HOUSTON — The band blared and the fans filled the lower bowl at NRG Stadium as the UConn men put on a show during their open practice Friday; there were smiles and laughter. Dan Hurley, hands behind his back, just watched and smiled like an artist admiring his finished painting.
The prep work is about done, and so is the building. The UConn men’s basketball team is no longer a work in progress, but a finished product. Over the next three days, at this ultimate gallery, the Final Four, it could be judged a masterpiece.
Team building, at this level, is as much art as science, and the Huskies, who are set to play Miami in the national semifinals on Saturday night are a unique creation. Strokes of confidence, swagger, intensity, looseness, leadership all blend together and, during this NCAA Tournament, have sprung off the canvas. A winning vibe beats relentlessly through the Huskies now.
“I think our chemistry is through the roof right now, just the love that we have for one another,” freshman Alex Karaban said. “Something special is brewing here, it’s the most unique team I’ve played on.”
Some of it came by design. Hurley came to the obvious conclusion after last season’s first-round NCAA Tournament defeat that the team needed to be changed — not rebuilt, but different shades added, some erased.
“We felt the flaws in roster construction,” Hurley said. “I knew exactly what everyone’s role needed to be. I knew exactly what we needed to get in the (transfer) portal.”
He needed a point guard who could shoot and score: Tristen Newton. He needed a sharpshooter who could bring offense off the bench and not shy away from shooting after a miss: Joey Calcaterra. He needed a backup point guard who could defend: Hassan Diarra. And he needed someone with positive NCAA Tournament experience: Nahiem Alleyne.
Those were the profiles and skill sets, but UConn also needed the personalities to work in harmony.
“Getting the right personalities in your locker room is critical, too,” Hurley said. “Those are two things you learn I think every year on this job and get better at every year.”
Hurley was satisfied with what he assembled, but the college basketball world was not convinced. The Huskies were unranked when the season began, but won their first 14 games and were suddenly championship contenders. Then they lost six of eight and were suddenly burnt toast.
Junior Andre Jackson was the leader, Hurley said, who held the locker room together, and a players’ only meeting after a loss to St. John’s helped stop the slide. With shared experiences, chemistry grew, the whole began exceeding the sum of the parts.
“The vibe is like, ‘brotherhood,’ ” Jackson said. “We all love each other, we want to make this moment last as long as possible. We have a bunch of guys who are going to be locked in for life. I’ve been on teams that were really close in high school, but never a team with this many talented guys who also had confidence, definitely calm.”
After they finished the regular season strong, but lost a close game to Marquette in the Big East Tournament semifinals, the Huskies were talked about as being unsuited to March. Then they got through a jittery first half against Iona, and began gathering momentum.
Under the harsh lights of March Madness, the paint dried, and the colors popped.
“Confident,” associate head coach Kimani Young said. “Over the course of the season we had some highs and lows, but we’re peaking at the right time and all these guys kind of feel that. We’ve always kind of been on that uphill climb. We still have that edge, but with the depth, the talent, the size, that can give you a collective confidence.”
There are freshmen, like Karaban and Donovan Clingan, and upperclassmen and grad students, different backgrounds but common ground, as well as goals.
“Determined,” Clingan said. “Everyone here is determined to win, we all worked so hard for nine months, we want to go out the right way. We’re determined to do it for Coach, too. Coach has worked so hard the last five years to bring this program back where it needs to be. I’ve never been part of a team that can joke around and have fun on minute, then 30 seconds later just be locked in and ready to go. Before a game, we’ll be on the bus, talking, joking around, and as soon we we step in the locker room, it’s silent, everybody’s locked in. It’s game time.”
Alleyne: “Dedication, preparation, it’s just fun. We’re a dedicated team that’s going to play to our identity and have fun out there, even though it’s serious and businesslike. This team has a lot of confidence and swagger, everybody on this team, even the ones that don’t play, they bring that swagger out on the court.”
As the goal of a national championship came into view, then faded, then came back in sight, now close enough to touch and feel, the essential unselfishness of the group showed. Players, those whose careers are coming to an end, like Calcaterra’s, or who are just beginning, like Clingan, have accepted and thrived in the roles they have. It’s not something that’s common in today’s college athletics.
“We’re a confident, focused group of guys,” Calcaterra said. “We know the task at hand, and what we set out to do before the season. We’re as ready as we’re going to be. This is first time I’ve been around that.”
Just what “that” is cannot be clearly articulated. Like all great works of art, this UConn team will appeal to different observers for different reasons. It’s good enough to win it all and the Huskies know it, but don’t expect it to just happen.
“It’s a group that has a lot of confidence right now, but has that strong respect for our opponent, Miami,” Hurley said, “but also has that mentality where we know the quality that we could get to on the court when we’re at our best defensively, rebounding, being the hardest-playing team and then moving that ball offensively. It’s a live group. The guys, they’ve got a great vibe.”
