Hurley on roster-building: ‘Haven’t changed a lot’

GLENDALE, Ariz. — In a college sports landscape increasingly filled with transfer-laden rosters and portal-focused rebuilds, Monday night’s national championship game between Purdue and UConn will feature two teams — and coaches — built more in line with an old-school approach to roster construction.

UConn coach Dan Hurley made his thoughts clear Sunday afternoon.

“My biggest motivation, really, for the last 2-3 weeks is I just don’t want to deal with the portal s—,” Hurley said. “That’s why we’re trying to win so hard right now. I’m seeing what other people are doing, and it’s chaos. I can hide behind, hey, my season’s still going on.”

While the comment was made in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, Hurley and Purdue coach Matt Painter’s success over the past few seasons has not been down to wholesale roster changes every offseason.

“We really hold out to get our type of people,” Hurley said. “We just haven’t changed a lot. Like, we don’t kiss the kids’ ass during recruiting. We don’t kiss it while they’re on campus.”

Purdue brought back all five starters from last season, but went into the portal and landed Southern Illinois transfer Lance Jones last offseason. The rest of the Boilermakers’ rotation is composed entirely of players who signed with Purdue coming out of high school.

“We’ve really recruited towards the production and the functionality of our system, what we’re trying to do,” Painter said. “A lot of people that are picking out of the portal and doing that, they’re trying to get the most talented guys, if they’re getting multiple guys. Someone has to get six or seven guys, there’s no way six or seven guys are going to be successful. It’s impossible, right?

“In our situation, where you have to get a guy or two — Cam Spencer is a great example. You’re blending in what they already had. What he brings fits what they do, especially how tough he is, how he has a great feel, how he understands offensively. That’s a little bit different than somebody going into the spring and their roster management is two-thirds of their team, right?”

UConn has leaned more heavily on the portal than the Boilermakers, with its starting backcourt of Tristen Newton (East Carolina) and Spencer (Rutgers) — and sixth man Hassan Diarra (Texas A&M) — all arriving as transfers. But Spencer was the only new transfer addition last offseason, when Hurley opted to replace departing stars Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins with reserve Donovan Clingan and incoming freshman Stephon Castle instead of going for a more proven player in the portal.

“Young players with talent that are insulated by returning players to your program that can uphold the culture,” Hurley said of how he balances a roster. “Then strategic portal additions that can put you over the top.”

It will be those “strategic” additions that could end up playing a pivotal role Monday. While most of the focus will be on Clingan and Zach Edey, two players who signed with their respective schools out of high school, Jones and Spencer — and Castle — could end up determining the outcome.

Jones is Purdue’s best perimeter defender and has given the Boilermakers a secondary ball-handler and yet another consistent 3-point shooter in the backcourt.

“We felt that we needed a combination of some athleticism, some quickness, a guy that can make a shot, and somebody that can guard. He’s been able to give us all those elements,” Painter said earlier in the week. “We are very fortunate to be able to get somebody that was a quality player that could step right in. Now we were just kind of piecing the puzzle.”

Spencer, who began his career at Loyola Maryland and then went to Rutgers, has emerged as the heart-and-soul of this season’s UConn team, the emotional leader while also being the team’s second-leading scorer.

“There’s definitely no ass-kissing in the recruiting process and that was my favorite part about it,” Spencer said. “They’re going to hold you accountable, they’re going to tell you the truth about your strengths and weaknesses and where they see you fit in the program. I think that’s one of the most special things about UConn, especially nowadays when kids want to hear all the things they’re doing well and the reality is you probably suck and need to get better at a lot of areas. That’s the one thing I appreciate about Coach Hurley and our whole staff and just how honest they are with us as players.”

Castle arrived in Storrs with more hype than Spencer, mostly due to his status as a top-10 recruit and projected lottery pick. But he missed time early in the season with a knee injury and didn’t hit his stride until later in the season. He’s had two of his best games of the season in the NCAA tournament, though, going for 16 points and 11 rebounds against Illinois and scoring a game-high 21 points against Alabama on Saturday.

“The way he handled the recruiting process, it didn’t turn into a fiasco,” Hurley said. “He was decisive. He watched us practice. He saw our culture. He wanted to be coached hard. They wanted an old-school environment for him to be challenged in, to be held accountable. It’s just been the perfect situation for him because his draft stock is right where they want it to be right now, and he’s won big. You can still do both, and everyone can win.”