Fresh off of winning back-to-back national titles, UConn basketball coach Dan Hurley spoke to OutKick's Dan Dakich about the challenges growing in the shadow of his father and brother.
Dan Hurley has lived up to the Hurley family name, but coming from basketball royalty had its challenges. Hurley, like his older brother Bobby Hurley, won back-to-back national championships. Dan won his titles with the UConn Huskies, including last week's 75-60 win over the Purdue Boilermakers. Bobby’s success came in college as a player at Duke, winning back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992. After several years in the NBA, he turned to coaching.
Surrounded by success, Dan Hurley sometimes struggled with the pressure. 'It was tough. I can’t imagine doing it today with social media,' Hurley said during an interview with OutKick’s 'Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich. 'Back then, you had to wait for the newspaper the next day to read about how bad you were in relation to what Bob was accomplishing.
To be in a household where you made the same exact commitment, you had the same coach, you had the same upbringing, you made the same exact sacrifices, and then you get nowhere near the rewards. At that time, it sucked to go through and was tough.' Hurley had a standout career at St. Anthony, but his struggles began at Seton Hall. 'Fans in the northeast — New York, New Jersey — and the media. When you’re not measuring up, they’re tough on you. You hear it.
drank a lot. I partied a lot. I wasn’t in the gym as much as I should've been or needed to. It's almost like I didn’t want to see if I was good enough. It’s almost like I wanted to have some type of an excuse if I didn’t get to the level that Bob got to or a level of greatness. 'Then, I could look back at it and say, ‘Yeah, you know what? I drank too much, I partied too much.
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