Hurley's first 3 seasons

[Huskybass]

*After coaching it to its fourth National Championship in his second season, following a suspension the season prior.

Not saying he didn’t blow it, but let’s not overlook that.

Kevin Ollie's Head Coaching record:
with Shabazz, 52-18, .743 winning %
without Shabazz, 75-61, .551 winning % and losing records in each of his last 2 years.

Shabazz was far more responsible for that National Championship than Ollie.

 

[the Q]

I'm a diehard URI fan, but I will always follow Hurley to whatever team he goes to. A fan on our message board posted this comment about Dan.... "I am a Hurley fan...but he hasn't done much at UConn in 3 years now. No tourney wins, and they only danced last year because the Big East was way down. And they missed a golden opportunity to win the BE tourney. Lost to a reeling Creighton team in semis who then got embarrassed by a decent G-town team...Just the facts."

I think if Bouk stayed healthy, you would have won a game or two in the tournament. Unfortunately, he didn't look the same when he came back. I expect you to be a sweet 16 team this year, and with the way Dan is recruiting the potential to go even deeper the next few seasons..

I would love to hear what you think about his first three years and if you're happy with where the program is right now?

What he said isn’t wrong, per se.

But I lacks context

It also ignores where he started.

He didn’t waltz into UCONN from the 2000s.

The program is clearly on the rise and is (seemingly, you never know with kids) pulling the right recruits to build UConn back to where it belongs. A perennial second weekend team and final four contender

 

[UofCT]

Here are the numbers that prove Hurley is doing an INCREDIBLE job here.

In 2017-18 (Ollie's last szn) UConn suffered ELEVEN (11) double digit losses
In 2018-19 (Hurleys first szn, same exact team) UConn suffered SIX (6) double digit loses
In 2019-2020 UConn suffered ONE (1) double digit loss
In 2020-21 UConn sufferend ONE (1) double digit loss

 

[kansashusky]

Has Hurley beat a ranked team?

 

[navery12]

Has Hurley beat a ranked team?

Yes, Syracuse in 2018-19 and Florida/Houston in 2019-20

 

[aburks41]

Kevin Ollie's Head Coaching record:
with Shabazz, 52-18, .743 winning %
without Shabazz, 75-61, .551 winning % and losing records in each of his last 2 years.

Shabazz was far more responsible for that National Championship than Ollie.

Bazz probably had the highest basketball IQ of any player to step foot in Storrs. Him being 6' limited him athletically, but he was always the smartest player on the court.

However I'm not sure you can kid all the credit to a 21 year old kid to win against Jay Wright, Hoiberg, Izzo, Donovan, and Calipari in 5 straight games. Ollies defensive game plans belong in the HOF for that run.

 

[8893]

Kevin Ollie's Head Coaching record:
with Shabazz, 52-18, .743 winning %
without Shabazz, 75-61, .551 winning % and losing records in each of his last 2 years.

Shabazz was far more responsible for that National Championship than Ollie.

What is Hurley's record without Bouk? I don't know what it is, but I don't see the point. I value both of their contributions.

My point wasn't to shortchange Bazz, Hurley, Calhoun or anyone else. I just hate to see the Ollie Derangement Syndrome blind people to the job he did those first two seasons. Do you think managing Bazz was easy? How about the Bazz and Boat dynamic? The suspension season? Of course he had help, but he wasn't beating a path to buck-a-shuck night then like many here suggest.

Hurley's accomplishments should stand or fall on their own. Those who can't measure them without reference to Ollie pee on their shoes while trying to make their point imo.

 

[jibsey]

Outstanding recruiting job so far getting talent in. Results and in game coaching I’m not thrilled with so far. I do love his enthusiasm and work ethic and hope we get good results.

 

[Waquoit]

Yes, Syracuse in 2018-19 and Florida/Houston in 2019-20

Whaddya know? JC beat 3 ranked teams in his first 3 years as well. Syracuse twice, even Perno would beat Cuse on occasion. But Hurley never lost to Yale and UHar in the same season.

 

[Tampahusky]

If not Hurley who you got ???? Pat Riley not coming to coach in Storrs. Hurley doing a great job people need to relax.

 

[CL82]

Luke should help--he's a great offensive mind.

What do you base that on?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The American conference almost destroyed UConn’s athletic program. Neither Ollie nor any other coach could have saved UConn from catastrophe in that southern mid-major league. Hurley is benefiting from the dramatically improved conference situation.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

If not Hurley who you got ???? Pat Riley not coming to coach in Storrs. Hurley doing a great job people need to relax.

Who exactly needs to relax? The two sides of the discussion seem to be that he has performed as well as can be expected and on the other side, that his recruiting has been great and the program is on the right track, but we need to see more wins. I don't think anyone is blowing him up here or saying we should have someone else.

 

[CL82]

I can see why an outsider thinks coach hasn’t done much

You realize that that is just trolling by proxy.

"I think Dan Hurley is great but this friend of mine thinks..."

 

[superjohn]

The American conference almost destroyed UConn’s athletic program. Neither Ollie nor any other coach could have saved UConn from catastrophe in that southern mid-major league. Hurley is benefiting from the dramatically improved conference situation.

American sucked but Ollie lost the program on his own, he sabotaged everything after the championship.

Let's keep this on Hurley though, expectations should be pretty high this year.

 

[Tenspro2002]

What is Hurley's record without Bouk? I don't know what it is, but I don't see the point. I value both of their contributions.

My point wasn't to shortchange Bazz, Hurley, Calhoun or anyone else. I just hate to see the Ollie Derangement Syndrome blind people to the job he did those first two seasons. Do you think managing Bazz was easy? How about the Bazz and Boat dynamic? The suspension season? Of course he had help, but he wasn't beating a path to buck-a-shuck night then like many here suggest.

Hurley's accomplishments should stand or fall on their own. Those who can't measure them without reference to Ollie pee on their shoes while trying to make their point imo.

KO did a terrific job coaching tough, loyal kids who had already bought into the program.

The problem was he couldn't identify those traits in his own recruits and gave up coaching the ones he did get.

 

[husky429]

What do you base that on?

Hurley mentioned it after he was hired I believe.

 

[CL82]

What is Hurley's record without Bouk? I don't know what it is, but I don't see the point. I value both of their contributions.

My point wasn't to shortchange Bazz, Hurley, Calhoun or anyone else. I just hate to see the Ollie Derangement Syndrome blind people to the job he did those first two seasons. Do you think managing Bazz was easy? How about the Bazz and Boat dynamic? The suspension season? Of course he had help, but he wasn't beating a path to buck-a-shuck night then like many here suggest.

Hurley's accomplishments should stand or fall on their own. Those who can't measure them without reference to Ollie pee on their shoes while trying to make their point imo.

You know I am huge admirer of the way KO coached his first two seasons. I said multiple times that I don't think 2014 Calhoun wins the 2014 natty. KO was the right guy at the right time.

That said, 2015 on, Kevin was not a good coach here. In his last year he had checked out by all accounts and the program's trajectory was plummeting downwards. That is what Hurley inherited. It is fair to note that.

Hurley has done a masterful job of turning around a team culture that had gone to crap and did so in the poisoned well of KO's lawsuit and his encouraging of vets not to engage with the program. I wonder a bit about in-game decisions and I don't think that Hurley is done growing as coach, but not acknowledging the train wreck Hurley inherited and his masterful job of rebuilding the culture isn't fair to Hurley. You can't talk about "Hurley's accomplishments" fairly without acknowledging the state of the program when he got here.

 

[8893]

American sucked but Ollie lost the program on his own, he sabotaged everything after the championship.

I think it was @Fishy who commented several years ago something to the effect that everything Ollie accomplished in his career as both a player and a coach was because he worked harder than anyone else, and he simply stopped doing that after he won the championship. It's not complicated. The American didn't help, and turning away from Calhoun definitely didn't help, but not continuing to do what got him where he was was going to doom him irrespective.

 

[8893]

You can't talk about "Hurley's accomplishments" fairly without acknowledging the state of the program when he got here.

Certainly Hurley would agree with you; and I likewise think it makes him appear smaller when he does.

We get the point. We all lived through it. We don't need to hear the same drumbeat now three-plus years removed from it. To my ear, it hurts the argument more than it helps at this point, because it sounds like trying to excuse somewhat middling results on paper so far.

I wanted Ollie gone at the end and I am glad we have Hurley. There is no question in my mind that he has made progress, including this past season. There is also no question that we all expected a little more by way of results, but the future looks very bright and that is in very large part because of Hurley's efforts.

 

[navery12]

Certainly Hurley would agree with you; and I likewise think it makes him appear smaller when he does.

We get the point. We all lived through it. We don't need to hear the same drumbeat now three-plus years removed from it. To my ear, it hurts the argument more than it helps at this point, because it sounds like trying to excuse somewhat middling results on paper so far.

I wanted Ollie gone at the end and I am glad we have Hurley. There is no question in my mind that he has made progress, including this past season. There is also no question that we all expected a little more by way of results, but the future looks very bright and that is in very large part because of Hurley's efforts.

But that's the thing, we're not talking about year 4 in this thread when the excuses come up. The discussion is about years 1-3 and that's the #1 factor for why those first 2 years were "disappointing". Bringing up the state of the program is always going to be relevant when discussing the results of Hurley's first year whether that discussion is happening at the time or 20 years later

Maybe I'm in the minority but I certainly didn't expect more results so far, if I'm being honest I'm surprised it's even turned around this quick. I honestly don't even know how anyone can look at the results and call them middling. But it's been pretty universally said by both sides that in year 4 Hurley needs to start winning now regardless of past circumstances

 

[CL82]

Certainly Hurley would agree with you; and I likewise think it makes him appear smaller when he does.

We get the point. We all lived through it. We don't need to hear the same drumbeat now three-plus years removed from it. To my ear, it hurts the argument more than it helps at this point, because it sounds like trying to excuse somewhat middling results on paper so far.

I wanted Ollie gone at the end and I am glad we have Hurley. There is no question in my mind that he has made progress, including this past season. There is also no question that we all expected a little more by way of results, but the future looks very bright and that is in very large part because of Hurley's efforts.

Disagree. Circumstances matter. Washington beat the Hessians at Trenton. That's an accomplishment but understanding the circumstances of that he was leading glorified militia of citizen soldiers, the bulk of who's enlistment was poised to lapse in a matter of days, and who were coming off of a series of military defeats helps you to understand the magnitude of the victory.

Same is true of Hurley. You cannot judge progress without first knowing the starting point.

 

[8893]

But that's the thing, we're not talking about year 4 in this thread when the excuses come up. The discussion is about years 1-3 and that's the #1 factor for why those first 2 years were "disappointing". Bringing up the state of the program is always going to be relevant when discussing the results of Hurley's first year whether that discussion is happening at the time or 20 years later

Maybe I'm in the minority but I certainly didn't expect more results so far, if I'm being honest I'm surprised it's even turned around this quick. I honestly don't even know how anyone can look at the results and call them middling. But it's been pretty universally said by both sides that in year 4 Hurley needs to start winning now regardless of past circumstances

Disagree. Circumstances matter. Washington beat the Hessians at Trenton. That's an accomplishment but understanding the circumstances of that he was leading glorified militia of citizen soldiers, the bulk of who's enlistment was poised to lapse in a matter of days, and who were coming off of a series of military defeats helps you to understand the magnitude of the victory.

Same is true of Hurley. You cannot judge progress without first knowing the starting point.

Fair enough. I guess not everyone expected a little more so far. Maybe not even most. I didn't realize how many people were happy with the way last season ended.

I guess all I can fairly say, which I have said several times, is that I believe Hurley has been successful and has made progress, but yeah I was expecting a little better showing in the post-season last season. That's all. But maybe that's just me. So be it.

My initial point in this thread was to note, in response to the post stating that Ollie did nothing but crash and burn the program to the ground, that he did manage to win a National Championship in his second season. In my mind that's a lot more than a footnote, and is also important for perspective.

 

[nomar]

Fair enough. I guess not everyone expected a little more so far. Maybe not even most. I didn't realize how many people were happy with the way last season ended.

I guess all I can fairly say, which I have said several times, is that I believe Hurley has been successful and has made progress, but yeah I was expecting a little better showing in the post-season last season. That's all. But maybe that's just me. So be it.

My initial point in this thread was to note, in response to the post stating that Ollie did nothing but crash and burn the program to the ground, that he did manage to win a National Championship in his second season. In my mind that's a lot more than a footnote, and is also important for perspective.

I think we would have done a little better if Bouk wasn't injured, which cost us seeding and also affected his and the team's play.

Of course every team has injuries, but he was our #1, #2 and #3 offensive options when healthy.

If you had told me when we hired him that we'd be exactly where we are on August 12, 2021, I would have happily accepted that. And I think that says it all.

 

[superjohn]

But that's the thing, we're not talking about year 4 in this thread when the excuses come up. The discussion is about years 1-3 and that's the #1 factor for why those first 2 years were "disappointing". Bringing up the state of the program is always going to be relevant when discussing the results of Hurley's first year whether that discussion is happening at the time or 20 years later

Maybe I'm in the minority but I certainly didn't expect more results so far, if I'm being honest I'm surprised it's even turned around this quick. I honestly don't even know how anyone can look at the results and call them middling. But it's been pretty universally said by both sides that in year 4 Hurley needs to start winning now regardless of past circumstances

The results aren't middling overall, he's turned around the program. From the staff he put together to building it the right way where there will be sustained success to his recruiting it might be even a little more than I expected and I wanted Hurley to be our coach since before we hired Ollie. With that being said you are in the minority if you didn't expect us to have a tournament win by the start of year 4.

He's done an amazing job loading the roster with talent, that has to translate to some sort of tournament success. He's said it and the fanbase expects it, now it's time to do it.

 

[Pudge]

I'm a diehard URI fan, but I will always follow Hurley to whatever team he goes to. A fan on our message board posted this comment about Dan.... "I am a Hurley fan...but he hasn't done much at UConn in 3 years now. No tourney wins, and they only danced last year because the Big East was way down. And they missed a golden opportunity to win the BE tourney. Lost to a reeling Creighton team in semis who then got embarrassed by a decent G-town team...Just the facts."

I think if Bouk stayed healthy, you would have won a game or two in the tournament. Unfortunately, he didn't look the same when he came back. I expect you to be a sweet 16 team this year, and with the way Dan is recruiting the potential to go even deeper the next few seasons..

I would love to hear what you think about his first three years and if you're happy with where the program is right now?

without reading a long long thread of posts ... my fresh look:

We at UCONN judge on a Curve. No other place has a Calhoun. Maybe the older guys and hoop historians recognize this: Calhoun took this State University from a sick low hole to Championship competitive. I don't care what URI fans say ... they are gnatss. We judge our - OUR - program now against the Blue Bloods; and perhaps the IU and Kentucky and UCLA spectre hurts a program with so many NCs and Elite eights etc. We sometimes cannot recognize true progress in increments.

Hurley is doing a super job. Always starts with recruiting. The BE - for us in our first year - was a far more competitive test. That Creighton team YOU poohpooh'd was far better than you portray In Matchups sometimes they didn't play to top form; however, they proved to me to ultra competitive with 6 real solid players at this level. No shame in that loss.

As Hurley has focused: we did not play our best in either Creighton or Maryland. I cannot think of a Calhoun analogy. A competitive coach uses that. Our loss of Bouknight (a Bouknight - by the way - that was clearly diminished post- injury) excites us: there has got to be a integrated Team game to win. And that is what this year sets up: Hurley has the horses. A Sanoga - a SamsonJohnson - a developing Andre - a new role for Tyrese - stable advancing leadership in Cole + Gaffney + Polley + Whaley - and a Justin Hawkins that we don't know what is gonna come. I would rather be Hurley and UCONN today than 350 other programs. I think we are gonna compete with 20 to advance to Elite Eight - and that is a wonderful boost from the last of Ollie.

 

[the Q]

without reading a long long thread of posts ... my fresh look:

We at UCONN judge on a Curve. No other place has a Calhoun. Maybe the older guys and hoop historians recognize this: Calhoun took this State University from a sick low hole to Championship competitive. I don't care what URI fans say ... they are gnatss We judge our - OUR - program now against the Blue Bloods; and perhaps the IU and Kentucky and UCLA spectre hurts a program with so many NCs and Elite eights etc. We sometimes cannot recognize true progress in increments.

Hurley is doing a super job. Always starts with recruiting. The BE - for us in our first year - was a far more competitive test. That Creighton team YOU poohpooh'd was far better than you portray In Matchups sometimes they didnt play to top form; however, they proved to me to ultra competitive with 6 real solid players at this level. No shame in that loss.

As Hurley has focused: we did not play our best in either Creighton or Maryland. I cannot think of a Calhoun analogy. A competitive coach uses that. Our loss of Bouknight (a Bouknight - by the way - that was clearly diminished post- injury) exciites us: there has got to be a integrated Team game to win. And that is what this year sets up: Hurley has the horses. A Sanoga - a SamsonJohnson - a developing Andre - a new role for Tyrese - stable advancing leadership in Cole + Gaffney + Polley + Whaley - and a Justin Hawkins that we don't know what is gonna come. I would rather be Hurley and UCONN today than 350 other programs. I think we are gonna compete with 20 to advance to Elite Eight - and that is a wonderful boost from the last of Ollie.

I would say the limping through the 2006 tourney.

Similar concept but obviously a much more loaded roster.

That team should’ve destroyed teams and shred through them like 2011-12 Kentucky

 

[Husky Alien]

PLEASE! Let's not turn this into another Ollie thread. This poster who is a URI fan is trolling. We all know the past history and where we have been and where we are now. Let's just blast him with all the positives of Hurley's first 3 years and let them/him be envious of UConn and coach Hurley.

 

[navery12]

The results aren't middling overall, he's turned around the program. From the staff he put together to building it the right way where there will be sustained success to his recruiting it might be even a little more than I expected and I wanted Hurley to be our coach since before we hired Ollie. With that being said you are in the minority if you didn't expect us to have a tournament win by the start of year 4.

He's done an amazing job loading the roster with talent, that has to translate to some sort of tournament success. He's said it and the fanbase expects it, now it's time to do it.

I expected to make the tournament by year 3 and be making a run by year 4, and I feel like we're in the perfect situation to do just that. Was I disappointed right after the Maryland game and felt we should have won, of course. But I would have signed up for that result before the season

And I just looked back, you and @8893 both set the expectation at making the tournament year 3 after he was hired in 2018. So I think we're all on the same page that we would have signed up for that at the onset, but it was disappointing after losing to Maryland

 

[ConnHuskBask]

By all reasonable standards Hurley has exceeded expectations. Only a spoiled fanbase would think otherwise.

He is an outstanding coach and we are lucky to have him. Hopefully he retires at UCONN.

I think he's done a great job and I wouldn't want anyone else. With that said, exceeded expectations is too much.

I think we're right where we thought we'd be.