Before UConn coach Dan Hurley reached the top of men’s college basketball for a second consecutive year, he had poignant advice about what it takes to get there.
Yes, he has to have measurable talent, he said, but he also has to take a hard look at you: the parents.
Parents, he says, can be destructive to his team if he lets them infiltrate its culture, poking and prodding and coddling in the selfish interest of their sons.
“Are they gonna be fans while they’re on campus or are they gonna be parents? Hurley told CBS earlier this month ahead of the men’s final with Purdue. “Are they going to hold them accountable, have an expectation that, when something goes wrong, that it’s not the coach’s fault? That their son’s gotta work harder, he’s gotta do more, he’s gotta earn his role.”
“They tell on themselves,” he continued. “They drop hints. and (if) you’ve got the wrong type of people in that inner circle around your players, they’ll sink your program.’
Hurley’s comments, which drew national attention and continued to make the rounds on social media in the days after UConn’s decisive win over Purdue, serve as an instructive warning.
How we act at games, how we gripe and complain to coaches, how we influence our kids’ behavior to do the same (or not) can have a direct and long-term effect on their athletic experience. Hurley sounded the alert that colleges are willing to pass on “neon talent” to get a more team-centric player.
“I am so…
