Dan Hurley didn’t have time for any false modesty while arguing with officials during Connecticut’s narrow overtime win against visiting Butler on Tuesday night.
The 52-year-old Huskies head coach was trying to dispute a non-call late in the first half, but in the midst of his pursuit of one official, the intended target backpedaled and turned his attention away from the furious Hurley.
‘Don’t turn your back on me,’ Hurley screamed, as seen in a video that has since gone viral. ‘I’m the best coach in the f***ing sport.’
Hurley has guided the Huskies to consecutive national championships, so he certainly has recent history on his side, even if this year’s Connecticut team has been up and down at 14-5.
But college basketball fans were nonetheless outraged over the comment, although they weren’t quite as belligerent as Hurley was in Storrs on Tuesday.
‘Been praying on his downfall since he played the [Lakers],’ one fan wrote, referring to Hurley’s brief flirtation with the NBA that resulted in a six-year, $50 million extension at UConn. ‘God is good.’
UConn head coach Dan Hurley calls out to his players in the first half of Tuesday’s win
UConn head coach Dan Hurley, left, referee Pat Driscoll, center, and Butler head coach Thad Matta share a light moment during the Huskies’ two-point win over the Bulldogs on Tuesday
‘This dude crashes out every game,’ another added, referring to Hurley’s frequent and volatile clashes with officials.
‘He’s not wrong but he’s also gotta chill,’ another more sympathetic fan added.
One X user joked that a ‘positive self-image is key to happiness.’
For his part, Hurley doesn’t deny being argumentative with refs. He just wishes ESPN focused its attention on other coaches, too.
‘I just wish they put the camera on the other coach more,’ he told reporters Tuesday. ‘I just wish they would show these other coaches losing their minds at the officials in other Big East games that I’m coaching where … I’m not talking to officials; I see the other coaches as demonstrative as I am.
‘But the camera, obviously … I’ve created this for myself. I’m not the victim.’
Hurley told reporters he was upset about a lack of ‘communication’ from refs, but went on to claim the Huskies have been hampered by officials all season.
And as Hurley appears to see it, a team as successful as his deserves the benefit of the doubt.
‘I don’t think there’s a program that’s won as much as we’ve won that at times gets as bad a whistle,’ Hurley said.
Solo Ball #1, Samson Johnson #35, Hassan Diarra #10, Jaylin Stewart #3 and Alex Karaban #11 react during overtime of an NCAA basketball game against the Butler Bulldogs at the XL Center
Hurley is from one of the more famous basketball families in the country.
He’s the son of legendary St. Anthony High School coach Bob Hurley Sr., a Hall of Famer who won 26 state titles in New Jersey and four national crowns while teaching six future NBA first-round draft picks.
And Hurley’s brother, Bobby, played in the NBA himself after winning a pair of national titles at Duke in the early 1990s. These days, Bobby Hurley Jr. is the head coach at Arizona State.
But it’s Danny who has been at the center of the basketball world for the last two seasons, winning a pair of national titles and drawing interest from the Lakers over the summer.
Ultimately Hurley would opt to stay in Connecticut after getting a raise, and has increasingly been seen as a villain in the eyes of rival fans.
‘Embarrassing comment that is nowhere near factually correct,’ one fan wrote of Hurley’s claim to officials on Tuesday.
Of course, Connecticut fans couldn’t be happier to have him: ‘He’s 100% right.’
