Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Multiple mechanical issues and bad weather delayed the UConn men’s basketball team’s flight to the Final Four in Arizona for nearly eight hours, and head coach Dan Hurley spoke about the experience with reporters afterward on Thursday after his team safely landed in Phoenix early that morning.
“A lot of thoughts because I’ve had a lot of time to think in just a stationary situation. I think what goes through your mind once you’re done kind of complaining and cursing and muttering, you just start saying to yourself, ‘You don’t deserve to show such entitlement. Such an honor to get a chance — once-in-a-lifetime experience — to play in a Final Four, coach in a Final Four.’ Once that edge wore off, [it was, ‘We’re] lucky to be here.’ We’re lucky to get an opportunity to come play in the Final Four.
“Who doesn’t deal with problems with the airlines? … But it sucked.”
Per CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, UConn was supposed to take off around 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday via a plane that was supposed to arrive in town from Kansas City. But that plane never made it to Connecticut due to mechanical issues. In addition, that plane’s crew would max its allowable work hours, per FAA guidelines, adding to the issues at hand.
So then Plan B needed to happen. That involved a plane flying in from Cincinnati. More problems then arose, per David Borges of CT Insider:
“A different, smaller plane was flown into Connecticut from Cincinnati, but it was not as big meaning not the full travel party could board. Though the plane landed sometime after 11 p.m., the Huskies could not actually depart. The rainy weather had turned a bit messier and windy, leaving UConn to wait once again. There was one additional minor mechanical issue resolved by the onboard mechanic, the NCAA stated.”
The team then sat on the tarmac for over two hours, with rainy weather delaying the takeoff. UConn finally left 1:30 a.m. ET and landed safely in Phoenix four-and-a-half hours later.
“I ruminated a lot. I spiraled. I had my head in my hands a lot,” Hurley said, per Borzello. “It was a real mindful exercise from 11:30 to like 1:45 on the tarmac. It was therapeutic to watch the de-icing on the window.”
Ultimately, UConn is safe and sound in Arizona, where it will face Alabama in the Final Four on Saturday at 8:49 p.m. ET in Glendale’s State Farm Stadium.
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