UConn Huskies' HC Dan Hurley Gets Honest About 2024-25 Season

As we slowly approach the 2025-26 college basketball season, the UConn Huskies and head coach Dan Hurley will look to return back to their National Championship ways after an early exit last year.

When discussing last season to reporters on Friday, Hurley claimed that his team was not functioning at the level of the pervious two season, but expects the returning players to have a better run this season.

"I think going through a season like last year, it was a team that functioning at the level of it's first two years, and I think it effected the level of play," Hurley said. "I think that players that went in the portal will play better in their new places. I think the returning players that came back [to UConn] will play better. It didn't come together the way we planned it."

After a rough start to the 2024-25 season, the Huskies were able to finish the regular season with a 23-10 record, including key wins against Marquette, Crieghton and Texas. And despite UConn cruising past Oklahoma in round one of the NCAA Tournament, Hurley and his squad were eliminated by the National Champions in the following round, the Florida Gators.

One of the key veterans that Hurley mentioned was Alex Karaban, stating that the forward has identified areas in his game that he has to work on, along with giving him praise for how well he's done so far this offseason.

"What you learn from that, you get mentally tougher when you have to drag yourself through a tough year in your life, dealing with adversity like that, I think it makes [Karaban] tougher," Hurley stated. "I think it identified areas that he's really got to work in his game, and I think you saw how sharp his game looked today, making hard shots, contested threes. Going through a hard year in your life and your career, it makes you stronger."

With the program's leading scorer off to the NBA in Liam McNeeley, Karaban will now step into a larger role heading into next season. The senior forward averaged a career-high 14.3 points per game last year, along with 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Karaban has proven to grow each season with the Huskies, which is a perfect for Hurley heading into 2025.

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