Dan Hurley gave his returning players two weeks to enjoy last season’s national title.
Then, it was time to get back to work.
Sure, there were trips to the White House, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium mixed in, but by the end of April, workouts had begun for the 2023-24 season.
The hard-driving Connecticut coach was going to start early in eliminating the potential for a post-championship hangover.
“It’s really easy to get seduced into thinking it’s going to be easy to do it again, or it’s going to be easy to make another run. Especially when we did it in such dominant fashion like we did last year,” Hurley said Thursday, as his Huskies, the top seed in the East Region, prepared to begin their title defense against No. 16 Stetson at Barclays Center, looking to become the first back-to-back champion since Florida in 2006-07.
“I’ve been tougher on the group throughout the season because I’ve just been trying to root out any form of complacency or entitlement with this team. You’re not entitled to anything, especially this time of year.”
An argument can be made that Connecticut (31-3) is better this year than the team that cut down the nets last April in Houston.
That team was a No. 4 seed and failed to win either the Big East regular season or postseason tournament.
This group has just one loss at full strength, is the overall No. 1 seed and is one of three teams ranked in the top 15 in offensive (first) and defensive (13th) efficiency.
Perhaps what makes these Huskies so unique given their talent level is the desperation they play with.
They are an elite defensive team, they are 10th in rebounding margin, and can win in a variety of ways.
In the Big East Tournament semifinals, UConn outscored St. John’s in a shootout.
The next night, it overwhelmed Marquette, the second seed in the Midwest Region, with defense and physicality. The Huskies can beat you at your style.
It begins with Hurley.
He admittedly has been harder on this team this year, more intense and demanding in practice.
More of a perfectionist, harping on every detail.
He spoke to a number of coaches in the offseason about trying to repeat, from Billy Donovan to Tom Izzo and Jay Wright to Mike Krzyzewski.
The message from Donovan, the coach of those Florida teams: Don’t chase a repeat. If you obsess over it, “it’s going to make you crazy,” Donovan, the Bulls coach, told him.
Early on, he set the bar high.
He singled out the path — from Brooklyn to Boston to Phoenix — which Connecticut would have as the No. 1 seed in the East Region.
“That was something we had targeted for a while,” assistant coach Luke Murray said. “That’s probably why we won in the first place, that sort of attitude of being able to move onto the next thing. The same thing applies this year, you come off a great win, you have to be able to turn the page quickly and get right back to the next thing.”
Another significant factor is so many players in this group have different roles or weren’t a part of those champions.
Donovan Clingan was a backup.
Alex Karaban was a role player.
Samson Johnson and Hassan Diarra are key cogs to the second unit.
Freshman Stephon Castle and impact Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer are new.
Despite many familiar faces, it is a different team, one that several Big East coaches believe is an improved version.
“If you go up to this point, by the first round, yes. But we have to win it all to say we were better than the team last year,” Diarra, a Queens native, said. “I was on last year’s team, so maybe that’s a little bit of motivation.”
It is clearly a motivated team.
The results back that up.
Hurley wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Coach has a motto: Reign and repeat. We live through that motto and we want to do that,” Diarra said. “He doesn’t talk about [Florida in 2006-07], but he talks about us making history and how we have a big opportunity to do so.”
