INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 There are no words for moments like these.<\/p>\n
Or, at least none that Dan Hurley prepared.<\/p>\n
But three minutes after the end \u2014 after the wrong-colored confetti rained inside Lucas Oil Stadium, crowning Michigan\u2019s 69-63 national championship win over UConn \u2014 Hurley had to say something. There\u2019s no stopping the hurt when you finish second, not on the final Monday night of the college basketball season, but it\u2019s a coach\u2019s duty to at least dress the wound.<\/p>\n
To saddle up next to four-year starter Alex Karaban \u2014 who won a mind-boggling 126 games in four years in Storrs, who won two national championships and led UConn to within 40 minutes of a third \u2014 and pull him in tight, on a winding walk down a back tunnel.<\/p>\n
To whisper the\u00a0only thing that could maybe, possibly, transcend the magnitude of a career-ending loss:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know I love you, man.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is much to love: not just about this one game, or season, but everything Karaban has represented for UConn over the past four seasons. He\u2019s almost an era unto himself. \u201cFace of the program,\u201d junior Jayden Ross called him, a single teardrop running long down his left cheek. From the time Karaban stepped on campus in January 2022, the plucky 6-foot-8 son of Eastern European immigrants oversaw the entire evolution of the place.<\/p>\n
From a program eight years removed from its last national championship to the preeminent program of the 21st century and unquestionable blue-blood status.<\/p>\n
From Big East afterthought, to the conference\u2019s standard setter.<\/p>\n
From a school uncertain if Hurley was the coach to lead it back to the promised land, to one that could \u2014 and maybe should \u2014 build him a statue in Storrs when he eventually hangs up the whistle.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlorida won the national championship last year. I\u2019ll probably get in trouble for this. Michigan won the national championship this year,\u201d Hurley said. \u201cBut (Karaban) helped to make UConn, I think, right now \u2014 we\u2019re probably the premier program in college basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hard to argue, when in the past four NCAA Tournaments, UConn either won it all (in 2023 and 2024) or lost to the team that did. In the process, the Huskies became the first program since Duke in the 1990s to play for three rings in four seasons.<\/p>\n
And just like those Blue Devils \u2014 who history remembers as an all-time college hoops dynasty \u2014 this chapter of UConn basketball, one that ends with Karaban\u2019s exit, should be similarly revered.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a proud chapter,\u201d a teary-eyed Karaban said, clutching at the navy jersey he would eventually take off for the last time. \u201cIt sucks right now. But it\u2019s going to be a chapter that everyone\u2019s going to look back (on) and see the incredible stuff that we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n
That he\u2019s done. And that UConn has accomplished by extension.<\/p>\n
Now, perhaps at some point in the next few weeks, Hurley and his program will bemoan the things that cost them a third banner in four seasons. It will swallow the pill, rewatch the Wolverines\u2019 win and relitigate the list of shortcomings they can never correct.<\/p>\n
Early (and persistent) foul trouble on starting guards Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr., both of whom entered Monday night already battling injuries.<\/p>\n
A cold shooting spell to start the second half, 11 straight missed 3s, on a night in which Hurley estimated his Huskies needed to make 13 or 14 to outscore Michigan\u2019s mighty interior attack.<\/p>\n
A missed transition layup by Ball with 2:02 to play, which would\u2019ve made it a four-point game late, with the Huskies\u2019 cresting a wave of momentum.<\/p>\n
And \u2014 painfully, lastly \u2014 Karaban\u2019s missed 3 with 17 seconds left, a falling-away front-rimmer that would\u2019ve cut the deficit to one, with more than enough time to muster one last dusting of tournament magic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, there were so many opportunities,\u201d Ross said. \u201cBut we went out on our shield.\u201d<\/p>\n
That the Huskies did \u2014 and in doing so, in gobbling up 22 offensive rebounds against Michigan\u2019s monstrous frontline, they proved their staying power. Karaban will be gone next year, yes. Tarris Reed Jr., too: The Michigan transfer whose maturation and interior scoring willed UConn to this point, despite a whole host of injuries and not much external belief that this particular team could emerge from a loaded East Regional.<\/p>\n
But Ball could be back. Demary. Freshman Braylon Mullins, too, whose buzzer-beating heave against Duke in the Elite Eight will never be forgotten in the Constitution State or elsewhere. So could Ross and Jaylin Stewart and 7-foot-1 freshman Eric Reibe.<\/p>\n
Yes, maybe this chapter of UConn basketball ends in Indianapolis, but the program at large?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s just say, good luck stopping the Huskies from ascending back to this point \u2014 possibly as soon as next spring. After the run Hurley orchestrated the past three weeks, after the nation left his program for dead following inexplicable losses to Marquette and St. John\u2019s, would anyone really be surprised to see UConn in Detroit next spring, at another Final Four?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not that arrogant of a guy that\u2019s gonna say, \u2018Hey, I\u2019ll see you here next year for the championship game.\u2019 I mean, this thing is hard, man. This is a hard, hard tournament,\u201d Hurley said. \u201cThere\u2019s some great teams that didn\u2019t get to this last night \u2014 but (I trust) just the culture and the commitment. I\u2019m confident in the roster we\u2019ll be able to put together.\u201d<\/p>\n
And one other thing, which Karaban can say for the coach who changed his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as coach Hurley is here,\u201d Karaban said, \u201cthen I believe in UConn.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he, and the rest of the sport, should.<\/p>\n
Of course, as Hurley said, reaching this point is never a given. Nobody bats .1000 on transfer portal evaluations, as Hurley learned last season. Assistant coach Luke Murray, one of Hurley\u2019s most trusted advisers and a key architect of UConn\u2019s offense, is leaving for Boston College.<\/p>\n
Next season will be a test of sorts. The more things change, can UConn simply endure?<\/p>\n
With Hurley calling the shots, a roster ripe for retention and the necessary resources to plug any depth chart holes that arise, almost certainly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s UConn,\u201d Ball said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be right back to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that does not make this night any easier. While Hurley wrapped his arm around Karaban, Ball followed a few steps behind, head buried in his jersey. Celebratory cheers from Michigan fans echoed down the concrete halls, a haunting soundtrack before two metal locker room doors slammed shut.<\/p>\n
Temporary shelter, at least, from the reality beyond.<\/p>\n
Some 20 minutes later, after an NCAA-granted cooldown period, Hurley and several starters finally emerged from the locker room for interviews. UConn players slid into the shadows of a nearby golf cart, while Hurley told CBS\u2019 Tracy Wolfson the brutal truth:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came here to be out there,\u201d Hurley said, pointing down the hall, toward the Michigan celebration, \u201cdoing what those guys are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Losing protocols, not something the Huskies are familiar with.<\/p>\n
And not something they plan to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 There are no words for moments like these. Or, at least none that Dan Hurley prepared.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,6133,354,231,772,1544],"class_list":{"0":"post-702997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-connecticut-huskies","11":"tag-mens-college-basketball","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaab"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}