UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley indeed has an eye for talent. His impressive track record says it all. After all, he brought in players like Alex Karaban, and how can we forget the star-studded 2023 class, aka the ‘Fab Five’? Now, he’s pulled in another gem, 5-star guard Braylon Mullins, the program’s third top-25 commitment in the 2025 class.

The Huskies have won the last two championships and given how they are going about business this season, they will be favored to make it three in a row. This blueprint for success has been created based on tactical genius and also shrewd recruitment strategy. So what is Hurley’s recruitment philosophy and how does get it right almost every time? Well, we hear from the man himself.

The Huskies coach talked about what qualities he looks for in a player during a recent interview with Fox 61 and mentioned what pulls recruits to the UConn program. “I think what attracts the people that we’ve been winning championships with and the people that have been getting to the NBA with their careers and doing great things. They share the obsession. They share a relentlessness about them, in their pursuits on a daily basis. That’s what’s made it work so well. And those are the type of people, that thrive with me. People will struggle with me if they don’t, love it, the way I love it.”

When asked if these qualities can be assessed during the recruitment process, Hurley divulged that it is possible, but they have to pay full attention while scouting. Moreover, he mentioned the recruitment team has to look for “tells” to get a good idea about the player they are after.

“You know, look for tells on the phone when you talk to them or tells with a text message or when they take the campus visit. Are they playing with their phone at dinner or are they engaged with you? Do they look bored when they’re watching your team practice? Are they following that basketball? Like, it’s really, really important,” Hurley told Fox 61’s Jonah Karp at Big East Media Day.

“You’re not just looking at athletic traits,” the Huskies coach declared. Karp mentioned whether their upbringing plays a role and Hurley agreed adding, “Families, pedigree, mindset, personality. We have to recruit people that can handle pressure, that can thrive under stress. And they’re gonna have the ability to play their best, best basketball in championship moments, but even more importantly, can handle the grind of the workload that we demand of our players because playing at UConn, for this coaching staff is not for everyone.”

The Huskies’ performances in recent seasons have only been getting better, securing championships for two consecutive years. Till now, they have hit the court in the NCAA tournament 36 times, winning 6 times. That was precisely the reason Mullins chose Dan Hurley’s UConn. 

“I felt like playing for Coach Hurley was the best decision and fit for myself,” the guard said after beating out offers from Indiana and North Carolina. It was all because of the UConn Huskies’ recent back-to-back national titles and Hurley’s no-nonsense, yet caring, approach. 

“A national championship is the ultimate goal when you go to college. I want to have a chance for that,” he expressed. Despite players graduating and moving on, UConn has retained the quality players in their ranks. This coupled with their success in the transfer portal has been a key factor behind Hurley’s success and this is something that NCAA analyst Evan Miyakawa shed light on two weeks ago.

Talking on the Locked On UConn podcast, Miyakawa said, “You can get them from the transfer portal. You can get them from the high school ranks. You can re-recruit your own guys and keep them to stay for multiple years. What is the best way to do it and UConn is the model.”

During their championship success last year, UConn acquired a number of high-quality players from the transfer portal while recruiting freshmen and also keeping hold of their key players. This helped them to fill the gaps left by the graduating stars.

Miyakawa added, “I think that’s what we saw last year with guys like Tristan Newton, Donovan Clingan and Alex Karaban returning that was huge for UConn and that’s the bulk of why they were successful last year.”

Braylon Mullins is another step in the right direction by Hurley and UConn. Ranked 24 in ESPN 100, the shooting guard from Greenfield-Central High School spent time with Indiana Elite over the summer on the Adidas 3SSB circuit. He averaged 19.4 points and shot 47.3% from 3-point range in 17 games on the 3SSB circuit. His addition comes after Darius Adams and Eric Reibe committed to the program in the last few weeks.

Other promising additions to Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies 

Adams, another top-25 recruit and a versatile combo guard, brings positional size and shooting power to the team. Although, as a whole, he must be more than that, as he averages over 40% from three. “He gets you ready for the next level,” Adams said of Hurley, appreciating his tough-love coaching.

The 6-foot-5 combo guard from New Jersey also knows how to create plays off the dribble and loves that Hurley gets his shooters open. Then there’s Eric Reibe, a talented 7-footer with a solid face-up game and a soft shooting touch. 

He landed at UConn after experiencing Germany’s U18 team. So, he surely knows how to play on big stages. But what drew him to the Huskies was the player development. “[Hurley’s] plan with me aligns perfectly,” Reibe explained to ESPN, being his reason to go for Dan Hurley and Co. over major programs like Kansas and Creighton.

With this stacked 2025 class and aiming for a three-peat, the UConn Huskies’ future looks bright. The coach’s knack for finding top-notch talent who buys into his ‘relentlessness’ and ‘obsession,’ as he shared in an interview, shows he is building a team around a top-notch philosophy that will continue to drive UConn’s success.