The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The Sweet 16/Elite 8 are taking place in 4 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from Las Vegas with a few player interviews from the UConn locker room.
JR G Andrew Hurley
Where does this week rank among the highlights of your career? It is definitely up there, we did not get what we wanted the past 2 years (9-PT loss to Maryland in the 1st round of the 2021 NCAA tourney and 7-PT loss to New Mexico State in the 1st round of the 2022 NCAA tourney) so to make it this far has been great.
Will your uncle (ASU coach Bobby Hurley) and/or grandfather (Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley Sr.) be in the arena this week? My grandfather will be here for sure, and I think my uncle will come up from Tempe as well. Hopefully my uncle can give us a little help with strategy if we play UCLA in the Elite 8.
Your father Dan was hired as coach at UConn 5 years ago today: what do you remember about that day? He was just trying to restore the program to its past glory.
There have been a lot of Big East coaching moves this week with Rick Pitino going to St. John’s (after you beat him by 24 PTS last Friday) and Ed Cooley moving from Providence to Georgetown: how great is your conference? The Big East is loaded and will be an even more interesting league next year.
SR G Nahiem Alleyne
You began your college career at Virginia Tech, where you scored 28 PTS/4-10 3PM in a 5-PT OT loss to Florida in the 2021 NCAA tourney: what is the key to winning games in March? You need to have that mentality of “win or go home” and see who will bring it more. I tell my teammates that we have worked too hard all year to go home now. March bring a different feeling for everybody.
Why did you transfer to UConn? The culture: it just felt like a good place for me to be. I wanted to help them keep building their history and it was the best decision that I ever made. I have become a tougher player because it is such a good conference?
This year your team started 14-0 and then lost 6 of its next 8: what went wrong, and what has gone right since then? Nothing went wrong: we just encountered a little adversity. My former coach Mike Young said that when things are not going right you can either lay down or fight back. We just have to throw the next punch, which we did in February, especially on the defensive end of the court: the sky is the limit.
Your assistant coach Luke Murray’s father Bill is 1 of the funniest men on the planet: have you had a chance to meet him yet? I have never met Bill, and only realized that he was Luke’s father a couple of weeks ago!
There have been a lot of Big East coaching moves this week with Rick Pitino going to St. John’s (after you beat him by 24 PTS last Friday) and Ed Cooley moving from Providence to Georgetown: how great is your conference? Really great: the Big East is getting better and better with all of those great coaches. I think that Coach Pitino even has a little Dan Hurley in him!
FR C Donovan Clingan
You are 7’2”: how much of an advantage is your size on the court? It helps a lot on the court but sometimes is it not so fun off the court. Trying to find clothing is a struggle: there are not a lot of places that sell pants with a 40” inseam!
You are from Bristol (where I used to work a LOOOOONG time ago): what was it like to grow up there? It was nice. Everyone got along and I gained a lot of support from the town throughout my childhood so I could not be more thankful.
Your assistant coach Luke Murray’s father Bill is 1 of the funniest men on the planet: have you had a chance to meet him yet? I gave him a fist bump at the Big East tourney a couple of weeks ago and finally got to say hi to him at our hotel in New York City. He said, “Hi, I’m Bill, Luke’s father”, and I responded, “Hi Bill, I know who you are”: he is a cool guy to be around.
You are 1 of only 5 teams to beat Alabama this year: how good are they? They are really good and have a lot of weapons. Even with Brandon Miller going scoreless in their 1st round game last Thursday they still won by 21 PTS.
You had 2+ BLK in each of your 2 games last week: how does the defensive game plan change when facing a taller team like Arkansas? I will keep trying to disrupt their shots and guard the paint: they have a lot of great athletes.