Hurley breaks down roster as team’s title defense nears
ROCKY HILL — Uconn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley received a standing ovation as he made his walk up to the dais to break down this year’s roster at Monday’s annual Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
Last year, coming off a second consecutive first-round disappointment in the NCAA Tournament, his entrance was received with a “quietly polite applause.” Of course, with a national championship under his belt, things change a bit.
“Listen, you reach the pinnacle, you earn that,” he said. “So I’ll take it.”
Readying the Huskies for a title defense, Hurley doesn’t have the nerves he used to at this time of the year, the season just a week away. He’s excited and likes how the team looks, especially after its second “secret scrimmage” against Harvard over the weekend.
“I think (figuring out the lineup and rotations for early games is) what the two really secret scrimmages were for us. All of the practices are evaluation tools and then obviously those closed scrimmages are probably the biggest evaluation tool for us,” he said. “With a healthy Donovan (Clingan) playing I think our first seven is really clear. I think as you get to eight, nine, 10 and who’s the odd man out on that, it’s gonna be tougher.”
Clingan, originally expected to fully recover from his foot strain in time for the Nov. 6 season-opener against Northern Arizona, is feeling great, Hurley said. He is starting to ramp things up, taking next steps and hasn’t had any setbacks. Hurley will likely, depending on word from the medical staff, start low and increase Clingan’s minutes incrementally as the early part of the season progresses.
Here is Hurley’s player-byplayer breakdown of the 2023-24 Huskies:
Tristen Newton, fifth-year guard
“A lot’s expected of Tristen Newton, a couple triple-dou
Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer has landed the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked recruiting classes in his first two cycles since taking over for the legendary Mike Krzyzewski.
At Uconn, head coach Dan Hurley brought in a top-5 class in the Class of 2023 which is headlined by five-star point guard Stephon Castle, a consensus top-15 recruit, and the group of five freshmen is expected to play a large role in the upcoming season for the defending