Dan Hurley holds book talk at Student Union Theatre 

UConn men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley appeared at the Student Union Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. to promote his new book, “Never Stop: Life, Leadership, and What It Takes to Be Great.” The book, which was released the day prior on Sept. 30, follows the story of his life and coaching career while dealing with severe mental health struggles and comparison to his father and brother. For Hurley, reliving the struggles of his college years was a difficult part of the writing process.

 “It took me longer to read through it because I’d read a couple pages, I’d put it down, I’d go to my wife, I’d say this is hard to read,” Hurley said. “But then, I think from a positive standpoint, it gives you a chance to give yourself some grace and appreciation for, you know, just how long the road’s been to get here and the obstacles, the challenges.” 

The event, which was relocated to the Student Union from the Jorgensen Center early in the week, saw UConn students, faculty and basketball fans fill much of the lower level of seating. The UConn men’s basketball team was in attendance, garnering a round of applause upon their arrival. Hurley’s wife Andrea and son Andrew were also in the crowd. Andrew, who played for the Huskies from 2020-2024 and is now a graduate manager with the program, said that he was surprised when his father first told him his plans to write a book. 

“I couldn’t believe it just because, again, I’ve known him as the high school coach, you know, as the [University of] Rhode Island coach,” Andrew Hurley said. “Just kind of all these, you know, really strange things that been happening. Winning national championships, things you would never imagine happening, then obviously this. It’s just really unbelievable honestly.”  

During the writing process, Hurley said that he took inspiration from not just the writing of other basketball coaches, but more so writing from “old school” football coaches that he relates himself to. Hurley mentioned football coaches Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells and Bear Bryant along with other coaches and athletes from other sports that inspired his writing. 

“I read [“Open: An Autobiography” by tennis player Andre Agassi] while this project was kind of going on, which, you know, made me, I think, in my mind, want to be more open about the book and not just …do a book ’cause that’s what you’re supposed to do and then just mail it in and not give people a good story and deep down vulnerable stuff,” Hurley said. 

Along with the influence of other coaches, Hurley credited co-author Ian O’Connor for his work, calling the sports author a great writer and mentioning his other books about sports figures Bill Belichick, Mike Krzyzewski and Aaron Rodgers. 

“I needed somebody to do it that had a feel for the whole Hurley thing…that knew the family, that had New Jersey, you know, North Jersey roots, and just could tell my story the most authentically,” Hurley said. 

The talk was moderated by UConn graduate and former ESPN host Molly Qerim. Both Hurley and Qerim made sure to keep members of the audience engaged throughout the hour-long discussion. Early in the event, Qerim called for audience members to give Hurley a standing ovation for his commitment to staying at UConn. Hurley called out to multiple members of the audience, including his wife, son and UConn players including Tarris Reed. The second half of the discussion saw Hurley answering questions that had been submitted by audience members prior to the beginning of the event and then fielding questions from the audience at large to close the evening.  

Hurley stuck around after the event to meet fans and sign books, a copy of which was included with the purchase of a ticket to the event. Alex Vitiello, a third-semester finance major, was one of the many fans who decided to stay and wait in line for the chance to meet Hurley. 

“The key takeaways that I got from Dan Hurley himself was to just keep pushing no matter how hard things can get,” Vitiello said. “You always have people to rely on, whether you don’t realize it or not, and I think that hard work is always going to get you to where you want to be.”