Hurley reminds us all the UConn brand is still strong MIKE DIMAURO

Storrs T hree little words. Yes. The rebirth of UConn sports happened Friday with three little words.

And it was Danny Hurley, the man entrusted with resuscitating State U's flagship sport, who uttered them: "transcends the conference."

OK, so the words maybe aren't so little. But nothing else Hurley said at his introductory news conference resonated as much as his response to a question about UConn's perch in the American Athletic Conference.

Hurley said that conversations about coaching other schools in The American might not have progressed so well. But that UConn's brand "transcends the conference." There's the future, folks. In three little words. They got the right guy at the right time who said the right thing. UConn's history and cachet transcends the conference. Now it's time for the Huskies to start doing so. And for the fans to hop on board.

Straight up: If Hurley does as is expected and provides the renaissance, the fans need to start supporting UConn for the sake of UConn. That means you show up on Tuesday night in January to watch East Carolina.

The following revelation hit sometime during Friday's news conference at the practice facility next to Gampel Pavilion: Our mindset never really changed here, not even in the days when Jim Calhoun was turning this into basketball royalty.

UConn's appeal was always tethered to the opponent, not merely the Huskies themselves. Sure, we all wanted to see Rip and Ray play. But the energy was always greater for Syracuse than Seton Hall. Some of that is human nature. But lately, it's become a pox on the program. Too much of UConn's identity is still rolled into that night's opponent,

which, in the AAC, generally begins with, "Who?"

Clearly, there are extenuating circumstances. Kevin Ollie turned every game into a tractor pull. Watching UConn-Tulsa is bad enough. But the perpetual shooting disorders got old in a hurry.

And so in many ways, the rebirth is tied to a new narrative. UConn basketball was built on Jim Calhoun and the Big East. This just in: The coach isn't walking through that door and the Big East is past tense, at least for our purposes. The new reality is that Danny Hurley must take UConn's history and, indeed, "transcend the conference." And what would happen if he did? The American ... would go national. It would gain the one thing it so dearly lacks: sex appeal. Imagine if UConn became UConn again. Suddenly, a league with UConn as the bell cow with Cincinnati, Houston, Wichita State and SMU doesn't look so bad. No, the natural rivals of the old days are gone.

But if Gonzaga can contend from the anonymity of the West Coast Conference, why can't UConn transcend its new digs and create a better narrative?

Full disclosure: Nobody has whined more about the AAC than I have. But the truth is this: UConn has been alarmingly mediocre for the last few years, thus inhibiting my (and anyone else's) right to complain. It's time the program honored its history by becoming the league's biggest story, not its biggest disappointment.

Hurley sounded very earnest Friday saying this was his dream job. A 'destination." He remembers the old days in the Big East. He gushed at the way Calhoun's teams used to play: substance, defense, rebound, effort. Hurley was taught as much by his dad, Bob, one of the greatest basketball coaches in the history of the world for decades at St. Anthony's in Jersey City.

Bet that's how they're going to play again here forthwith.

"It's humbling to lead this storied program," Hurley said. "UConn has one of the great brands in college basketball, a brand that can stand up to any other."

There's still much to monitor in the coming weeks, particularly as it relates to Ollie's payoff. If there is one. And where the money comes from. And whether this cash-stricken state is on the hook for any of it. But for now, UConn fans should rejoice. Their savior, built in the mode of the man who built everything, is here.

It's time to embrace the new reality with the new narrative. East Carolina on a Tuesday night? Well, it's not Georgetown with Big John and Patrick. But then as the great Stephen Stills sang: "If you can't be with the one you love, honey, love the one you're with." This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro