Dan Hurley led UConn to its third Men’s NCAA Tournament championship game appearance in the last four seasons after the Huskies’ 71-62 Final Four win vs. Illinois on Saturday, April 4.
But before he could even get off the court at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday, the two-time national championship coach was booed by fans in the stands.
“Are they booing?” Hurley said halfway through a response to a question from CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson. “I don’t know what they’re booing.”
REQUIRED READING: UConn vs Illinois final score, highlights: Huskies hold off Fighting Illini in Final Four
The boos, presumedly from Illinois’ fans in the stadium, aren’t the first directed at the Huskies coach. He’s often greeted with similar gestures and jeers from opposing fan bases due to his animated and passionate behavior on the sidelines.
Indeed, cameras caught boos on the broadcast heading into the under-12 media timeout in the second half after Hurley showed his displeasure for an offensive foul against UConn forward Eric Reibe.
“I get much more of a bad reaction from people, I think, on social media than when I meet regular people,” Hurley said Friday, April 3 at the Final Four. “Because anytime I meet regular people, they look at me and they start laughing or they start smiling. Or (say), ‘You’re the guy from the video. You look a little crazy, but I think you’re a good egg.'”
Here’s what Hurley said of the boos he received:
“It’s not who I really am, you know, as a human being. There’s people that write articles about me. Some of you may be standing here. I know that there was someone in there that just wrote one about me, that they rarely come to my games. They never spend time around our program,” Hurley said. “They have no idea. They take viral clips of things they see at a game, and then they attack me, either personally or my coaching style. And I think it’s a joke. I think that’s lazy media. They don’t know who I am.”
Saturday’s win moved Hurley to 5-0 in the Final Four with the Huskies and 18-3 overall in the Men’s NCAA Tournament.
Now Hurley will look to add his name to more March Madness records with another title on Monday, April 6.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dan Hurley greeted with boos after UConn Final Four win over Illinois
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