UConn's Dan Hurley Opens Up with Regret About Post-Game Tirade
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UConn men's basketball head coach Dan Hurley is showing regret for his post-game rant after the Huskies lost to the Florida Gators.
UConn was called for 21 fouls while Florida was called for 17, but the Gators had 34 free-throw attempts compared to the Huskies' 22.
"I hope they don't f--- you like they f---ed us," Hurley said to the Baylor team on his way to the locker room. "I hope they don't do that to you, Baylor."
Emotions were high for Hurley after the season-ending loss that ended UConn's chance of pulling off the three-peat.
"If I don't go off the rails at the end there, after that three-year run ended in excruciating fashion in a game that we almost had to keep this thing going," Hurley said. "If I don't have that emotional outburst there, probably all people are talking about is the run we've had, the amazing players."
Hurley wasn't expecting his comments to be caught on video as he expected that area of the arena to be media-free. This led to the UConn director of communications, Bobby Mullen, getting involved. Mullen approached Queen City News reporter Joey Ellis, who captured the video.
Mullen asked for the video to be removed, threatening Ellis by saying he would "ruin his life if he didn't."
"Bobby regrets, just like I regret the moments I've had," Hurley said. "Obviously it's all my fault that Bobby got pulled into it. I set the whole thing in motion and I feel horrible. Obviously he could've handled dealing with the media person with the phone that took the video [differently], he could've obviously let it go. He should've been better trained for a situation like this, we've been in them all year. But Bobby's a soldier. We all fight like that for each other in our program, and sometimes we go a little too far. But Bobby's a great guy."
Hurley and UConn's conduct caused a lot of backlash, and it may take time to regain the fans' trust.
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Ben Cooper is a sports journalist. In addition to covering the NFL, college football and college basketball in the On SI Network, he writes for LakersAllDayEveryday and covers key stories around the NBA and NFL for ClutchPoints. Ben began his sports journalism career during high school and plans to become a reporter after graduating from California Lutheran University.