At a coaching meeting in February, the basketball coach of the University of Connecticut, Dan Hurley, sat together in front of a laptop and shrugged in pain when he observed St. John’s University on footage of a recent defeat.

“How does that happen?” He wondered. “We just don’t deserve to win when they do things like that.”

One might think that Hurley, a generation-comprised trainer who drives a third national title in a row in this year’s NCAA tournament, could quickly bounce back after a defeat.

But that’s anything but the case, especially in this Topy Turvy season for the huskies.

Hurley told the correspondent Jon Wertheim that losing shoots him into a “hell hole of suffering” and only wins “temporary relief”.

Wertheim asked whether there was a way to get more joy in the victories and a little less of the losses.

“Maybe (for) a unique champion,” said Hurley.

“But someone who stays desperate where we are … on the mountain, I think they are so wired.”

Hurley knows better than bringing home the stress of the job.

His 27 -year -old wife, Andrea Hurley, has little patience for doom and darkness – to “reset” him back to the garage before returning to the house when he comes home from the exercise in a sour mood.

“He will get down and get into such a radio … (and), if I get into a radio with him, we won’t be good,” she said in an interview with the couple to Wertheim.

Last year, after Uconn won his second NCAA tournament in a row in a row, Dan was addressed with a career change option: to train the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, with a contract that was supposedly worth $ 70 million.

Dan and Andrea flew to Los Angeles to meet Laker’s President Jeanie Buss and General Manager Rob Pelinka. They flew back the next day and took the rest of the weekend to take the offer into account.

The hurleys said 60 minutes that they qualified through the decision.

“There were obviously many positive. And the challenge was exciting … there were definitely times when they thought they would go,” said Dan zu Wertheim.

“You are in this crazy mental, amazing feeling of simply getting back from your back (wins) … and then a dream job,” said Andrea.

“I think it broke up both … The opportunity was a dream.”

They went “back and forth” and sometimes fully committed to bring their family to Los Angeles.

But ultimately they decided to stay with Uconn.

Dan and Andrea quote several reasons why. Both said “family” was a factor.

“You say: ‘What will have these effects on my family?’,” Said Dan 60 minutes.

“We have everyone we love near us. They are part of what we do at Uconn.”

Dan said Wertheim that coaching at College also gives him a “sense of the purpose” that he would not train the professionals.

“The effects they could have on a 17-year-old, a 19-year-old … What they could mean for them in their lives is something that they cannot take on professional sports,” he said.

“You are the last group of people who will really teach these children a lot of them how they have to learn … to prepare them on what life will look like.”

And since Uconn performed at such a high level, then then could not go out of the program.

“The way we play, the caliber of our game, the way our players flourish in their careers after the ukon … The way we do is something special. Why do you want to leave it?”

Andrea and Dan quoted another factor in the decision: the pain of the struggle and the possible failure at NBA level.

“(Dan) is proud of success … If you lose a game in college, it is borderline unbearable,” said Andrea zu Wertheim.

“I can’t imagine going to the next level and having to play all these games – and lose. It wouldn’t be great,” she said.

“These games we play … You are a reflection of us in many ways. So if we fight or if we fail, we don’t like it,” added.

Wertheim asked the coach whether he regretted the decision to lean the offer in view of the turbulent season that Uconn had.

“No, not for a second. Not for a second.”

The video above was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Sarah Shafer.

Film material of the Maui Invitational with the friendly approval of ESPN Enterprises, Inc.