UConn is trying to become the first team to repeat as NCAA men's basketball champion in 17 years. If the Huskies succeed, it could be a long time before it happens again. Coach Dan Hurley says it's only getting tougher to defend a championship. With the transfer portal and name, image and likeness money out there, it's hard to keep a team together.
UConn’s repeat try may be the last for a while. ‘It’s going to get tougher,’ coach Dan Hurley saysUConn head coach Dan Hurley argues with an official during the first half of the Sweet 16 college basketball game against San Diego State in the men’s NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Boston. UConn players celebrate shortly before defeating San Diego State during the second half of the Sweet 16 college basketball game in the men’s NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Boston.
Repeating has never been easy, though John Wooden figured it out pretty well at UCLA, winning seven in a row from 1967-73 behind future Hall of Famers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — then known as Lew Alcindor — and Bill Walton. “For us, I think we’ve made it look easy in these past two tournaments,” Hurley said. “But it’s hard.”on Thursday night in a rematch of last year’s title game, becoming the first defending champions since the 2007 Gators to make it back to the Elite Eight. Even so, this year’s Huskies are much different than last year’s NCAA champions.
The Illini have supplemented a team that lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year and hasn’t been to a regional final since making it to the 2005 championship game.They joined forward Coleman Hawkins, who has stuck around in Champaign for four years, and guard Ty Rogers, who is in his second year with the Illini.
At UConn, the new players complemented guard Tristen Newton, who joined the Huskies for their title run last year after three years at East Carolina. Forward Alex Karaban was a freshman for the national championship team, and so was center Donovan Clingan, who at 7-foot-2 could have been a first-round NBA draft pick but decided to come back for more seasoning.
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