Dan Hurley says Geno Auriemma deserves benefit of the doubt after Dawn Staley incident
Published:
Prior to the start of conference tournaments, Connecticut basketball fans likely would have told you they expected the women’s team to be playing for the national championship and the men’s team to have long been eliminated. The women’s squad was unbeaten and looked borderline unbeatable, while the men’s group had suffered shocking losses to Creighton and Marquette, effectively knocking it out of No. 1 seed contention.
Roughly one month later, we see how predicting these things truly is a fool’s errand. Dan Hurley’s team feels unkillable ahead of a national championship matchup with Michigan, and Geno Auriemma is in hot water after a Final Four loss to South Carolina. The 12-time NCAAW Tournament winner had a notable confrontation with Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley at the conclusion of their matchup, stemming from a supposed pregame handshake snub.
Hurley, of course, is no stranger to making waves on the sideline. Following his Huskies’ Final Four triumph over Illinois, he spoke on the Auriemma drama. He told reporters that his colleague should be “given the benefit of the doubt.”
Hurley surely understands why he was asked about Auriemma’s situation, but with so much on the line, he’s likely not focused on it at all. If UConn can topple Michigan on Monday night, he’ll become the seventh coach in NCAAM history to win 3 championships. The Huskies and Wolverines tip off at 8:50 p.m. ET (TBS/TNT/TruTV).
UConn or Michigan? Predict the college basketball national champion at Kalshi!
