Hurley already planning next steps forward for Huskies

Dan Hurley had no desire to watch the NCAA tournament on Sunday, the day after UConn's season-ending loss.

He was still in mourning.

All the UConn basketball coach could think about was the last 45 minutes, seven seconds of the season.

That represents the final 5:07 of a Big East tournament semifinal loss to Creighton during which UConn led 53-48 before stumbling down the stretch and the entire 40 minutes of a disappointing performance in a 6354 loss to Maryland in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Overall, the Huskies made progress, returning to the postseason for the first time in five years. But ...

"You feel great about the steps that we took this year as a program, but that last 45 minutes and seven seconds of game play eats away at you as a coach and player if that's the last thing you did on the floor," Hurley said.

Hurley mentioned that 45:07 at least eight times during a 32-minute Zoom call with the media on Friday.

And expect to hear it again during the offseason and into next season. You might even see it on practice gear and t-shirts.

"All I have in my brain is 45:07," Hurley said. "It's etched in my brain. The last 45 minutes and seven seconds of game play should push and drive every member of this organization in the offseason — coaches with what they're doing on the court with players, or recruiting, or players in terms of their development and their commitment. The last 45 minutes, seven seconds is not who we want to be.

"That should drive all of us to push ourselves to deliver better next season and next March."

On Monday, Hurley met with his team, telling them to take a week to decompress, rest, let the emotion and fatigue leave their bodies and clear their minds. They'll gather again next week.

Hurley and his staff have already started to prepare for next season, evaluating what went well, what the team can build on and what the Huskies need to do better.

"In college basketball coaching, you go from one season to another," he said. "Now we go into the most critical season of all, which is recruiting and player development. For us to continue to move this thing forward back to where UConn belongs, you've