The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Hurley: This is what a rebuild looks like
This is what it looks like. The first year of a major rebuild at a college basketball program isn’t supposed to be easy. It’s filled with pitfalls, both expected and unexpected. For every small step forward there’s a big step back. There are lost road trips, disappointed fans and stressful moments with a group of players recruited by the previous coach.
And, more than anything?
“Losing,” said Dan Hurley, in classic, deadpan, Hurley fashion.
He should know. If anyone has a blueprint for rebuilding a program, it’s Hurley. Flips programs like real estate investors flipped houses in the early 2000’s, or something like that (yes, it’s someone else’s line).
Hurley did it at Wagner, did it at Rhode Island, and now he’s one year into his toughest project yet, at UConn. All three situations brought their unique circumstances, but plenty of similarities, as well.
“Crushing losses, some lopsided games, too,” Hurley said last week. “Beyond that, I would say it’s the exact same thing. You come in and try to identify the young players in the program that you can lay the foundation with, that will return after the first year. You try to get the absolute best staff of people hired. When that first recruiting class comes in, you want to have your staff in from that point. In addition to your coaches, you want to have the foundation with some young guys that can bridge that first year. Now, your guys are in and you continue to grow until you’re championship-ready.”
At Wagner, Hurley took over a program that had just five wins in 2009-10 and directed it to 13 wins — the best turnaround in the nation among first-year coaches. In his second year at the helm, the Seahawks won a program-record 25 games. That’s when URI came calling.
Hurley took over the Rams’ program in 2012 and inherited a true mess. Two days after his hire, talented freshman Jonathan Holton was arrested for video voyeurism and booted from the program. Not long after that, the athletics department realized it had calculated the team’s APR number incorrectly. Rhody had
an APR of 813, triggering red flags and an institutional plan to improve the team’s APR or risk a postseason ban (as UConn suffered that season). It limited Hurley’s ability to recruit, and it forced him to keep some players in the program he probably otherwise wouldn’t have kept, or suffer the APR consequences if they left the program and wound up flunking out elsewhere.
URI, which had gone 7-23 the prior season under Jim Baron, was just 8-21 in Hurley’s first season, but beat Auburn in double-overtime, lost 14 games by single digits and were truly blown out just once. The next year, Hurley brought in his guys — E.C. Matthews and Hassan Martin, along with a few transfers who had sat out the previous year. The team went 14-18.
In his third year, Hurley added Jared Terrell (who’s now in the NBA) and Jarvis Garrett. The Rams went 23-10 and to the NIT, where they lost to eventual champion Stanford in the second round.
Matthews’ season-ending ACL injury harpooned the 2015-16 season, and the Rams went 17-15. Rutgers, where Hurley has been an assistant, came calling, but Hurley wanted to see things out with “his guys” at Rhody. The rest is history: URI went to the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 18 years. They advanced to the second round both times. Hurley’s rebuild was complete.
This is what it looks like.
‘THE NOISE IS LOUDER. MORE PEOPLE CARE’
Now, UConn. Hurley inherited another mess, on the backs of consecutive losing seasons and a poor work ethic both on the court and in the classroom when he initially took over. While the end result — 16-17 overall 6-12 in the AAC — doesn’t look overwhelming the improvement was evident. Injuries to Jalen Adams and Alterique Gilbert quashed what looked like some positive momentum midway through the league season. There were no early-season upsets by midmajors and far fewer blowout losses.
Still, there were nights like at USF, when the Huskies blew a 13-point lead and lost by eight. Or at Temple (81-63) or at SMU (77-59). Or, of course, Friday’s 39point, season-ending loss to Houston.
This, after all, is what the first year of a rebuild looks like. There is one difference.
“(At URI), you’re able to do it on an island, even more so at Wagner,” Hurley noted. “You’re able to rebuild the program without a whole lot of people caring, until you get real good. Here, everyone’s living and dying with every loss as you’re going through a rebuilding process. It’s frustrating for everyone because of the level this place has been at, which is different than the other places.”
“That’s it,” he added. “It’s the same work. The noise is louder, and more people care.”
What does Hurley’s ideal roster look like? Something like the Houston team that dismantled the Huskies on Friday. Hurley wants a roster that goes 10-deep; the Cougars’ “pack of wolves” was unrelenting on Friday. Defensively, UConn was “nothing like what I would like to do” this season, according to Hurley; Houston is one of the best overall defensive teams in the nation.
Size, speed, athleticism, shot-makers, rim-protectors, an exuberant love for the game. Houston has everything Hurley wants in a team.
And, of course, talent. This is probably what the Huskies lacked most of all this season. It’s been evident in practices, where top recruit Akok Akok (currently a walk-on) has truly stood out since enrolling in January. It’s what UConn needs, what Dan Hurley needs, to continue the upward arc of this rebuild.
Akok is ready to go next season. Guards James Bouknight and Jalen Gaffney, Hurley-style players, will be on board. More recruiting work is to be done. Gilbert, Christian Vital, Josh Carlton, Tyler Polley, Brendan Adams would make a solid returning base, if they all come back.
Will Akok, Bouknight, Gaffney turn out to be UConn’s equivalent to Matthews, Martin and Terrell? The building blocks for a better future?
We won’t know for another few years.
For now, this is what it looks like.
“This is the part that stinks to get through,” said Hurley, “on the way to get good again.”