College hoops writer who operates @USBWA member outlet. I cover: Big East, MAAC, Rutgers, NY/NJ/CT mid-majors and Philly/Big 5. Fan of zebra alerts.
Up and down 95 in NY/NJ/PA/CT
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Another season has come and gone, but on the edge of seventeen, I’m far from all alone.
The epilogue was 12,329 words this year, but introspective, memorable, and a perfect segue into the next phase of my coverage.
Read and enjoy my 17th-year recap: dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com…
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Hurley on what his wife, Andrea, might say had he taken the Kentucky job: “We just went to Rhode Island, which I had to drag her to, and then to Connecticut, I got her closer (to New Jersey). I can’t afford a divorce right now, I just started making money.” #UConn #BleedBlue
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Pitino: “Young people are different these days. I’m still struggling with it…I’m not quitting like some other coaches, but I’m struggling. I gave up drinking for New Year’s, but after today, I think I might have the shortest resolution in the history of mankind.” #sjubb
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Rick Pitino: “My vision is to play every game at Madison Square Garden, conference-wise. It has to be at a major facility. Carnesecca Arena is not big enough for the brand of basketball we’re gonna build.” #sjubb
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A picture is worth a thousand words: @TylerNelson14 gets a big hug from @CoachJStags on the completion of a legendary career.
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Red Panda and @John_Fanta. Truly no one better.
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Pitino: “We kind of lost this season with the way we recruited. We recruited the antithesis of the way I coach. It’s a good group, they try hard, but they’re just not very tough.” #sjubb
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Pitino: “I told Mullin when I first got the job, I said, ‘Chris, I’m nothing in this program compared to you. This is your home, your program. I’m just a caretaker for Lou, that’s all I am. So please come back to your home. You’re the most celebrated player in history.’” #sjubb
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Pitino: “We are so unathletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling. For me, I’ve always enjoyed the first year, and I’m not gonna lie to you: This is the most unenjoyable experience of my lifetime. This has been so disappointing.” #sjubb
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Hurley: “I was a coach on the hot seat going into ’23, just ask Dave Benedict. Then when Alex Karaban put on the uniform, and Hass and Samson, those players change your life.” #UConn
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Hurley on Tristen Newton: “He should be talked about as one of the best guards in the country, but people who watch TikTok highlights and don’t watch the game are the ones judging. They don’t know shit.” #UConn #BleedBlue
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Seven straight out of the half for #UConn, and Underwood will talk.
I’ll let the crowd tell the story.
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Rick Pitino: “We need to get in a multi-bid league. I think the Atlantic 10 — with Loyola Chicago coming in, Archie Miller taking over at Rhode Island and Frank Martin at UMass — is gonna take off.” #ICMBB
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I wasn’t familiar with your game before this week, @uarkbands.
Nicely done on War Pigs again.
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Greg McDermott: “I’m really excited and proud of our team, but it’s hard to be in too much of a celebratory mood until we get a full report on the extent of Ryan Nembhard’s injury. I’ve been doing this 33 years…I’ve never been as proud of a team as I am tonight.” #GoJays
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I can confirm that Iona just fired Tobin Anderson.
I have many thoughts about this, none of which are presently safe for public consumption.
#MAACHoops
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Some sad news to pass along this morning: The great Tom Konchalski is being transitioned into hospice care later today. Keep this living legend in your thoughts and prayers if you can.
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Hurley: “Alex does a shitty job of drawing attention to himself. Maybe if he did more TikToks, he’d have solidified his All-American status. We value the wrong things in sports. We don’t value champions, but maybe that’s a societal issue.” #UConn #BleedBlue
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Here’s the full quote from Hurley on the Big East possibly only getting three bids. Great question from @NYPost_Brazille:
“First off, if Seton Hall is not in, that’s embarrassing, and there’s a larger problem relative to the respect that the Big East gets.” (1/4)
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Cam Spencer on technical: “I don’t think I’ve ever had one before, in college at least.”
Hurley: “He gets a shitload of ’em in practice.”
#UConn #BleedBlue
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Hurley: “It’s pretty hard to have rivalries when you’ve won six championships since ’99 and other programs haven’t had success like that.” #UConn
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A mid-major is now guaranteed to play for a national championship.
If you’re the NCAA or CBS, you hate this. If you’re a college basketball fan, you love it.
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Shaka Smart: “I was at VCU for six years, and we had a sellout streak over 100 when I left. I learned not to take for granted that the arena was full.” #mubb #LetsGoVCU
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Pitino: “You guys are witnessing something very, very special. I can assure you, I had nothing to do with 19,800 people here today. This is a players’ reunion with St. John’s, they’re bringing the fans back with their effort.” #sjubb
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Mike Anderson: “It’s not my first rodeo, so for all the haters, keep doing it. I’m even more motivated than I’ve ever been. Whether I’m a country boy, city boy, I’m loving St. John’s and I’m loving New York.” #sjubb
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Rick Pitino: “I asked about the character of the basketball team. To be honest, I didn’t get glowing reports, but I did get a glowing report on Joel Soriano. We’re gonna bring him to a level he didn’t even think he could reach.” #sjubb
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Shaheen Holloway: “When I took the job, everybody told me, ‘it’s a bad job, don’t take it.’ But like I said, sometimes you gotta believe in yourself, you gotta bet on yourself. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve done that. That’s who I am.” #MAACHoops #StrutUp
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I’ve seen Purdue live. I’ve seen #UConn live. The comparison between the two is not close.
No disrespect to the Boilermakers, but I can’t see Purdue playing this kind of a game against a Top 5 team like the Huskies just did.
UConn 81, Marquette 53 your final in Hartford.
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Pitino: “Kids are gonna want to come to St. John’s now, because they’re gonna be part of our team again.” #sjubb
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Hurley: “If you go to #UConn and you hit it right as a coach or a player, it changes your life. UConn affording me the opportunity to lead the program changed my life, changed my career. It’s changed the lives of multiple players. UConn is a life-changing place.”
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Pitino just fired a zinger at @NYPost_Brazille:
ZACH: “Rick, do you have any nerves for Sunday?”
RICK: “Your paper said we were going dancing! Why would I have any nerves? The New York Post is the Bible, who else am I gonna believe? I was dancing all last night!”
#sjubb
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Shaheen Holloway: “A group of guys came in here who no one gave a chance to, no one believed in, and made history. They shocked the world. It’s a story within a story. They came in and made history. Point blank, period.” #MAACHoops #StrutUp
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I’ve seen a lot of bullshit James Breeding calls in 18 years covering this sport.
This one is near the top of that long list. #sjubb
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Hurley to Tracy Wolfson: “I thought we played with tremendous honor. I thought we played with the heart of a championship program.” #UConn
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Hurley: “Tomorrow’s gonna be brutal. The video session’s gonna be crushing. The accountability is gonna be super high and we’re gonna be brutally honest about what happened here tonight. We’ll act appropriately. When we lose at #UConn, everyone hurts.”
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Miller on #UConn: “When I was playing, Duke had Christian Laettner, Danny’s brother Bobby, Grant Hill…and I think UConn, in its rightful place, is them right now. I don’t think college basketball has seen a better winner than Alex Karaban.”
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BREAKING: St. John’s now has the nation’s most efficient defense, per KenPom.
Pitino has done that multiple times before, including when he won the national championship at Louisville in 2013. #sjubb
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Can everyone do me a favor today?
I understand certain college basketball media types are being dragged through the mud today, but can we please leave Fanta out of this? John did nothing wrong here, and shouldn’t be lumped in with all the other vitriol.
Be better, everyone.
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Rick Pitino: “I’d like to give a special shoutout to Tim Cluess. Nobody did a better job than Tim Cluess...he was one of the premier coaches in the country, and Tim, wherever you are, we share this with you tonight.” #ICMBB
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Pitino: “Look: Joel’s slow laterally, he’s not fast on the court. Chris Ledlum is slow laterally, Sean Conway’s slow laterally. Brady’s physically weak, Drissa is slow laterally.” #sjubb
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The streak lives to fight another day.
Providence is now 22-0 all-time with @John_Fanta on the call after the first test on the road ends in a gritty Friar victory. #pcbb
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Never in my 15-year career, or even before that, did I expect a #MAACHoops team to reach a regional final.
For that, @PeacocksMBB deserves to be celebrated and remembered through the ages. What Shaheen Holloway and his team did was unparalleled, unbelievable, special. #StrutUp
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Hurley: “I can already see it in the AP poll, the lack of respect that the Big East gets. We should have five teams, minimum, in the Top 20. Marquette, Creighton, Xavier should be highly ranked, you got what St. John’s has done. We should all be ranked in the Top 20.” #UConn
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Rick Pitino: “If I had a choice for when I could die, it would probably be on the sidelines. Just roll a seven right there.”
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One last quiet court at the RAC, and fittingly, that’s Caleb McConnell out there dropping the curtain on the old barn. You don’t see many like him anymore, that’s for sure. #RHoops #TheKnighthood
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Hurley: “If you play for four or five schools in four years, you’re kind of a mercenary at that point and you have no base in life.”
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If any West Virginia fans follow me: You’re getting one of the most talented and humble players I’ve had the privilege to cover over 15 years in the New York/New Jersey media, a kid who will win you over right away and stop at nothing to better himself.
Our loss is your gain.
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Kadary: “This is what I transferred for. I like what’s going on in the city right now.” #sjubb
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Pitino: “It’s not the job. You could be at Missouri and recruit slow players. Believe me, it’s not St. John’s. We had to put together a team at the last second. We will never, ever, do that again.” #sjubb
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#UConn tipping at 2:45 on Friday. Duke gets the prime time slot.
That’s bullshit.
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Steve Pikiell: “First, I’d like to quickly mention our radio announcer, Coach Joe Boylan. He’s in the hospital. We’re thinking about you, Coach.” #RHoops #GardenStatement
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Cooley: “For St. John’s not to be ranked, I don’t know who some of these voters are, you’re blind. Wake up. That’s one of the best teams we’ve played all year. Anyone behind that iron mic who has a vote, wake your ass up.” #Hoyas
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My sources tell me that Jose Perez will receive a decision on the appeal West Virginia filed for his eligibility waiver that was initially denied last month, and that he could be available for the Mountaineers Saturday against Kansas if all goes well.
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Zuby on transferring to St. John’s: “Hunter had made the decision to commit to Kansas, and me and my family made the decision that was best for me. Now, I’ve found myself in a better situation. I’m really grateful that I spent the last two years here at St. John’s.” #sjubb
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Hurley on Marquette: “Just first class all around there, with the culture, the winning, the way they develop players. They play a style of basketball that you just respect the heck out of, how hard they play, the togetherness of the group.” #mubb
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Karaban: “The fans always show out whenever we play at MSG. This isn’t the first time #UConn Nation has helped us.”
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Pitino: “Seamus Carey, the president at Iona, was here today. I’m not at St. John’s if it wasn’t for Seamus Carey. He flew over with @mglovs23 to Madrid, Spain, and that was it. Seamus Carey gave me the break when nobody believed I was getting back in basketball.”
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UConn should be at the line shooting three for the tie here. Breeding absolutely botched that one.
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BREAKING: Red Panda will be performing at halftime of ALL FOUR Big East quarterfinals on Thursday. Best news you’ll see all day.
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Hurley: “To get to where we were, the work that this staff did, I just think we get like-minded people to come and play here. We just try to recruit winners and people that it’s never enough for. Whatever we are now, 24-2, it’s never enough. We have people like that.” #UConn
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#UConn’s current roster:
Hassan Diarra
Alex Karaban (testing draft waters)
Samson Johnson
Jaylin Stewart
Solo Ball
Youssouf Singare
Jayden Ross
Andre Johnson
Andrew Hurley
Ahmad Nowell
Isaiah Abraham
Liam McNeeley
Tarris Reed (Michigan transfer)
Aidan Mahaney (SMC transfer)
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Hurley: “We’re a passionate program. The players play with it, I coach with it.” #UConn
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Hurley on Big East going 6-0 in NCAA: “Look what we’ve done in non-conference games, MTEs, NCAA Tournaments. There should have been five or six Big East teams in this tournament…you see how other leagues who got bids over us have underperformed.” #UConn #BleedBlue
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Rick Pitino: “I’ll play New Mexico at the Garden. Let’s go, @LoboCoachPitino. You need to come to Madison Square Garden. He still owes me a game.” #sjubb
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Wilcher: “When you win, you get all of New York City to back you, and I feel like that’s what’s happening now.” #sjubb
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Pitino on Kadary: “I think Shaheen Holloway did a fabulous job of preparing him, and I think he’s taken his conditioning to an all-time high. Great player, I’m excited to have him.” #sjubb
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A tradition unlike any other at NCAA Tournament sites @AdamZagoria covers: The tossing of the disc to Jon Scheyer, whose first reaction was, “is this good luck now?”
He joins Dan Hurley, @John_Fanta and Matt Painter in an elite club.
@USAUltimate @watchUFAtv
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Hurley on Karaban’s slump: “We don’t have anything that we’ve got in the bank without this kid. We didn’t start winning at the level we have until he got here. You can play a winning game and shoot bad, and Alex played a major winning game (at Creighton).” #UConn
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Pitino: “I’m just very appreciative of Aaron Scott. He had a bad game today, but he gave me his heart and soul with a broken finger.” #sjubb
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Dan Hurley: “Storrs, Connecticut is the basketball capital of the world. We’ll come into a season with a chip on our shoulder, or two chips, and that’s why I think this program is as successful as it’s been. We don’t carry complacency.” #UConn
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#UConn OOC schedule:
11/3 vs. New Haven
11/7 vs. UMass Lowell
11/10 vs. Columbia
11/15 vs. BYU (Boston)
11/19 vs. Arizona (Gampel)
11/23 vs. Bryant
11/28 vs. Illinois (MSG)
12/2 at Kansas
12/5 vs. East Texas A&M
12/9 vs. Florida (MSG)
12/12 vs. Texas (Hartford)
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Say what you want about Rick Pitino, but there was one quote from his press conference that resonated beyond the game:
“If you have humility, you’re gonna get better. If you have an ego, you’re gonna get delusional.”
Useful and meaningful in all walks of life.
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Pitino: “About three weeks ago, the administration and I were talking. I could sense in their minds, (the season) was over. In our minds, it was just beginning.” #sjubb
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Pitino: “That’s why next year, the only game we’re playing at Carnesecca is Connecticut. The rest, we’re gonna negotiate.”
When asked by @NYPost_Brazille if the comment was serious: “100 percent. I have my reasons.” #sjubb #UConn
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Rick Pitino has never faced an opponent quite like St. John’s public safety.
Conversely, St. John’s public safety has also never seen an opponent quite like Rick Pitino.
I apologize to all our great fans that had to wait a long time to get into sold out Carneseca. I can assure you this will never happen again.
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Pitino: “We always want guys to play with a high motor. Kelvin Odih plays with a high motor all the time.”
He adds, in jest: “He’s from Providence, Rhode Island, but he wanted an education. That’s why he didn’t go to any of the New England schools and came to St. John’s.” #sjubb
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Hurley: “Like I said in New York, the Big East is a monster and iron sharpens iron. It should have been a six-bid league, and I just think the league prepares us for these games.” #UConn #BleedBlue
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Pitino: “RJ is a great talent who’s gonna give me a nervous breakdown. Throwing the ball off the guy’s rear end off an inbounds pass? Some of the things he does are going to age me. Some of things he does make me 90 years of age…I’m close to Looie now.” #sjubb
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Jose Perez has informed me that he intends to enter the transfer portal in the wake of Steve Masiello’s dismissal at Manhattan.
Perez, the MAAC preseason player of the year, was returning for his senior season, and his bond with Masiello transcended the basketball court.
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Pitino on Dunlap: “He’ll be alright. If he’d stop biting his shirt and pay attention to scouting, it would help us tremendously.” #sjubb
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Rick Pitino: “I love coaching at Iona, I love my players. I hate this league…I hate being in a one-bid league.” #MAACHoops
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Hurley: “I think it’s gonna be crushing looking at those free throw rebounds again, looking at that Karaban drive on the baseline and no call on that.” #UConn
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BREAKING: @John_Fanta will be on the call for @PCFriarsmbb’s Saturday night home game against Creighton, in which the Friars can clinch the Big East regular season championship with a win. For those of you scoring at home, Providence is 13-0 all-time with Fanta on the call. #pcbb
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Today a peacock, tomorrow a feather duster.
Lou Carnesecca is neither in this moment. He is now immortal, an angel having received his wings.
A reflection on the patron saint of St. John’s basketball, who left us today at 99: dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com… #sjubb
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Pitino: “We got it rolling right now, and winning does that. This is New York, it’s all about winning in New York. It’s a shame Lou’s not alive…he’d be very proud of this team with how they fight. We really want to get St. John’s back where it belongs.” #sjubb
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Dan Hurley on being picked third: “It’s all a bunch of shit, so it doesn’t matter.” #UConn
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Pitino: “The only thing I’m really surprised at is the fan base packing the Garden. These are now Knick crowds…we’re doing what they did last year, and that’s why the crowds are coming out.” #sjubb
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