By now, you’ve probably seen the clip. The viral video, captured by Joey Ellis of Queen City News in the bowels of the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, shows UConn head coach Dan Hurley looking like he had an axe to grind after his team’s loss to Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to an emotional interview with CBS’s Tracy Wolfson, Hurley turned to the Baylor Bears, who were getting ready for their game against Duke, hoping that the refs — long a foe of UConn’s head coach — didn’t f*ck the Bears like they f*cked the Huskies.
Or so he says.
“I hope they don’t do that to you, Baylor,” Hurley said.
Dan Hurley exiting the arena after UConn’s NCAA Tournament loss to Florida, presumably about the officiating:
“I hope they don’t f*ck you like they f*cked us. I hope they don’t do that to you, Baylor.” #MarchMadness
(via @Jellis1016) pic.twitter.com/LTtRkSCkpf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 23, 2025
Well, it turns out the clip Ellis captured didn’t sit well with the Huskies.
Ellis was merely doing his job, which UConn didn’t appreciate. In fact, the program’s director of communications, Bobby Mullen, asked for the video to be removed. According to Gabe McDonald of Charlotte Sports Live, Mullen allegedly threatened Ellis, saying he would “ruin his life” if the video wasn’t taken down.
After posting the clip of Dan Hurley leaving the floor post game in Raleigh, here’s an update with our latest reporting late Sunday night. @CSLonQCN pic.twitter.com/pOOvoIINhR
— Joey Ellis (@Jellis1016) March 24, 2025
“This was heard by multiple other reporters and staff on hand,” McDonald revealed.
When Charlotte Sports Live reached out for a statement, UConn responded, seeking to shift the narrative.
“The lasting image of Coach Hurley leaving the court should’ve been his walking off the court arm-in-arm with his seniors, overwhelmed with emotion, ” the statement read. “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.”
Despite the university’s objection, the network stands by Ellis’s report.
For someone who’s quickly becoming the next big villain in sports, Hurley sure knows how to make an impression — and so does UConn’s head of communications, apparently.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.