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Dan Hurley’s UConn Royalty Captivates Barack Obama And Draymond Green: “Incredibly Impressive”

Published 04/09/2024, 12:45 AM EDT

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The NBA world joined the bandwagon to celebrate UConn men’s back-to-back titles. While the odds were favoring the Huskies right through the Final Four round, the team managed to pull off yet another win with a double-digit margin, 75-60. “What a special group of people”, exclaimed Dan Hurley about his team while talking to the cameras. Draymond Green straight away showered praises for Huskies head coach Dan Hurley with a special comparison. The Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young and former POTUS Barack Obama also joined the party.

The Golden State Warriors power forward took to his X handle and compared Hurley to the 9x NBA Champ, coach Steve Kerr. Green wrote, “That was very Steve Kerr-esque Dan Hurley!! Hit the corner while the big is off fake the handoff hit the slip.” The seasoned Warriors star picked up the similarities in the play-making aspect drawn by Hurley.

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Barack Obama also took to his X handle and wrote, Congrats to the back-to-back national champs, @UConnMBB! Great season by an incredibly impressive team.” The ardent ball fan never missed a beat to drop his opinions on the highlights of the NBA and NCAA. 

Following him, Trae Young also sided with Green and hailed the greatness of Dan Hurley via his X post. Ice Trae went a step further and called him the ‘Best’. He wrote, “Dan Hurley gonna be considered one of the best to ever do it when his career is over.”

Ahead of the tip-off, the State Farm Stadium had set the stage for a historic win for UConn. They became the first team to win back-to-back championships in nearly two decades. The win was always on the cards for the Connecticut program, as they stormed their way through knockouts with big-margin wins. Tonight, it was the two guards who made it work for the Huskies. Tristen Newton and Stephon Castle dropped 35 points together to amp up a 75-60 victory. This victory in itself made an impressive stat for the team. They have registered a double-digit margin in all their victories in the last two years. Truly a champion stuff.

The Dan Hurley legacy

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The 51-year-old charismatic Dan Hurley truly emerged as the face of UConn’s thumping two-year run. Ever since Hurley returned to the program in 2018, the star coach turned the team’s approach to the game. There are multiple instances of Hurley walking up to the middle of the court during the timeouts and waving his hands at the crowd to turn up the frenzy. He also brought in an uncanny approach to coaching style as well. About his approach, he said, “I’m authentic, and I am who I am… I don’t really care what people necessarily think of my intensity.”

Hurley put his in pedestal ahead of the Final Four round and dropped a lavishly confident statement. He said, “The level of basketball that we’re playing right now is going to be really, really hard to beat,” reported ESPN. Sticking to his statement, UConn definitely became a hard nut to crack, with the quality of defense on the court. 7′ 2 Donovan Clingan has been the centerpiece of the team’s defense.

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And, it isn’t a story about a team that was dominant from Day 1. The team had a freshman in Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer, who came in as a transfer without championship experience. Importantly, Hurley promoted Clingan, who had zero to little experience, playing minor roles from the bench.

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Now that Hurley produced a back-to-back, will he continue to keep up his Steve Kerr-esque coaching style in the coming years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Written by:

Shahul Hameed

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Shahul Hameed is a Senior NBA Writer at EssentiallySports. Armed with a Master's Degree in journalism from a distinguished institute, his journey into sports writing began during his college days, and since then, Shahul has been captivated not only by the remarkable consistency of Stephen Curry but also by the enduring legacy of LeBron James. He specializes in covering the live basketball action.
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Edited by:

Daniel D'Cruz