“You want to win, you want to compete, you want to play hard,” the University of Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley made his intentions clear while going into the upcoming season. Hurley has taken the Huskies to two consecutive titles as he gears up for the start of the season. While there are some major changes in the squad, a UConn insider reveals that his rivals should be wary of his execution.

On Monday’s episode of Locked On UConn, Mark Zanetto shared his take on the Huskies going for a three-peat. Fans were excited to hear his prediction for the upcoming season.

“With everyone recognizing Hurley’s… you know… preseason superstition of nervousness, what followed was cautious optimism. This optimism should scare his Big East opponents in the rest of college basketball. Dan Hurley isn’t done nor is he thinking of the NBA or his roster for next season ala Bill Self. He’s coming that being said Hurley stressed that much like last year, the team’s development will be a process. He reminded the audience that nobody expected last year’s team to rise to the level it did. Dan loves to remind people that UConn was picked closer to finish… finishing fourth than they were third in the Big East preseason poll,” Zanetto stated.

The Huskies have lost four of their five starters from the 2023-24 season, and all of them were drafted in the NBA. While Tristan Newton and Cam Spencer got into the draft in the 49th and 53rd positions, Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle got the chance to be the seventh and fourth overall pick. Therefore, Hurley will have to restrategize his roster, which according to some might not get him his third $500K NCAA-winning bonus as per the video.

However, the 51-year-old himself has recently opined that he likes the new squad but doesn’t love it. Therefore, the optimism that he has hinted at in these sentences should be sufficient enough for his Big East rivals – including but not limited to Villanova, Marquette, and Creighton to pull up their socks. However, this is not the only reason that hints at Hurley being successful in his mission.

Dan Hurley’s post-season activities look like a prelude to a historic win

Days after clinching his second NCAA title, Hurley was offered a job with Kentucky. However, the New Jersey-born chose to decline the offer. Next, he was presented with a lucrative six-year, $70 million offer for the LA Lakers. But this time too Hurley decided to skip the proposed agreement in favor of his job at UConn. Hence, a lot of fans feel that this might be the early signs of him prepping for his third.

Meanwhile, Hurley has also landed the top 25 prospect from the Class of 2025, Darius Adams. Adams too looks confident in his decision to cling to Hurley. “First and foremost, [UConn is] close to home… 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,” Adams stated.

Therefore, going by how UConn is prepping up, it’s clear that they want to land their third. As for their new team, it will be obvious if they can execute their dreams, once they play some preseason games.