Adams building strong bond with Hurley
Storrs — The relationship between a star player and head coach is a vital one.
Senior Jalen Adams and coach Dan Hurley are in a good place as far as their relationship is concerned.
They've reached an understanding about Hurley's expectations for Adams which can be summed up in one word: Dominate.
"My point to him is every single day on the court, the people that come to practice should walk out of here saying that's one of the best guards in the country," Hurley said on Friday. "If they're not saying that after that workout, then you failed that day.
"Just getting him to understand that a great player plays every possession both ends of the court all day long. Just competes at the highest level. Game is always razor sharp. Team is always winning. And they're always standing out as a player that makes the game look easy.
"So my standard for him every day is he should dominate practice."
Building a strong relationship with his players is on Hurley's daily to-do list and an important part of rebuilding the program.
Hurley finds moments to have a meaningful conversation — during a brief break in practice, between lifts in the weight room, in his basketball office or at lunch.
With Adams, Hurley gradually got to know him after being hired in March before offering advice about the guard's future.
At the end of last season, Adams declined to say whether he would return next season or test the NBA draft waters.
"I probably took about a month and just tried to develop a relationship," Hurley said. "I didn't really talk to him much about coming back or leaving. It was more so just talking about his experience so far at UConn and his goals and what he wanted to accomplish in his career at the professional level.
"Once we kind of got to know each other and I got to know his family, then I was able to just be honest with him about where I saw his career, both what he accomplished at this point and what his chances were at the NBA level. In order for you to be honest with somebody, you've got to have a little bit of a relationship first, so we had to build that first.
"Then I was brutally honest with him that if he aspired to play in the NBA, that he was going to have to come back and be one of the best guards in college basketball for his senior year if he wanted to make that it happen."
Adams says he never had to be sold on returning to UConn.
His reason for being vague when asked
about his plans during Hurley's introductory press conference in March had to do with not wanting to take any of the spotlight.
Adams knew about Hurley's coaching style from watching Rhode Island play last season.
His relationship with Hurley quickly blossomed. And he's already reaping the rewards.
"Just by tough love, really," Adams said. "It was like blind trust. I had to believe what he was telling me was the right thing. And it's been working for me so far. It's been good getting my body in better shape. Everything he says, it's tough at the time but it pays out.
There was another driving force behind Adams buying in. He believes there's some unfinished business to take care off after suffering two straight losing seasons.
"Playing AAU and high school basketball, I've never been on a losing team," Adams said. "I never want to leave anywhere on a bad note. I just see the potential our team has and just what a great coaching staff. I know we can be really special."
The odds of the Huskies contending for the American Athletic Conference title next season improve greatly with Adams on the court. He led the Huskies in scoring (18.1 points), assists (4.7) and also averaged 4.2 rebounds last season.
Adams will be one of the favorites to win the AAC Player of the Year award.
The Huskies have faith that Hurley will turn the program around.
"He reminds us how humble we need to be as a program and as players," Adams said. "Coming from two losing seasons, we have nothing to be cocky about. We're starting from the bottom. We know there's people in our conference that we need to catch up to and out-work." g.keefe@theday.com