The Connecticut Huskies are in the Final Four after stunning Duke 73-72 in the Elite Eight. And ahead of the Huskies’ Final Four game vs. Illinois, Andrea Hurley, the wife of UConn head coach Dan Hurley, expressed disappointment in St. John’s Red Storm fans for rooting for Duke against UConn in the Elite Eight.
Hurley appeared on The Field of 68 college basketball streaming show, and she explained that many St. John’s fans stuck around after the Red Storm’s Sweet 16 loss to Duke to watch the Blue Devils face UConn in the Elite Eight in Washington, D.C. To Hurley’s surprise, those St. John’s fans cheered on Duke instead of fellow Big East program UConn.
ICYMI: Andrea Hurley on St. John’s fans 👀
“I’m gonna say it… When we went to the (Elite 8) game, all those St. John’s fans were rooting against UConn. And that just broke my heart… It’s really sad, and that’s crappy. That was just crappy.”
🎥: https://t.co/YkTjsPR6Iq pic.twitter.com/vt2aRXsXke
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) April 4, 2026
“Okay, I’m gonna say it,” Hurley began. “Okay. St. John’s fans, I grabbed [St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino’s wife] at the end of the [Big East Tournament championship game], and I was like, ‘How do you do this?’ And she, like, is the sweetest person. And I love talking to other wives. And I’m, like, I was rooting for St. John’s. Like, do I want to play them? Probably not, but I didn’t want to play Duke either. So, we were rooting for St. John’s. And then we went to the game, all those St. John’s fans were rooting against us. And I, just, that broke my heart.”
“You felt like they should be Big East united?” Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 asked.
“I thought,” Hurley responded. “So, that’s really sad.”
“It doesn’t always work that way,” Goodman said.
“That’s crappy,” Hurley said.
“They might hate you,” Goodman added. “You’ve won two titles in the last three years. They’re probably a little bit jealous.”
“Come on,” Hurley said. “They’re there. They’re right there. That was crappy.”
To Goodman’s point, UConn has won two of the last three national championships and has a big target on its back, especially when it comes to rival programs like St. John’s. And as he said, a lot of that is jealousy, surely. Additionally, while Andrea certainly doesn’t view her husband this way, Dan Hurley is perceived as one of the biggest villains in sports, which only escalates rival fans’ dislike of UConn.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.