UConn’s Dan Hurley fined $25K by Big East for yelling at referee

Dan Hurley appears to have come quite literally as close as possibly could to avoiding a suspension.

The 53-year-old coach of the Connecticut Huskies was ejected in the final second of fourth-ranked UConn’s 68-62 loss at 12-19 Marquette on Saturday afternoon. Hurley unloaded a verbal burst on official John Gaffney after there was no whistle against Marquette following Silas Demary’s drive to the hoop with the Huskies down 64-62.

Hurley yelled at Gaffney, physically leaning toward the official, but the Big East office said it came to the conclusion there was no evidence that Hurley made contact with Gaffney. The conference fined Hurley $25,000 for the incident but stopped short of suspending him for the upcoming Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies, the No. 2 seed, will face the winner of  No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 Xavier in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Here’s how the sequence played out. 

The conference deemed Hurley’s behavior “unsportsmanlike conduct.” 

Per the Big East, here was the reasoning for the fine but no suspension: “[Hurley] failed to leave the court in a timely manner. Initial speculation on the game broadcast indicated possible contact between Hurley and the official; however, a review by the conference office of the officials’ game report and available game footage could not confirm physical contact.”

Said league commissioner Val Ackerman: “We hold our coaches to high standards of sportsmanlike conduct during game competition, and inappropriate interactions with our officials will not be tolerated.”

When asked at his postgame press conference if he made contact, Hurley said, “I didn’t think I bumped the ref. I thought I got close to, like, yelling at John. If John thinks I bumped him, then he’ll say I bumped him. But I don’t think I bumped the official.”

Hurley is arguably college basketball’s most prominent coach and is often scrutinized for sideline behavior, given some of his past outbursts. This was his first ejection of the season. 

The bigger damage to UConn was the loss. The stunning defeat at the hands of one of the most disappointing teams in the country means the Huskies lost their grip on the final No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, allowing Florida to usurp them after the Gators won at Kentucky a few hours later.