UConn's Dan Hurley brings legendary hoops family back to Final Four: 'It's been indescribable'

Bob Hurley Sr. said it's been 33 years since he and his two sons, Bobby and Danny, made their first trip to the Final Four, in Denver.

Bobby was a freshman point guard for Duke, at the start of what would prove to be a memorable college career. Danny, then a high-school junior, was there to help his dad hawk Strength Shoes – the uniquely '90s trainers with a round platform beneath the toe box to elevate the heel.

"Strength Shoes brought us to the Final Four, because we were using (them) in practices," recalled Bob Sr., the legendary former coach of St. Anthony High School.

"Danny and I were working during the day outside, and he was demonstrating how to use the shoes, doing drills."

He laughed. It was a different era.

"Here we are now in 2023 and he’s coaching in the Final Four," Bob Sr. said.

Since that first Final Four trip in 1990, the youngest Hurley has traded "Danny" for "Dan" and emerged as one of the most dynamic coaches in college basketball – leading Rhode Island and now Connecticut to five men's NCAA Tournament appearances in seven years. His Huskies will face Miami in the national semifinal in Houston on Saturday night.

In a basketball-crazed family – Bob Sr. is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and Bobby is now the head coach at Arizona State – coaching in the Final Four will be something of a milestone.

"It's been indescribable for the family," Bob Sr. said.

And as far as Dan is concerned, it all started with dad.

"I'm just proud that he's been able to travel with us," he said in a news conference after Connecticut's drubbing of Gonzaga last week. "And now I get to take my dad to a Final Four."

'An education in basketball'

Dan's journey in the sport has been shaped – and, at times, defined by – his family. Bob Sr. was a probation officer by trade who started coaching at St. Anthony on the side in 1972, winning 28 state basketball titles and transforming the small Jersey City school into a high school hoops powerhouse. In 2010, he became just the third boy's high school basketball coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

For Bobby and Dan, who were born about 18 months apart, growing up with Bob Sr. meant growing up with basketball. They attended St. Anthony practices, helped work their dad's camps, and listened at the dinner table as high-powered college coaches stopped by on recruiting visits to meet with St. Anthony players.

"I liken it to getting an education in basketball," said Westwood One analyst P.J. Carlesimo, one of the coaches who made those visits.

On the court, Bob Sr.'s teams all exhibited the same characteristics in their play – toughness, grit, defensive intensity and strong guard play. Practices were tough, and competitiveness non-negotiable.

Bobby, as the older of the two brothers, soon became something of a torch-bearer. During his senior season, he was the star player on a St. Anthony team that finished atop the 1989 USA TODAY basketball rankings – one of the most successful periods in Bob Sr.'s tenure at the school. Dan, a sophomore, was out with a broken finger.

A feature story published by the The New York Times that season carried the headline: "Father and Son Have Team on Top." Dan was mentioned once – in the last line of the story, as Bobby's "heir apparent."

"There’s no question in my mind that Danny and Bobby competed and looked at each other, whatever it may be," said Wagner vice president for intercollegiate athletics Walt Hameline, who first hired Dan as a college head coach in 2010.

"Obviously Bobby was a great player. Dan was a really good player. But at the end of the day, (Bobby) was in the spotlight because of where he played and how successful he was."

A brotherly bond

Bobby went on to become a highly-touted recruit out of St. Anthony, a college star at Duke and a top-10 pick in the NBA draft. Dan found more modest success as a player, both at St. Anthony and then at Seton Hall. But he was the first of the brothers to dive into coaching – initially as an assistant under his dad, then in 2001 as a head coach of his own high school program, at St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, New Jersey.

"He was probably the most demanding coach I ever played for," said Saint Peter's head coach Bashir Mason, who has both played for and worked with Dan in the years since.

Mason described Bobby and Dan as "legit best friends." So it came as no surprise that, when Wagner hired Dan straight out of the high school ranks in 2010, he turned and hired Bobby as an assistant – his first coaching job at any level.

Hameline, who oversaw both hires, recalled swinging by a basketball practice, even the day before a game, and being floored by the level of intensity.

Likewise, he said, for their demeanors on the sideline during games.

"You can look at their track record when it comes to officiating. They’re pretty intense with everybody," Hameline said with a laugh. "But they get along great. I think they complemented each other."

While Bobby had more success as a player, Dan led the way as a coach.

Bobby, who has been the head coach at Arizona State since 2015 and recently earned a two-year extension, said the two brothers talk to each other the day of every game.

"We both understand the stress, the pressure, how you feel before the game," Bobby told reporters earlier this week. "So we have a special connection that few people understand. That’s why it’s so satisfying to see what he’s doing."

The weird part, Dan added, is that they are rarely winning or losing in tandem.

"It’s rare that we both have it going really great at the same time," he said. "One of us is always having to pick the other guy up, when it’s not going great."

'He's paid his dues'

For years, Dan Hurley was described in newspaper stories in relation to his family – as "brother of Duke’s Bobby Hurley" or "the coach’s son."

Carlesimo said he's long since carved his own path, and built his own reputation.

"When you say Dan Hurley to basketball people, people go, 'the UConn coach, he’s a really good coach,' " he said.

"It’s nice that people keep calling and doing these stories and everything, but hold on. ... It is Dan Hurley. He’s Bob’s son, for sure. He’s Bobby’s brother. But he’s done some stuff that hasn’t been done."

Mason said he's the type of coach that players might not like in the moment, because of how hard he pushes them, but the type of person they love – "and for that reason, you’ll run through a wall for him," Mason explained.

Hameline praised Dan's direct, "no fluff" style of communication.

"Danny, I think, has taken all that he’s learned – but he does it as Dan Hurley," Carlesimo said.

"He’s hard on his team, and he’s hard on himself."

Bob Sr. said his younger son's strength is in his experience – both the successes, and the failures. He had losing seasons in his first two seasons at Rhode Island, and his first year at UConn. He spent nine years as a head coach in high school.

"He’s paid his dues," Bob Sr. said.

And he's certainly come a long way since that 1990 Final Four, doing sneaker demonstrations outside a since-demolished arena.

Bob Sr. said they did get to watch the games afterward, albeit from "godawful seats" about five rows from the top of the building. Needless to say, he'll have a slightly better vantage point Saturday night.

"Everybody’s watching this. It’s the biggest of stages," he said.

"This is big for the entire family."

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UConn's Dan Hurley brings legendary hoops family back to Final Four