![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://bollspel.com/uconn-a-dominant-force-in-college-basketball-with-five-national-championships-in-25-years/&media=https://bollspel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/5407-uconn-a-dominant-force-in-college-basketball-with-five-national-championships-in-25-years.jpg&description="Discover how the University of Connecticut has emerged as a powerhouse in college basketball, claiming five national championships in just 25 years. Learn about their dominance on the court and the impact of their legendary program."){kind=link}
-
Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff WriterDec 5, 2023, 09:12 AM ET
Close
- Basketball recruiting insider.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Graduate of University of Delaware.
Right after the big UCONN win over Texas in the Empire Classic final last month, coach Dan Hurley brought forwards Alex Karaban and Samson Johnson to the Madison Square Garden press room. As they were answering questions, Hurley was more focused on watching Kansas in the Maui Invitational on the TV over the far wall.
“I just wanted to see what was going on,” he joked to ESPN afterward.
The Huskies are now in the middle of a five-day stretch playing two traditional basketball powerhouses.
Blue bloods.
Where five-stars go to play: Kansas, Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky. Maybe UCLA and Indiana.
No. 5 UConn lost to No. 2 Kansas 69-65 Friday and faces No. 9 North Carolina on Tuesday in the Jimmy V Classic. Hurley understands the importance of these two games for the Huskies as a program.
When Hurley arrived in Storrs in 2018, UConn’s reputation had taken a significant hit — and its nonconference schedule was evidence of the drop-off. Tournament organizers and multiple-team event directors were lukewarm on UConn. Now Hurley knows playing the historical elite is a sign the program has again reached the upper echelon of college basketball.
“We wanted these types of games. … Play high-reward type of games and see how you measure up against the best teams,” Hurley said that night at MSG. “You got to earn your way into nights like that.”
As soon as the clock hit triple zero and confetti began falling on the raised arms of the UConn players in NRG Stadium last April, the discussion surrounding the Huskies’ inclusion among the blue-blood programs of college basketball began.
Or ended, depending on your viewpoint.
“We’re not about the clicks and the social media and the bulls—. It’s old school. We’ve got an old-school type of program.”
Dan Hurley
By any objective measure, five national championships in a quarter century gets you into the conversation among the 1% of the programs in the sport.
“This is No. 5,” former UConn star Emeka Okafor told ESPN that night in Houston. “We have one in every decade for the past four decades. … I don’t know how you would deny a school who has the most championships in the past 25 years. This will definitely end the debate, if there was any.”
Whether the Huskies beat North Carolina in New York on Tuesday won’t have a big-picture effect on UConn’s case for being a blue blood — and for Hurley, it matters little.
Hurley is fine being viewed differently.
“I just think there’s something about Storrs, Connecticut,