It’s early Sunday afternoon. We are in Fort Worth. Connecticut basketball is closing in on history. With an 18-point win over bitter rival Notre Dame, the Huskies move one step closer to another potential championship, clinching their spot in this weekend’s Final Four.
It’s now Sunday evening. We are in Washington. Connecticut basketball is closing in on history. With a miracle shot and a 1-point win over fellow powerhouse Duke, the Huskies move one step closer to another potential championship, clinching their spot in this weekend’s Final Four.
Yup. The self-proclaimed basketball capital of the world is at it again. Men, women, doesn’t matter … in March, their madness is magic.
The question isn’t if UConn deserves the “capital of the world” title, but rather how the sprawling campus in the middle of Connecticut keeps doing what it’s doing. For the sixth time in school history, UConn is sending both its men’s and women’s programs to the Final Four. It’s the 15th time a college has had both basketball programs in the Final Four.
With stunning consistency and unrivaled success, Storrs, Conn., continues to sit atop the NCAA world, even as the ground beneath it shifts and moves in unprecedented ways. Dropped almost midway across the northern quadrant of Connecticut’s 110-mile width, tucked nicely along the north-south corridor from New York to Boston, UConn has carved its identity through this college basketball greatness — capitalizing on the area’s absence of major professional men’s teams to build an unbreakable bond with what has become a deep and abiding fandom.
“It’s utterly incredible,” Bob Hurley said in a telephone conversation Wednesday, still marveling at what his son Dan’s team did in D.C., and beyond that, what UConn as a whole continues to accomplish.
A Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer after winning 26 state championships coaching the now-closed St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J., Hurley has enjoyed every step of this next chapter rooting for Connecticut.
“Their facilities are second to none, the fan support is amazing,” he said. “You’ve got two teams playing at the same time during the tournament, and they’ll have bought every ticket for both games. The fans are so supportive. Some fans will even go to both. There’s so many things — the proximity to Boston and New York — but still being its own world. How the state of Connecticut has just embraced the university has helped make it so successful. They get the right kind of kids.”
Because they got the right kind of coaches.
This is coach Geno Auriemma’s 25th Final Four, a testament to the women’s program he built from the ground up, a chance to add to his record 12 national championships. If his team can go back-to-back, a 13th title would be the seventh with an undefeated record.
On the men’s side, this is Dan Hurley’s third Final Four in the last four years, with the first two resulting in his own back-to-back titles. Built on the back of Jim Calhoun’s original plan, which resulted in three national championships, and continuing through the tenure of Kevin Ollie and his one title, Hurley has taken the baton like an Olympic relay runner.
Together, they are the sport’s royalty. Sure, there are other schools that would love to push them aside, some that might even have a case. No. 1 Michigan is in the men’s Final Four and its women fell just a game short, losing to Texas in the regional final. Duke, with five men’s titles under Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski, joins Kara Lawson, who just lost in her second straight regional final. The Duke women made 21 straight tournament appearances and lost in two national title games between 1995-2010.
South Carolina’s women, led by Dawn Staley, have won three titles since 2017, but the men and their one Final Four (2017) have only been back to the tournament once since. Baylor, Notre Dame, UCLA, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina — take your pick. All great programs. None matching UConn’s combined résumé.
Both Auriemma and Hurley don’t simply convince the best players in the country to play for them. Their history of success gives the pick of top recruits. What they’ve done is find the right player to fit in their program, a player who might want a nice NIL deal, but isn’t going to make that the No. 1 question, or pursue that at the expense of the opportunity to win a title.
“If the first thing they want to talk about is money and then they’re going to talk about how they can fit in, then it’s not the place for them,” Bob Hurley said. “Danny uses the word ‘uncomfortable.’ He wants them to be uncomfortable in practice so they can be comfortable in the games.”
That was apparent Sunday, with that last-second 3-pointer by Braylon Mullins coming precisely because the Huskies stayed calm, ready on defense to deflect Cayden Boozer’s pass after the ball was inbounded. Earlier, as the women roared past Notre Dame, the same dynamic was evident.
“I would say the adversity is me, right?” Auriemma said after his team’s win. “Every day for five months they have to put up with me, so I try to be for them all the things that can happen at this time of the year that you need to be prepared for.”
Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at tara.sullivan@globe.com. Follow her @Globe_Tara.