UConn Huskies men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley lashed out at fans after his team carried out their 74-60 road win over Providence Friars Saturday at Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Hurley was caught on camera eyeing down Friars fans in the bleachers before he motions someone to advance toward him.
“Look at this guy, come here, come right here, you’ll get hurt,” Hurley is heard saying — even pointing at them while his security looked on.
When Hurley tried to walk over to the area the fan, or fans, were seated, security immediately held him back and told him to proceed into the locker room.
Uconn fans were pumped up as Hurley made his way into the locker room, cheering on the coach as he pumped his arms to get them going.
In a post game press conference, Hurley elaborated on what exactly caused the heated spillover with opposing fans.
“You shouldn’t be yelling at me when you’re down 20,” Hurley said to reporters. “You should just wait for the game to be over and walk out.”
“If he wasn’t barking at me, I wouldn’t have said anything to him. I had a similar thing at Butler, a fan was saying, ‘You suck, and you guys stink, and haven’t won anything.’ And I told him, ‘I’ve got a national championship ring,’” Hurley went on.
“You should just wait for the game to be over and walk out. If he wasn’t barking at me I wouldn’t have said anything to him… You shouldn’t be running your mouth at that point in the game. Just get out of here. Just go,” he concluded.
Hurley was in another kerfuffle with fans after his team was hammered by the Creighton Bluejays’ 85-66 on Feb. 20.
Hurley appeared visibly frustrated when Creighton fans stormed the court after the win, yelling at multiple fans on his way to the locker room.
In one video, Hurley could even be heard saying “I’ll knock you out” while he pointed toward the stands.
College basketball fans on social media got a kick out of Hurley’s recent episode with Providence fans.
“Soooo we cool with a grown man telling students he’s gonna hurt them?”, one person wrote on X.
“I respect Dan Hurley as a coach, but why does he keep trying to pick fights with fans? Set a better example for your players,” a fan said.
“I got half a mill on whoever he’s talking to. It doesn’t matter if it is a grown man or an infant; Hurley would get ROCKED,” one fan joked.