GLENDALE, Ariz. — Shortly after noon Thursday, about nine hours after his feet hit the ground in the desert, Dan Hurley bounded toward the Connecticut locker room. her hat backwards. Place your AirPods in place. She's sleep-deprived but makes it in time for her Final Four duties.
“I'm so hot,” Harley announced to a familiar face as she passed by.
Thursday's update on the Husky's whereabouts wasn't the first, but it was probably the least complicated.
The chartered plane from Kansas City never arrived. Replacement due to mechanical issue. Bad weather and long hours of deicing work. There were many incremental online updates, he was up six hours later than expected, and at 3:27 a.m. the NCAA statement was emailed: UConn MBB has arrived in Phoenix.
In other words, planes are a nuisance.
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“Who wouldn't want to deal with an issue with an airline?” Hurley said with a smile at Thursday's press conference. “That's something you have to overcome. But it was the worst.”
To recap, UConn's original charter flight to Arizona was grounded due to mechanical issues. Bad weather then exacerbated mechanical problems on the replacement plane, causing an additional two-hour delay before it departed from Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. The wheels-up time was shortened from the originally scheduled 7:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., and the Huskies finally touched down at 3:12 a.m. local time.
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UW's flight to Final Four delayed due to problems
“An unfortunate confluence of circumstances occurred,” the NCAA said in a statement early Thursday morning.
When asked how he spent his time, Harley was completely deadpan. “I ruminated,” the Huskies coach said. “A lot. I was in a spiral. I was pretty confused. … It was a really mindful practice from about 11:30 to 1:45 on the pavement. Watching the ice melt. It was therapeutic. That was probably the best part of it.”
Understandably, the players' media schedule was changed to accommodate recovery from the delay, and Thursday's public locker room session was canceled. More than that? Hurley said he managed to get by on two hours of sleep on the plane and two hours of sleep in the hotel.
“That's why God created caffeine,” he said, only to take a slight step back in terms of his team's preparation.
“We slowed things down a little bit, probably about an hour and 15 minutes,” Hurley said. “The players were able to sleep a little bit. We did the same routine. We shot the video at the hotel because we knew we would only be on the court for an hour and a half. , it was important for us to take advantage of our shooting, make a little bit of live play and be able to adapt to a bigger environment. Obviously we took it out of our practice plan a little bit. Tonight we just took a little bit less work and gave them a little bit more work. Let's get some rest.
“I mean, listen, they got in a van and drove 14 hours to get to Peach Jam and two hours later they were playing. There's no excuse. … We're in the Final Four here, dude. , we have a chance to move up and repeat as national champions and make history. We're way past that—”
Otherwise, Hurley expressed his gratitude. He began his remarks Thursday by thanking the welcoming committee for staying awake until the university arrived.
“When you're done complaining and swearing and tweeting, what happens in your head is you start saying to yourself, I don't have any rights,” Hurley said. “To play in the Final Four after that edge started to fade and to play in the Final Four as a coach is a great honor and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (We're) lucky to be here. ”
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(Photo: Michael Reeves/Getty Images)
