Why Dan Hurley Is Worried About His ‘Lucky Suit’ Ahead of UConn’s Championship Game

UConn’s Dan Hurley is one of the most expressive coaches in men’s college basketball. He doesn’t shy away from showing his true emotions and reactions to plays on the court. Those reactions include him putting his hands above his head, reaching his arms out in protest towards referees and, of course, squatting down in disbelief on the sidelines.

These actions would put some wear and tear on any suit he’s sporting, but it definitely doesn’t help that Hurley likes to put on the same suit for each postseason game. He named the navy two-piece his “lucky suit,” and with his Huskies heading to the national championship game on Monday night vs. Michigan, he isn’t ready, or willing, to hang up the suit for this season. It’s obviously been working, feeding his superstitions.

However, Saturday night’s 71–62 Final Four win over Illinois proved to be damaging to Hurley’s suit. When Hurley attended his post-game press conference, he had swapped the suit out for a UConn shirt. This of course sparked questions about what happened to the lucky suit. Here’s what Hurley detailed about the state of his jacket specifically:

“Suit’s in bad shape, I’m not gonna lie to you guys,” Hurley said. “The pants are fine, it’s the jacket that is really—the lining is the problem. There’s like three holes when I stick my arm in the right [sleeve]. There’s like three different places, and if you can see it, it’s like the lining is coming through and going past the dress shirt. That’s been my biggest problem is that the lining and the jacket is a complete mess.”

UConn coach Dan Hurley says his suit is falling apart 😂 pic.twitter.com/i8yNOZtHta
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 5, 2026

Don’t fret, though. Hurley has no intentions of hanging up his lucky suit this offseason. His solution instead is to find a tailor to give the suit some extra life.

“I’m going to have to get a tailor in the offseason,” Hurley added.

At this rate, Hurley noted that he may have to find a tailor in Indianapolis if he wants to look presentable on Monday night for the national title game.

However, he told CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander that he’s “going grimy” on Monday night as he plans to wear the suit “as is.” It all comes down to those superstitions.

My interview last night with Dan Hurley outside the UConn locker room was interrupted by some unexpected passersby: The Fab Five.

He also told me his suit jacket is ripped but he won't be getting it fixed in the next 48 hours.

"I'm going grimy." pic.twitter.com/xmj05jUZKY
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 5, 2026

The history behind Hurley’s lucky suit

The lucky suit isn’t something Hurley started doing this season. Hurley’s owned the navy suit since he coached Rhode Island from 2012 to ’18. He noticed that if he wasn’t wearing the suit in the postseason, the team started losing. Since Hurley’s already naturally superstitious, he picked up on this trend and decided he wouldn’t stop wearing the suit in the postseason.

Hurley told the Associated Press back during UConn’s 2024 national championship run that he broke the navy suit back out in ’23 when the Huskies won the title that year. Since bringing back the suit, UConn’s won two titles (and could make it three if they take down Michigan on Monday). Hurley understandably has no plans to retire the suit any time soon, hence why he plans to visit a tailor in the coming months.

After UConn’s Elite Eight win over Duke last weekend, a video of Hurley celebrating with the team in the locker room while wearing a towel went viral as fans questioned why the coach wasn’t wearing his suit pants. Well, the answer there is that he didn’t want to ruin his lucky pants. And, the pants seem to be doing just fine according to Hurley on Saturday.

THIS TEAM 🏆🎉 pic.twitter.com/JF9i24Bm23
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) March 30, 2026

We’ll see what shape the lucky suit is in on Monday night.

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