UConn basketball has been one of the best programs over the past few years, and there's no doubt that credit should be given to the players and coaches. The home crowd also plays a big part in the games, and over the years, UConn has been one of the places to be when it comes to a great basketball environment.
This season, things may be a little different, and head coach Dan Hurley called out the crowd after their win against Georgetown.
“I’m not (trying to hype the crowd) anymore though,” Hurley said via Joe Arruda of Hartford Courant. “I asked the players to try to do it… It’s not a (bleeping) social event, right? Like, this is the Basketball Capital of the World, we need our fans to come to the game and be loud as (bleep) from the start. It needs to be a madhouse.”
Fast forward to their game against Creighton, and Hurley walked back his comments criticizing the fans, saying that they did their job despite still losing.
“Crowd was awesome. I feel like a little bit of an idiot. Where you criticize your home environment. They were awesome today. We have a little bit of a tendency this year to kill the crowd,” Hurley said via Ryan Cassidy on X, formerly Twitter.
UConn is currently 24-3 and 14-2 in conference play, and many should expect the home crowds to be amazing when you have a successful program. That was not the case during their game against Georgetown, which was on Saturday night. There were apparently empty seats around the arena, and even the opposing team noticed it.
That's what led Hurley to make those comments about the crowd following that game.
“We’re the Basketball Capital of the World, there shouldn’t be criticisms of our crowds at games,” Hurley said. “When I saw Ed during the handshake line, Ed [Cooley] asked me what was up with the crowd. There was just a lot of empty seats, I think the section behind our basket was empty. It should be a madhouse when we play here at the Basketball Capital of the World.”
