Emotions were high in the 2018 offseason following the hiring of Dan Hurley as UConn men’s basketball’s next head coach. The departing Kevin Ollie had helmed the Huskies to two straight losing seasons, while Hurley was an up-and-comer from a regional school that had seen a lot of success, winning two NCAA tournament games in that span, including a win over Trae Young and Oklahoma.
The results of that hiring have been unclear so far. We can definitively state that Hurley’s processes of development and team-building are a major improvement over his predecessor’s, but if it doesn’t lead to an improved stature of the team, it doesn’t matter.