanding the tournament this summer. How would you feel about expansion of the NCAA Tournament, and to you what would be the ideal number for that expansion, if it happens?

COACH HURLEY: For me, I think it's great the way it is. I feel like devaluing the regular season, I think, potentially hurts the regular season and what it means.

I think the pressure to have to win games and being rewarded for winning big non-conference games and then taking care of enough business in league, I think it's a privilege to play in this tournament, not a right.

I do think, though, that there's probably mid-major programs a lot of times that are more deserving of like a tenth place team in a power conference that has figured out how to kind of just game the numbers. So, I mean, I'll say that. I see that on Selection Sunday sometimes. And I cringe at that.

But I don't think expanding it is a good idea. And we only got five teams in the Big East, so it's not like we got in nine.

Q. Late last night you said you sucked as a high school coach, at least for the first few years.

COACH HURLEY: I said that?

Q. You said that.

COACH HURLEY: (Laughs) I was 5-3 after eight games.

Q. Overall, the first few years, that's obviously not a results-based assessment. In what ways that self-critique plays?

COACH HURLEY: You mean like --

Q. Why you sucked.

COACH HURLEY: Why I sucked? Really because I had come from Rutgers University. I was a Big East assistant. I was a college coach going to coach against just these kind of lowly high school coaches. I had coached against Syracuse and Georgetown. And it was going to be a snap. I was just going to go in and dominate straightaway.

And I remember winning the opener pretty comfortably, and then playing what was the version of a bye game at home, and then going to Vegas to play in my first high school tournament, and we played Garces High School from Bakersfield, and Darren Savino buried me. Darren Savino said to me, hey, you guys should be good, no problem.

So I did very little scouting. I think we got there and the guys immediately went to Circus Circus. And they had Robert Swift on that team. And they had another guy that went to Air Force. Maybe another guy that ended up at Arizona State. We were down 20, and I had gotten that first technical foul before we were out of the first quarter.

We ended up losing mid to high 20s. Won the middle game. And then lost to Fremont. I tucked tail, went 1-2 in this tournament. And actually then I headed back, and we played against LeBron's team in Slam Dunk to the Beach.

But it was a real humbling moment. We played much better against LeBron in Slam Dunk to the Beach. I think we were up eight going in the fourth quarter, the refs swallowed the whistle and we won by two. I wasn't good that year. 24-7, I think.

But it was humbling, real humbling because I thought because I was a college coach that I would just go to the high school level. And some of the best coaches in the country coach high school. Kevin Boyle is one of the best coaches in the country at any level. Some of the best coaches that coach our sport are at the high school level.

Q. What's your earliest basketball memory?

COACH HURLEY: Probably for me idolizing David Rivers, Mandy Johnson, Felix Rivera, Bobby Vogt. My dad's early players, Ritchie Weinert, Jared King, just idolizing my dad's -- being heartbroken when he lost to Michael O'Koren and Jim Spanarkel Hudson Catholic team.