Aidan Mahaney says he would choose UConn again despite disappointing year | The Boneyard

Aidan Mahaney says he would choose UConn again despite disappointing year

HooperScooper

HooperScooper

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As I've said a few times before, it's hard not to like Mahaney. It didn't work out and both parties moved on. But he's never said a bad word about UConn and he was a good teammate despite what he was going through. Most players wouldn't take the high road like he's done.

"I really think that if I were to do it again, I would have chose UConn," Mahaney told Field of 68's Rob Dauster. "I think it was the spot that inspired me and excited me. I wanted to put myself in the fire and see what was going to happen, see what I was made of. ...I'm proud of myself for making that step and choosing that decision and not taking the easy way out."

"Coach Hurley, I've got a lot of love and respect for him and the entire staff as well, just for molding me into a man," Mahaney said. "I've got nothing but good things to say about Coach Hurley. I know sometimes he can be criticized for the way he is. I've got a lot of love for him; he still checks in."


The RuffRuff Alternate Access™:

Aidan Mahaney says he would choose UConn again despite disappointing year with Huskies​


Here's Dauster's Field of 68 interview with Mahaney where the quotes in the article came from:

 
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Still checking in with the kid just to see how he is doing shows you the kind of man Hurley is, beyond what he is as a coach. I wish Aidan had fit better with the team last year and performed closer to expectations. It was tough watching the kid struggle so much.
 
Nice kid, says the right things and I’m sure there is value is understanding what you’re capable of (or not), at the highest level. It’ll only help in the long run. Valid source confirms was pretty miserable at UConn, so he could have easily snuck in some negative comments. Good for him.
 
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He was a good kid , he had to be
I did a little background on him he actually went to a college 20-39 miles from where he grew up .The consummate hometown kid. Coming all the way across the country and playing in the Big East took a lot of guts. It was obvious Hurley loved him so you know it wasn’t lack of effort .
I wish him success , because once you put on the uniform your officially adopted regardless of where you go.
 
AZHuskiePop said:
He was a good kid , he had to be
I did a little background on him he actually went to a college 20-39 miles from where he grew up .The consummate hometown kid. Coming all the way across the country and playing in the Big East took a lot of guts. It was obvious Hurley loved him so you know it wasn’t lack of effort .
I wish him success , because once you put on the uniform your officially adopted regardless of where you go.
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Hurley probably loved him, but it was also a wildly weird fit.
 
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UCTitleTown said:
I've always thought Dan Hurley saw himself in AM.
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A Bay Area kid who grew up with a Wall Street analyst dad and a kid that grew up in the JC streets with a parole officer dad? Nah.
 
Robrio89 said:
Still checking in with the kid just to see how he is doing shows you the kind of man Hurley is, beyond what he is as a coach. I wish Aidan had fit better with the team last year and performed closer to expectations. It was tough watching the kid struggle so much.
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You guys only know part of it. When I was at the Maui Invitational, you could see everything up close and personal-believe me it's a small gym. I was sitting 5 rows behind the ESPN announcers in the game against Memphis and near the UConn bench against Colorado and Dayton. I saw Aidan's facial expression when he was sitting on the bench and through the end-of-game handshake line and it was very evident he was hurting emotionally. I felt horrible for him and this went beyond basketball for me. I know the facial expression Aidan was showing it was that of a person that completely lost their confidence and was demoralized. I am sure you guys have seen the facial expression on someone when they screw up a big project at work or school or fails miserably at a test they so badly wanted to ace.

Remember, he lost his starting job after the Memphis game and barely played in the Maui Invitational after the first of half of the Memphis game. While me, my wife, and everyone there was having fun and enjoying the beautiful paradise despite UConn going 0-3, I saw a guy in Aidan that wanted to get the hell off of that rock as quickly as possible.
 
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RuffRuff said:
No, I can’t. Cali kid coming into the NE winter in a failed experiment in a disappointing year would be a pretty miz experience.
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I am sure the Cali kid in New England weather bothered him, but the #1 reason by far was his demotion and his struggle in basketball. If his season panned out the way he thought it would, the other stuff wouldn't have mattered as much.
 
Kowalski said:
Rooting for him to crush it at UC Santa Barbara.
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Me too. I wrote an email 2 months ago to his coach at UC Santa Barbara, Joe Pasternak, to take good care of him and not shoe horn him into PG right away. Pasternak wrote back to me and stated how glad he was to have Mahaney and that I should come down to watch a game.

Aidan deserves responsibility for his season last year, but he was starting to play better at the end and he had some good games at UConn. I fault Hurley for putting too much on Aidan's plate too early and shoe horning him into PG too soon even though they might have had that agreement when he was recruited from the transfer portal. I always thought Aidan could play the John Gwynn microwave role off the bench. Also, UConn's defensive scheme made it too easy to play one-on-one without too much help defense and that exposed Mahaney even more.
 
gsmooth said:
Me too. I wrote an email 2 months ago to his coach at UC Santa Barbara, Joe Pasternak, to take good care of him and not shoe horn him into PG right away. Pasternak wrote back to me and stated how glad he was to have Mahaney and that I should come down to watch a game.

Aidan deserves responsibility for his season last year, but he was starting to play better at the end and he had some good games at UConn. I fault Hurley for putting too much on Aidan's plate too early and shoe horning him into PG too soon even though they might have had that agreement when he was recruited from the transfer portal. I always thought Aidan could play the John Gwynn microwave role off the bench. Also, UConn's defensive scheme made it too easy to play one-on-one without too much help defense and that exposed Mahaney even more.
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100% not Mahaney's fault - he was not set up to succeed. It was simply a really, really bad assessment and decision to bring him in at all.
 
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RuffRuff said:
A Bay Area kid who grew up with a Wall Street analyst dad and a kid that grew up in the JC streets with a parole officer dad? Nah.
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Parole officer dad inducted into too many hall of fames for the direct comp. Ours also had a brother who eclipsed him in playing basketball. But I see why Hurley loved him.
 
His season here was a failure, and I read it wrong too. I thought he’d be good for us.

Maybe he was just a year late. The roster last year didn’t help mask his negatives and accentuate his positives.

Glad he and Coach Hurley are acting with class. I will keep rooting for him.
 
It certainly takes guts to move out of your comfort zone and do what he did, but if you really believe if given the chance he would do the same thing……not going to buy on that comment.

The only reason one would want to run that type of situation back is because there was a chance it could have worked better. Run that decision back 100 times and you would probably get the same result.

Appreciate he said it but don’t believe he truly meant it.
 
HooperScooper said:
As I've said a few times before, it's hard not to like Mahaney. It didn't work out and both parties moved on. But he's never said a bad word about UConn and he was a good teammate despite what he was going through. Most players wouldn't take the high road like he's done.

"I really think that if I were to do it again, I would have chose UConn," Mahaney told Field of 68's Rob Dauster. "I think it was the spot that inspired me and excited me. I wanted to put myself in the fire and see what was going to happen, see what I was made of. ...I'm proud of myself for making that step and choosing that decision and not taking the easy way out."

"Coach Hurley, I've got a lot of love and respect for him and the entire staff as well, just for molding me into a man," Mahaney said. "I've got nothing but good things to say about Coach Hurley. I know sometimes he can be criticized for the way he is. I've got a lot of love for him; he still checks in."
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Yes it was disappointing he really wasnt able to excel while he was here and it was frustrating watching him at times but i dont think you will find a single poster here that doesnt wish him the best wherever he goes and whatever he does. All class from him but also speaks to the type of people we have running this program and it all starts with Dan Hurley. Thank you Aidan for choosing us and you were appreciated for your effort.
 
TheChamps990411 said:
Yes it was disappointing he really wasnt able to excel while he was here and it was frustrating watching him at times but i dont think you will find a single poster here that doesnt wish him the best wherever he goes and whatever he does. All class from him but also speaks to the type of people we have running this program and it all starts with Dan Hurley. Thank you Aidan for choosing us and you were appreciated for your effort.
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Would love to know what each said to each other at their end of the season meeting. I doubt Hurley told him to outright hit the road but I'm sure they both knew going into the meeting that it wasn't beneficial to either of them to have Mahaney play another year at UConn.
 
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Hurley probably understands failure (as a player) in a way Mahaney can relate to. It very nice Dan Hurley still checks in on him..
 
HooperScooper said:
Would love to know what each said to each other at their end of the season meeting. I doubt Hurley told him to outright hit the road but I'm sure they both knew going into the meeting that it wasn't beneficial to either of them to have Mahaney play another year at UConn.
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I'd have to think Dan Hurley is pretty transparent in in those end of years convos so kids can go make the right decision for themselves. The portal is already open. I think this is what makes kids love him, they can trust him.
 
I noticed the article this morning and felt is was a nice read.

I always rooted for him to succeed, but could tell early on that he was not a good fit for what Hurley brought him in for. He struggled executing the multi-action motion offense. Being decisive, knowing where to pass it, where to move and cut, is critical, especially for the both guard positions. He struggled often with his shot, and he was not quick or strong enough to prevent players front driving right by him, which was a problem with all of our guards throughout most of last season.

Note, none of this was his fault. He always worked hard and never seemed to complain, though you could see his confidence took a big hit in Maui and carried over throughout most of the season. Hurley kept on putting him out there, but eventually had to ride Diarra for excessive minutes which wore him down, even playing hurt the latter part of the season.

As for Mahaney being a bad fit, I don't think anyone saw that coming. Everyone was excited he chose UConn, including me. If Hurley was asked if he'd do it again, zeroing in on Aidan to fill the role he envisioned him for, he'd probably say no, or evade that question.

I don't know what lead guards were available when the staff was able to turn their attention to 2024-25 roster after winning the back-to-back NC. If they could have landed a Silas Demary type player, not necessarily as talented one, but one with his type of skill set, we might have three-peated.

Aidan just seems like a nice kid and good teammate. Hurley keeping in touch with him, shows he's a class act. It's simply unfortunate it didn't work out for him or UConn last year. I chalk it up as a learning experience based on the roster building decisions for the 2025-26 and the 2026-27 seasons.
 
Nice! I think Aidan appreciates the lessons he learned here. He’s not a point guard. He will make money overseas
 
DogMania said:
I noticed the article this morning and felt is was a nice read.

I always rooted for him to succeed, but could tell early on that he was not a good fit for what Hurley brought him in for. He struggled executing the multi-action motion offense. Being decisive, knowing where to pass it, where to move and cut, is critical, especially for the both guard positions. He struggled often with his shot, and he was not quick or strong enough to prevent players front driving right by him, which was a problem with all of our guards throughout most of last season.

Note, none of this was his fault. He always worked hard and never seemed to complain, though you could see his confidence took a big hit in Maui and carried over throughout most of the season. Hurley kept on putting him out there, but eventually had to ride Diarra for excessive minutes which wore him down, even playing hurt the latter part of the season.

As for Mahaney being a bad fit, I don't think anyone saw that coming. Everyone was excited he chose UConn, including me. If Hurley was asked if he'd do it again, zeroing in on Aidan to fill the role he envisioned him for, he'd probably say no, or evade that question.

I don't know what lead guards were available when the staff was able to turn their attention to 2024-25 roster after winning the back-to-back NC. If they could have landed a Silas Demary type player, not necessarily as talented one, but one with his type of skill set, we might have three-peated.

Aidan just seems like a nice kid and good teammate. Hurley keeping in touch with him, shows he's a class act. It's simply unfortunate it didn't work out for him or UConn last year. I chalk it up as a learning experience based on the roster building decisions for the 2025-26 and the 2026-27 seasons.
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It would have taken more than just 1 player for that roster last year to Threepeat.
 
HooperScooper said:
Does it matter? Unless it impacts you directly, you could do this with everyone and drive yourself crazy.
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Does it matter? No not really but the same statement could be made not only about every post in this thread or even the thread itself. It is history it is over and I would think everyone would want to move on.
 
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