University of Connecticut Athletics
Dan Hurley Named To Naismith COY Watch List
2/20/2026 12:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ATLANTA – UConn men's basketball head coach Dan Hurley has been named to the 2026 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Watch List. Hurley has led the Huskies to a 24-3 record this season, spending nearly the entire season in the top-five of the national polls. The 2024 Naismith Coach of the Year is the lone BIG EAST coach on this year's list and one of two former winners to earn a spot on the 2026 list along with Bill Self (2012).
UConn has already matched its overall and conference wins total from a season ago with four league games and the entirety of the postseason to play. The Huskies put together one of the best non-conference resumes in the country this season, as Hurley built the program's most challenging non-league slates in its history. UConn picked up a neutral site win over BYU (current NET 21) on Nov. 15 in Boston, topped Illinois (NET 4) in New York on Nov. 28, won at Kansas (NET 13) on Dec. 2 and defeated defending national champion Florida (NET 9) in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9.
Hurley has led the Huskies to a 7-2 record in Quad 1 games and currently has UConn fourth nationally in the crucial 'Wins above Bubble' metric. Following a setback to top five Arizona on Nov. 19, the Huskies reeled off a staggering 18-straight victories to surge as high as No. 2 in the national polls. The 18-game winning streak stands as the third-longest single-season streak in the history of UConn men's basketball.
Part of the winning streak saw the Huskies open BIG EAST conference play with a dozen-straight wins. The 12-0 start to league play marked the fourth-best in the history of the conference and was UConn's second double-digit winning streak in league play over the last three seasons, also rattling off 14-straight in 2023-24. UConn is currently a half game back of preseason favorite St. John's in the league standings with a game against the Red Storm coming up on Feb. 25.
Part of the success this season has come thanks to Hurley leading an overhaul of UConn's defensive unit, taking a group that finished No. 75 in Kenpom defensive efficiency last year into a top-10 outfit this season. UConn ranks among the national leaders in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, 3-pointers allowed per game, block rate and rebound margin. Silas Demary Jr. and Tarris Reed Jr. were both named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch list, making UConn one of five program's nationally with multiple members of the list.
The Huskies have also continued to perform on the offensive end, ranking as a top-25 offense and leading the BIG EAST in field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, effective field goal percentage, scoring margin and assists. The success has led to a slew of individual accolades in addition to the aforementioned DPOY list honors. Demary Jr. and Alex Karaban (who became the program's all-time wins leader last week) were both named to the Naismith Player of the Year Late-Season Team. Solo Ball, Karaban and Reed Jr. all earned spots on their respective positional midseason watch lists for the Naismith 'Starting Five' awards.
The Naismith Coach of the Year winner is announced at the Final Four.
