The air in the arena was thick with tension. UConn had just suffered a heartbreaking loss to Florida, 77-75, ending their bid for a historic three-peat. As Dan Hurley walked off, his emotions boiled over. The tunnel became his release valve, and Baylor players and fans found themselves in the blast zone. “Hey, hope these refs don’t F-you the way they F’-d us,” Hurley muttered, his frustration as raw as UConn’s missed opportunities. But what happened next would eclipse even the loss itself.
The drama took an unexpected turn when a video of Hurley’s outburst surfaced online. The footage, captured by Joey Ellis, spread like wildfire, getting picked up by TMZ, Bleacher Report, and ESPN. But before the internet had its hands on it, UConn’s SID Bobby Mullen had already decided that he wanted it gone. Sidney Wicker, an eyewitness, recalled the moment and revealed the confrontation in a recent episode of Locked on Baylor: “I heard somebody say, ‘Are you Joey Ellis? Did you take the video?’ So I put my phone down immediately because I thought somebody was talking to me.”
What followed was a confrontation that left Wicker rattled. “He said, ‘I need you to delete that video.’ And [Joey] says, ‘I’m not deleting the video.’ This is an SID talking to him, wearing UConn gear. You could tell he was affiliated with the university. Then he says, ‘Well, that was a private conversation,’ to which Joey says, ‘There was nothing private about that conversation.’ And then Bobby Mullen said, ‘Well, then I’m going to ruin your life.’” Wicker described watching Mullen storm off as she turned to Ellis: “The first thing I said was, ‘Are you okay?’ ‘Cause, like, I’m not okay. And he wasn’t even talking to me, but I’m scared out of my mind.”
Mullen’s attempt at damage control was futile. “The video already had thousands of likes,” Wicker explained. “It had been picked up by so many different pages. TMZ has it. Bleacher Report has shared it. ESPN has already got it. It’s everywhere. The damage done, like if Joey deletes this video, it doesn’t matter.”
Mullen, perhaps realizing the futility of the way he approached things initially, issued a statement: “The lasting image of Coach Hurley leaving the court should have been his walking off the court arm-in-arm with his seniors, overwhelmed with emotion. Instead, a reporter who was in an area he should not have been, recorded on his cell phone a private comment made to members of another coaching staff.”
This defense had also been there in a since-deleted X post where Mullen wrote, “PR man yells at reporter. News at 11,” and attempted to shift blame onto Ellis for breaching a restricted area. Yet, many have countered that considering the tunnel’s accessibility during tournament games, the area he was recording from was open to the media.
However, by now, it seems like the situation has de-escalated as announced by Ellis himself. “Just a quick (and hopefully final) update: Bobby Mullen and I spoke a short time ago, during which he apologized for his behavior,” he posted on X. “I accepted it … and life rolls on.”
So, this story, for now, is over. Or at least until Dan Hurley has a moment of vulnerability again.
Hurley’s Fire: Sideline spats, viral moments, and unapologetic swagger
The footage wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was the conversation it sparked. Baylor, for their part, got absolutely destroyed by Duke, unlike UConn, who at least managed to put up a fight. In the second round, the Blue Devils dismantled Baylor 89-66, with Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Proctor, and Kon Knueppel combining for 55 points, 10 fewer than Baylor’s entire team managed.
Nov 6, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; Connecticut Huskies forward Liam McNeeley (30), forward Alex Karaban (11) and Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley react after a play against the Sacred Heart Pioneers in the second half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
This is not the first time Hurley has made headlines for his clashes. In February, he taunted Creighton fans after a 70-66 win, going as far as to dub one “baldy,” apparently unconcerned about the status of his own hairline. “Two rings. Two rings. Two rings. Two rings, baldy,” Hurley proclaimed with a finger point.
Hurley’s fire isn’t reserved just for the stands. In January, he berated officials during a win over Butler and appeared to tell one, “Don’t turn your back on me. I’m the best coach in the f-ing sport.” The moment took an even stranger turn when he fell to the floor on the sidelines. Hurley later brushed it off in the postgame conference: “I might have lost my balance by the absurdity of the call, or maybe I tripped,” he said. “But if I made that call at that point, I would’ve ignored the fact that I was on my back. If I made that call, I would’ve ignored that … How you could call that while that game was going on the way that game was going on is just beyond me.”
Love him or hate him, Hurley thrives in the spotlight. Whether firing up his team, clashing with officials, or taunting fans, he keeps college basketball buzzing.
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