UConn Coach Dan Hurley identifies good recruits by first looking at their parents: 'They tell on themselves'

Dan Hurley, the head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Connecticut — which has just won back-to-back national championships — claimed that when he heads out on the recruiting trail, he doesn't just look at the play on the court. For a quality player who will fit in with his program, Hurley first looks at a player's parents.

"We spend a lot of time really focusing on the parents," Hurley told CBS, according to FootballScoop. "Are they going to be fans of their son, or are they going to be parents?"

Some parents these days keep their son's skin thin by catering to his whims and ego, "constantly complaining about the coaches after a bad game" without ever pushing him "to do more" and "play harder," Hurley said.

Hurley looks for parents who will hold their child accountable and "have an expectation that when something goes wrong that it's not the coach's fault." "Their son's got to work harder," Hurley said. "He's got to do more; he's got to earn his role."

Hurley seemed to indicate that coddling parents are easy to spot. "They tell on themselves," he explained. "They drop hints."

Hurley suggested that coaches should avoid players — even those with raw talent — if they have parents more worried about protecting their children than developing them. "You've got the wrong type of people around the inner circle of your players, they'll sink your program," Hurley cautioned.

Hurley, 51, knows firsthand the importance of a strong family that holds one another accountable. Dan Hurley is the younger son of Bob Hurley, the legendary coach of the now-closed St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. Bob Hurley led the Friars to 28 state titles in 39 years, good enough for a spot in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Bob Hurley's other son, Bobby Hurley, won back-to-back national championships with Duke in the early 1990s. He now coaches the Sun Devils of Arizona State. In nine years at ASU, Bobby Hurley has made three NCAA tournament appearances, most recently in 2023.

"My dad started the whole thing," Bobby Hurley said last year. "If anyone has a problem with our competitive drive, you should probably start right there. He hated to lose. He rarely lost, and when he did, everyone was hiding in the house because that’s just how things were."

The Hurley family are also practicing Catholics, and Dan Hurley recently gave a speech about the importance of fatherhood at a fundraiser for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Hartford. "We can’t thank Coach Hurley enough for supporting our mission," said CEO Marek Kukulka. "He and his family are shining examples of dedication and commitment."

That strong foundation of faith and family has shaped Dan Hurley into the coach he is today. "I want to coach with integrity," he said, "... [and] be a coach’s coach like my dad, not a phony or a fraud or a liar or a cheater."

"I want to be the college version of my dad."

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