Monday was a great day for UConn because of course it was.
I mean, who has better Mondays than UConn?
Remember, it was a Monday — specifically Monday, April 3, 2023 — when Dan Hurley guided the Huskies to a 76-59 victory over San Diego State to secure the program’s fifth national championship. Then, 53 Mondays later, Hurley guided the Huskies to a 75-60 win over Purdue to secure the program’s sixth national championship. Three Mondays after that, more great news — specifically that Saint Mary’s transfer Aidan Mahaney had picked UConn as his next destination after also visiting Kentucky, Creighton and Virginia. Six Mondays after that, more great news — specifically that Hurley had turned down a six-year, $70 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers to remain the coach at his Big East power.
Now here we are again — back with more great news for UConn on a Monday.
Darius Adams delivered the headline when the top-25 prospect from the Class of 2025 publicly announced his commitment to the Huskies live on CBS Sports HQ. Asked by Adam Finkelstein to explain why he picked UConn, the 6-foot-5 combo guard pointed mostly to its location and the coaching staff headlined by Hurley and bolstered by heralded assistants Kimani Young, Tom Moore and Luke Murray.
“First and foremost, [UConn is] close to home,” said Adams, who grew up in New Jersey about 200 miles from UConn’s campus. “And then, just, the coaching staff. Loved being around them. Their intensity in practice, I really like. I wanna be pushed hard. I wanna earn something. … Everyone has the same goal there. They wanna get better. And I wanna put myself in that position.”
It’s hard to argue with that, if only because it’s hard to argue with any opinion that includes somebody wanting to jump on the UConn train that is these days moving better than any other train in college basketball. The Huskies won a national title in 2023, did it again in 2024 and are currently the favorites in the betting markets to do it again in 2025 despite losing four starters one year after losing three.
It’s all pretty nuts.
As I’ve noted before, if Hurley is able to become the only men’s Division I basketball coach to three-peat besides John Wooden, I’ll be comfortable calling it the greatest achievement in the history of the sport, all things considered, because that’s what it would be once you combine the raised eyebrows now connected to Wooden’s legacy, the size of the current NCAA Tournament Hurley is coaching in relative to the size of the smaller NCAA Tournament Wooden navigated, and the constant roster-turnover happening in college athletics now that coaches from previous eras, Wooden included, just didn’t have to deal with.
Simply put, it’s harder now than ever to be consistently great.
But Hurley is making it look easy.
Monday served as the latest reminder when UConn added the first member of its 2025 recruiting class. (There’s more to come, obviously). Two Mondays from now, we’ll see Hurley on the sideline again for the first time since April when his Huskies meet Rhode Island in an exhibition inside Mohegan Sun Arena. Twenty-five Mondays after that, the championship game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament will be held in San Antonio. A lot of things will have to break right for Hurley to get there, then even more things will have to break right for him to win it. It’s a daunting task, for sure. Like our Candid Coaches series suggested last month, the smart move would likely be to bet against it. Probabilities and all that.
But I’m not betting my money against it.
Nope, not this time.
Because nobody in college sports has better Mondays than UConn. And, man, I’ve just seen too many great ones from the Huskies in recent years to assume with any degree of certainty that another one isn’t on deck once April rolls around.
