Dan Hurley screamed out that he was the “best coach in the f***ing sport” after a referee turned his back to him on Tuesday night.
Dan Hurley went off again on Tuesday night, and then his team nearly blew what should’ve been a very winnable game in overtime at home to Butler.
The UConn head coach then, after absolutely berating an official in the first half of their 80-78 overtime win against the Bulldogs, found a way to blame the cameras for his outburst. Though, just before doing so, he admitted that he was going to “sound like an a*****e here.”
This was UConn Head Coach Dan Hurley’s response when asked about saying “Don’t turn your back on me. I’m the best coach in the ***ing sport” to a referee. pic.twitter.com/Gm7u3DwEpY
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) January 22, 2025
“I just wish they would show these other coaches losing their minds at the officials in other Big East games that I’m coaching where I look, going into a timeout when I’m not talking to officials, I see the other coaches as demonstrative as I am,” Hurley said at the XL Center on Tuesday night. “The camera obviously, I’ve created this for myself. I’m not no victim. I just wish that they would not have the camera on me 90% of the time, unless they feel like it’s driving ratings and more a*****es on Twitter that can put clips of me from a game and they go, ‘Look how big of a monster he is, he’s yelling at a ref again. What a monster.’”
Late in the first half, Hurley was spotted screaming at an official as teams began walking to their respective benches for a timeout. Hurley, upset that a foul was called on the other end, then lost it when the official turned his back to him and started ignoring him.
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“Don’t turn your back on me,” Hurley can be seen screaming at the official. “I’m the best coach in the f***ing sport.”
He did not receive a technical foul for the outburst, and then the Huskies held on to beat Butler by two points in overtime. Solo Ball led the way with 23 points and six rebounds, and Alex Karaban finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The win pushed UConn to 14-5 on the season, and came on the heels of its home loss to Creighton on Saturday. Butler, which has won just a single Big East game this season, dropped to 8-11.
Hurley’s antics on Tuesday night are nothing new. The coach, who has led UConn to back-to-back national titles, had to be held back by his assistants multiple times at the Maui Invitational earlier this season while screaming at officials — including once where he was hit for a technical foul that led to them losing a game. Hurley even said after, despite it being the premier Thanksgiving week tournament each season, that he would never play in it or an event like it again.
But to Hurley’s credit, the Huskies are still in a great position to pull off a rare three-peat in college basketball. If they are winning games, it’s much more difficult to question his sideline behavior.
Based on his comments after Tuesday’s game, he’s not going to adjust anything, either.
