Leitao values time at UConn, praises Hurley

Dave Leitao first learned about the Hurley basketball family some 40 years ago, when Leitao was playing at Northeastern University.

A couple of Leitao’s teammates were products of St. Anthony’s High, the basketball powerhouse in Jersey City, N.J. that was coached by Bob Hurley Sr. for many years.

When Leitao began his coaching career soon after his playing career was over, he got to know the Hurley family even better through frequent recruiting trips over the years.

“I can’t tell you how many trips I’ve made to White Eagle Hall, watching Bobby and Danny getting yelled at by their dad,” Leitao said, referring to St. Anthony’s longtime practice gym. “What I think came out of there was a certain level of toughness that Coach (Bob) Hurley had with his St. Anthony’s programs. His two sons came from that.”

And that’s why Leitao, who served two stints as Jim Calhoun’s assistant at UConn, helping the Huskies to an NIT championship, the “Dream Season” and their first national title in 1999, believes Dan Hurley is perfectly suited as UConn’s head coach.

“As a player in high school and at Seton Hall, as a coach in high school, as a college coach now, toughness and never-say-die attitude and playing the game the right way are always things I had a very high level of respect for for him and the whole Hurley family,” Leitao said during a Big East Media Day Zoom call last week. “So, I’m not surprised as to what’s going on with the positive transformation he’s done in a short period of time with UConn. I think of him with the highest level of respect and admiration, because of how he’s grown in this game. He’s paid his dues. He wasn’t given anything because he was a coach’s son, he had to earn everything — particularly being Bobby’s younger brother, with all the accolades Bobby has gotten as a player at Duke and in the NBA. I think he’s the right man at the right time for UConn.”

Leitao is now in his second tenure as head coach at DePaul. It hasn’t gone quite as swimmingly as his first.

From 2002-05, Leitao led the Blue Demons (playing

in Conference USA) to an NCAA tournament appearance sandwiched between a pair of NIT bids. That helped get him the head job at Virginia, where Leitao led the Cavaliers to the NCAA tournament in his second year but resigned after going 10-18 overall in his fourth season at the helm.

In four of Leitao’s five seasons since his return to DePaul, which now resides in the Big East, the Blue Demons have finished under .500. They did advance to the CBI finals two years ago, however, losing to South Florida.

Following last season’s dead-last finish in the Big East, speculation was rife that Leitao would be fired. Instead, he received an extension through 2023-24.

Leitao is excited about UConn’s return to the Big East this season.

“My time there meant the world to me, personally, meant the world to me, professionally,” he noted. “Them entering back into the Big East is monumental, because of the success that they’ve had as a major force in this league. I compliment Coach Hurley for quickly returning back to a

style of play and a physical nature, the things that UConn has stood for, he’s quickly returned to. As well as having a really good team. So, there’s an immediate worry, from my standpoint, about the two visits that we’ll have with them.”

The Huskies are slated to play at DePaul in its fourth Big East game on Dec. 23. The game could be played inside DePaul’s new downtown arena, though will possibly have to be played at its smaller on-campus arena due to COVID-19 restrictions. The remainder of the Big East’s schedule after that has yet to be mapped out, so it’s unknown right now when Leitao will make his return to Gampel.

Whenever it is, it won’t be his first trip back. Leitao coached against UConn twice during his two-year stint as Northeastern’s head man (1994 and 1995) and was back at the XL Center on Feb. 12, 2014 as an assistant coach with Tulsa.

“I’m sure going back there, as I have before with a couple of other teams, will be more emotional than a normal game,” Leitao noted. “But our team and their team will compete at a high level, as all schools do in this league. So, I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to see

ing some old faces, and just enjoying the experience. Because I know the positivity of UConn and the Big East has been such a wonderful thing, nationally, for college basketball.”

AIKEN ACHIN’ TO PLAY

The last time college hoops fans saw Bryce Aiken play around these parts, he was a junior guard at Harvard torching Yale for 38 points in the Ivy League championship game on March 17, 2019 at Lee Amphitheater. Of course, Yale won the game 97-85 to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

Aiken (who didn’t play against UConn the past two years when Harvard played “secret scrimmages” with the Huskies, due to injuries) is now a grad transfer at Seton Hall. The New Jersey native is expected to have an immediate impact with the Pirates, who were picked to finish fifth in the Big East preseason coaches’ poll.

At least Aiken will get to play this season. Numerous sources within the league believe there’s a good chance there will be no Ivy League basketball season this winter. A decision by the league’s presidents is expected in a couple of weeks.

“I wish them the best that they and their families can stay healthy amidst the pandemic, and that they stay ready,” Aiken said. “You ever know what’s gonna happen if they do have something the second semester. They’ll just have to be creative.”

FIGHT ON

UConn athletics has announced the launch of the Fight on Fund campaign, an effort to raise critical funds needed to ensure the safety, wellbeing, and experience of the school’s 650-plus studentathletes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cancellation and postponement of fall sports have resulted in significant revenue losses, and the Fight on Fund will help mitigate those losses. Donations will go toward scholarship support, academic support, COVID testing, sports medicine, nutrition, and mental health services, as well as other operational needs.

Individuals who give to the Fight on Fund during the 2020-21 donor year will receive 2x the standard priority points (20 points per $100).

For more information on the Fight on Fund, go to fof.uconnhuskies.com.

Elsa / Getty Images Former UConn assistant coach Dave Leitao, now in his second stint as DePaul’s head coach, is excited to return to Gampel Pavilion at some point.