Being an athlete, especially at a young age, can be mentally exhausting. Sure, some players thrive from the get-go, finding their groove early on, but for others, the journey is way more challenging. The pressure to succeed, expectations from family, and the weight of your own dreams can take a toll. UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley knows this all too well. 

Growing up in Jersey City, with a Hall of Fame coach for a father, although a dream, came with its pressure for Hurley. He played high school ball at St. Anthony High School under his father’s guidance, leading the team to an incredible 31–1 record as a senior. But despite the early success, Hurley’s college career at Seton Hall didn’t pan out as expected. He battled inner demons.

“I just suffered and struggled. I was a mess,” he revealed about his time as a player at Seton Hall. “I couldn’t function anymore. I hated it. I despised it.” There was a time when he completely stepped away from the game he grew up loving. 

According to him, it’s hard to explain ‘emotional pain and suffering.’ But he believes, “It’s like the equivalent of tearing your Achilles, only on an emotional level.” For the UConn coach, basketball wasn’t just a sport; it was his entire identity. “At the time, my whole identity was wrapped up in being a basketball player, and that wasn’t going well. Meanwhile, everyone in my family was succeeding.”

His brother, Bobby Hurley, was a standout at Duke, where he won two NCAA championships in 1991 and 1992 and set an NCAA record for assists, earning a reputation as one of college basketball’s all-time great point guards. Dan, on the other hand, played for Seton Hall but didn’t reach the same heights. He reveals he wasn’t able to face his teammates, friends, and family. Moreover, he was not able to leave his room, eat food or sleep.

After a long time of being not sure who to talk to, he saw a psychiatrist with his mother. “They diagnosed me with depression and told me that I need a medical solution,” he revealed. And that hit him pretty hard. Hence, he decided to go against it and looked for a different way to recover. Thankfully, he found his calling as a coach, leading with compassion and ease — something he’d wish for himself.

Dan Hurley ensures emotional investment

“I just couldn’t handle it anymore. My mental health was shot, and I didn’t know what to do,” Hurley confessed on The Mental Game Podcast. For a 20-year-old kid who grew up in a basketball family, this was the ultimate low point.

Thankfully, Hurley didn’t give up on himself. He found a way back—not just to basketball, but to a life of meaning beyond the sport.

The UConn coach reveals he learnt a lot of things from his father, continues to do so. But something he had to find on his own was empathy and compassion. “He’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met and he’s just super easy to connect with,” Alex Karaban, one of the Huskies, admitted. The 51-year-old coach seemingly tries to lay it easy for his players, having trodden the rough patch. He involves himself in the sport just as much, if not more. He cries, yells, and laughs along, he told Fox Sports.

Jeff Gorra, from the same media house, writes, “he continuously proves, the little things make such a big difference. Even if you watched just the championship game vs. Purdue you would notice how much mutual respect there is between Hurley and his players. He speaks of (and coaches) each one of them as unique individuals.”

Hurley led Huskies to back-to-back NCAA national championships in 2023 and 2024. The program also set school-best 37 wins in the 2023–24 season and landed the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament for the first time in school history. But they’re not done yet. With Hurley at the helm, they’re chasing a historic three-peat. Let us see if they claim the victory!