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5 questions with UConn’s Dan Hurley

Dan Hurley continues to have UConn on an upward trajectory. The Huskies are 20-2 overall and in position to win a national title for the second consecutive season. I caught up with Hurley on Saturday at MSG after UConn’s win over St. John’s to discuss the ceiling of this year’s team, Cam Spencer, and much more.

Jon Rothstein: At this stage, is this team better than last year’s team that won the national title?

Dan Hurley: I don’t know. It’s hard to quantify. Last year at this time, we weren’t in a good place. We didn’t handle these Big East games well. I just think this group’s upside is great because we haven’t been able to have all of our pieces healthy. With the emergence of Stephon Castle — there’s not a freshman in the country that’s playing better than he is. He’s playing winning basketball and you’ve obviously got the two tremendous guards in the backcourt with Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer plus the game changer in the middle with Donovan (Clingan). We’re going to be tough to beat.

Rothstein: When you were down against St. John’s in the second half on Saturday, Cam Spencer was the guy who made the timely baskets you needed. Why do you think that you and he have been such a good marriage after he transferred from Rutgers?

Hurley: We’re very similar. We’re both ruthless competitors. We’re both basketball psychopaths. We’re very narrow focused on the few passions that we have in our lives — family, basketball, and that’s pretty much it. He’s probably the guy along with Alex Karaban that’s never going to get the credit that he deserves, but Cam Spencer is probably having as good of a year as any of the shooting guards in college basketball. His shot making, his efficiency, and his ability to make timely shots has been incredible.

Rothstein: Why is winning the Big East and owning the conference so personal for you?

Hurley: When you experience the type of success that we have, you want to do whatever it takes to stay there. You want to fight as hard as you can to stay at the top of the mountain because there’s people trying to climb up and take you down. The euphoria that we experienced last year — we want to keep that feeling alive. We’re sick and obsessed people here at UConn. We show up to every single game like we’ve never won a game before.

Rothstein: UConn has been to six Final Fours and five have been through the West Region. If you’re the top seed in the East Region this year, you’re going to play first and second round games at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and then potentially Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games at TD Garden in Boston. Have you allowed that to enter your mind yet?

Hurley: We talk about it. We haven’t started to talk about it until recently, but we’ve earned the right to internally discuss it. With every game now that’s coming, we talk about the Big East regular season title and seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, we took our foot off the gas and we ended up with a four seed and had to play a brutal Iona team in the first round of the tournament that now has two guys — Daniss Jenkins (St. John’s) and Walter Clayton (Florida) — who are playing at a high level in power conferences. I think you visualize things in life and you’ve got to speak it into existence sometimes. Since the summer, I’ve been saying in my own mind — Brooklyn to Boston to Phoenix. I’ve spoke about it to myself and now I’m discussing it with the team.

Rothstein: How often do you think about winning another national title?

Hurley: I’m not really there yet. For me and our staff, I think we’re so preparation focused. We’re focused on our next game. I couldn’t even tell you who play next after we play Butler this week. That’s part of our formula and I think we’ve got a great formula.

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