UConn's Hurley Shows How to Win in the NIL Era
College basketball has seen a massive shift over the past few years with NIL being incorporated. The days of college kids committing to schools because of coaches are all but over.
UConn enjoyed a back-to-back National Championship on Monday night, solidifying Dan Hurley as one of the best coaches in the country. Winning runs in the family for Hurley, as his father, Bob Hurley Sr., is the greatest high school basketball coach ever.
While his father never accepted one of the many college jobs he was offered, Danny is showing exactly how his father's teams would've played if he had.
Tough, defensive minded, and winning basketball.
In the NIL age, that's becoming harder and harder by the year. However, Hurley has proven in the past two seasons that there's an opportunity to build a program up and keep it at the top.
Hurley, minutes after cutting down the nets, told reporters that UConn's going to maintain a championship culture through player development. They'll hit the portal to strategically add players.
He had the following to say, according to David Brandt of ABC News.
“We’re going to maintain a championship culture,” Hurley said. "We’re bringing in some very talented high school freshmen. Our returning players, through player development, will take a big jump. We’ll strategically add through the portal."
Strategically adding players isn't easy either with players looking for a certain dollar amount to come to school. However, as Hurley found last year with Cam Spencer, it's a possibility. If Hurley could mold a player to play the way he wants, Spencer would be exactly that.
A kid who can run an offense, hit open shots, defend at a high-level, and is as tough as they come.
“We said ‘Cam, if you don’t join us, we're a top 10, top 15 team. If you do join us, we could go back-to-back,'” Hurley said.
In a crazy era of the transfer portal and NIL, Hurley has figured out what seemed to be impossible to figure out.
JON CONAHAN