Dan Hurley's UConn Practices Compared To Navy SEAL Training: 'His Superpower'
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Many people in the basketball world are wondering what the secret sauce is for Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies.
What has made this program so dominant, and so suddenly? There are other high-major programs with similarly talented players to UConn, and yet the Huskies have been dominating college basketball over the last 24 months.
Of course, there are a myriad of elements that contribute to UConn’s success, but Hurley’s style of practicing is at the center of it all. The public gets to witness Hurley’s intensity on the sideline during games. However, this is only a preview of how demanding UConn’s practice sessions are — they’ve even been compared to military training.
Locked On UConn’s Mark Zanetto talked about UConn’s practices during a new podcast this week.
“(Hurley’s) superpower as a coach is getting these kids to play his style of play and essentially giving them what he called ‘Hell Week’, like for Navy SEALs,” Zanetto said.
“Their practices are so stringent and so difficult, that game time is that easy.”
“He wants these guys to be obsessed with ball. That’s how he’s going to respect you as a player and as a person.”
Hurley’s enormously difficult practices represent one of many stylistic coaching choices he’s borrowed from his father, legendary high school coach Bob Hurley. Anyone who has read Adrian Wojnarowski’s chronicle of one of Bob Hurley’s seasons at St. Anthony High School — entitled, The Miracle of St. Anthony — has gotten something of a glimpse into how Hurley practices operate.
Dan Hurley has taken his father’s coaching style and applied it to the college game, and the results have been explosively successful. UConn is very lucky to have landed Hurley, just as the Huskies are fortunate that he seems happiest in Storrs (for now).
“Dan turned down the Lakers,” Zanetto added during his pod. “He’s not going anywhere. … Hurley is the best in the game right now.”
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-6cddf44b9a81eadb9d1a4c19c1b3db49.jpeg "Colin Keane")
Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org