Hurley talks what’s next for Huskies
Dan Hurley discusses working from home, James Bouknight’s return, Andre Jackson’s arrival and walking his dogs on SNY.TV
UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley discusses the state of the program and his high expectations for next season on SNY.tv’s weekly interview series “Huskies at Home.”
UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley is happy to know he will have James Bouknight next season, but he also knows the clock is already ticking on his college career.
“With James, there is a self-awareness there,” Hurley told SNY’s Maria Marino for the weekly feature Huskies at Home on www.sny.tv. “He has outstanding people around him, he’s not getting mixed messages from his family or his grassroots coaches or mentors. He’s a very bright kid. He knows that if he continues to work hard and partner up with us, we’re going to get him there as quickly as we can to become that first-round pick, lottery pick, that he wants to be.”
Bouknight had a promising freshman season for UConn, playing 28 games after starting off with a three-game suspension, starting the last 16, averaging 13.0 points and 4.1 rebounds. He was the 20th UConn freshman to score more than 300 points. Over the last 13 games, he averaged 17.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
After the season, Bouknight said via social media that he had “unfinished business,” indicating he was coming back, but NBA scouts had him on their radar. All speculation ended on Sunday when the deadline for a player to enter and test the
NBA Draft passed.
“James did a terrible job of creating drama,” Hurley joked.
Interviews with UConn coaches have been dropping on SNY's website every Saturday at 10 a.m. Geno Auriemma, baseball coach Jim Penders and field hockey's Nancy Stevens appeared in April. After Hurley, hockey coach Mike Cavanaugh, football coach Randy Edsall and AD David Benedict will complete the series.
Hurley said that since being at home during the coronavirus shutdowns, he's trying his best to stay in a routine, manage his staff with virtual meetings and stay in touch with players.
“The way we function as a program,” he said, “we're very close to our players, used to the daily, hourly, person-to-person interaction. I get tremendous energy being around young people, and that's the real void that's been left. Just managing staff is not hard at a time like this but, man, I miss my players.”
With Connecticut's coronavirus restrictions scheduled to begin easing on May 20, it's possible UConn players could begin to gather at the Werth Center sometime in June. The program joins the Big East on July 1.
Looking back on the season, Hurley's second as coach, in which the Huskies won nine of their last 12 to finish 19-12, the program's first winning season since 2015-16, was a source of pride. Play was halted at the start of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
“You could see with us this year, there was a big improvement in the quality of basketball,” Hurley said.
“We kind of figured out how to win as January turned to February and February turned to March. Going into the conference tournament, we had as good a chance as anyone to win it because we were playing as good a basketball as anyone in the conference.
“… But it went beyond the record and how we did in the league. It was our fan base getting re-energized. UConn has some incredible, smart and passionate and one of the largest fan bases in the country and we had to earn their respect again. We had to kind of win them over, and even as we were going through the struggles the crowds were starting to get better and, by the end of the season, you could feel that fire had been lit.”
Hurley touted the new players coming in, especially Andre Jackson, a top 50 recruit from Albany.
“Andre Jackson, the kid from Albany, he's a freak,” Hurley said. “He's probably the best athlete I've ever coached, in terms of athleticism overall. He's a freak and he has an amazing gift as a playmaker. His vision and passing for a 6-foot-7 guy is unique.”
In other UConn news, Akok Akok's rehab from his ruptured Achilles is progressing on campus. Akok walked without crutches for the first time since his injury Feb. 16 and said “it feels amazing” on an Instagram post Thursday.
Hurley has been watching a lot of cooking shows at home, and getting out to walk his dogs, a Boxer named Amari and a Yorkie named Ava.
“I don't like being seen with the Yorkie,” he joked. “It's a bad look, the head coach of the Huskies walking with a teacup-size Yorkie.”
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com