The world is Dan Hurley: Uconn Strikes Gold with Furphy and Reibe

STORRS, Conn. — Even for a state like Connecticut, where college basketball is a year-round passion, there was nothing particularly special about the morning of June 28, another nondescript Saturday amid a searing summer in this part of the country, with far too many weekends remaining before UConn returns to the court.

But things began to change shortly after 11 a.m. local time in response to what was happening across the ocean and several time zones away, as Australia battled the United States in the group phase at this year’s FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, an event held in Lausanne, Switzerland. There in Vaudoise Arena, the American roster included bonafide stars like BYU signee AJ Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle; Louisville signee Mikel Brown Jr., the No. 8 overall prospect; and Arizona signee Koa Peat, the No. 9 overall prospect. All of them future first-round talents. 

And yet the player who outscored them all — the one whose highlights quickly began circulating the internet to enliven Huskies fans several thousand miles away — was a far less recognizable combo guard for the Australians named Jacob Furphy, a product of the NBA Global Academy. Though his team wound up losing by double digits, Furphy poured in a game-high 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting to set social media ablaze, at least within the college basketball sphere. His mixture of spot-up shooting, crafty pick-and-roll maneuvers and a unique ability to finish around the rim had UConn supporters salivating at a time when the program’s recruiting class also included five-star shooting guard Braylon Mullins (No. 15 overall) and blue-chip center Eric Reibe (No. 28 overall), who shined for runner-up Germany in the same event. 

“You’re looking out there on the floor and there’s lottery picks up and down the lineup for the Americans and [Furphy] Wonderful play. “He is suspended with all these men, it was fun to see against the best players. We had already incredibly high expectations, so we were excited to get to work.”

As two of the powerful in the future compete in Switzerland, where the United States eventually prevailed, Murray and lead coach Dan Hurley jumped through the pool in support of their signs. They watched gently with the development of the championship to the international appearance of Formiva, which reached average of 16.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 decisive passes in seven games, and another confirmation of the big man who was transferred to Al -Tawil Ruby, who put 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 passes for each game while playing a central role. Forvi told me that Rebi and Formy played against each other in the quarter-finals-“I liked to talk a little about him”, and gossip was intensified online about the legitimacy of the Payment of Uconn for the third national title in Four Seasons.

Determining and purchasing a player like Furphy, who adhered to the structure of the structure last October, is in line with the philosophical revolution that Hurley underwent after losing his annoying team to the twelfth seeded New Mexico state in the first round of the NCAA 2022 championship. Slowly but steadily, and with more than a few filled with Murray, which is considered one of the most offensive minds in university basketball, Herley benefited from The possibility of defense is sabotage and the unacceptable hardness of hardness is the only features needed to win the highest levels. Under the bunny hole, Murray continued from complex offensive procedures, high -energy analyzes and the pursuit of players who have a more comprehensive understanding of the game, of the type that can be read in the actual time by enacting a set of good principles.

“My mental health is much better to embrace the crime,” Hurley told me again in 2024Two months before winning its second national title in a row with a team that ranked first in the country for offensive efficiency.

Many of the characteristics of the specific players and planning ideas embraced by Uconn are essential to the international game, as freedom of movement and its examination in beautiful basketball basketball is born on some individual and isolation -ending trends in the American Professional League. This means that the matter was only a matter of time before the Huskies team, who enter the eighth year under Hurley, entered the recruiter who are aware of these types of systems when determining the potential goals.

Rebi, who chose UNCONN to Kansas, Creton, Indiana and Oregon, was born in Germany and spent part of his childhood in Switzerland before eventually completing his high school career at Bullis School in Botomak, Maryland. It has exceptional football skills for seven feet and can work comfortably from any low function, as a touch of softness must be a balance for the powerful structures, or the ocean, as the bird extends beyond the 3 -point points line and its acute passes can be fed. With several years of the national team’s experience under his belt, Rebi, who was wearing back and forth between four and five stars, comes to Storrs as a major backup copy to start the Tarris Reed JR. , Michigan’s previous transfer.

“Coach Murray sees a lot of Eurolig and tries to implement some things from there and then collects them with things [the United States]Rebi said, they are mixed together, and I see a lot of similarities. “

Meanwhile, Forvi was born in Tasmania, an island off the southeastern coast of Australia, and he traveled back and forth to the mainland several times every year as his career in basketball. He eventually moved to the capital of Canberra, which was slapped in the center of Melbourne and Sidney, to join the Australian Basketball Center and the American World Professional League Academy, a program that produced players like Andrew Bugot, Joe Engels, Josi Mills and Josh Juddi.

As with Reibe, the multi -use Furphy was part of his country’s international pipeline for several years, until the first time with Australia’s Grand Australia in the 2025 Asian Cup qualifiers. He also realized the offensive overlap between the taught basketball type and the main slave that Murray described during the recruitment talks.

“This was something that I spoke to my agent as soon as I discovered that Uconn was interested,” Forvi said. “It is a style that I love playing and played greatly in my whole life. That was definitely one of the main attractions.”

This summer, the national team of Australia in the U19 operated many of its crimes through Forva at the Fiba Championship by asking to leave the screens or make action and then make the correct decisions in the ball in his hands, even if it was not technically the team’s goalkeeper. Murray was admired by the level of comfort in Forvie in a highly used role and defended his understanding of how to change speeds as a severing. Hurley came out of the trip to Switzerland, pleased with how Forvi carried on the field: He was the first player inside and outside every wreck; He was constantly communicating with his colleagues and coaches. Each golden place – Always focus point with Hurley.

Now, Furphy will be part of the deep guards’ rotation that includes a single ball for return and new expatriates Silas Demary JR. (Georgia Transfer), Malachi Smith (Dayton) and Mullins. It is displayed as a shooting guard or a small small -sized striker who is able to slide into a point guard when necessary. Although the time of his playing as a real student is likely to be less than that Forvi used with Australia, he is skilled enough to immediately contribute to a reserve role.

Murray told me: “We love ingenuity,” Murray told me. “He is steeped, it is interrupted, it’s the principles of crime, he is a really good selection player. Historically, we were not a team playing a ton of choice and winding, but he will be a man who will give more freedom to play in this way.

“He will have to continue to improve defensively and get more accustomed to dealing with size and athlete when he reads it as a passerby – just more accustomed to how this length is shown in court, and displays himself on the edge when he goes to a top scorer – but yes, we are very excited.”

This Furfi spent his entire childhood on the other side of the world, which means that the strong structures were not aware of him until he received information from a journalist who specializes in covering the American Professional League draft. Murray’s recommendation was sent to another rabbit hole from a Forvy study on a tape of his time with both the national team and the American World Professional League Academy.

Murray admired him enough to ask his assistant colleague Tom Moore to visit Atlanta when one of the Forvie teams was competing in the United States last summer. Moore loved what he saw, just as Murray was hoping, and the Furfi recruitment accelerated in Forvi as soon as the employees returned to the campus and Hurley took over in the latest movie. They convinced Furphy to sign UNNN on Illinois, another high -level international talent program, and they have been happy with the decision since then – even if it was classified outside the 130 best players in the country in the last 247 sports rankings.

But quickly forward this summer and the Fiba Championship has become an official introduction to Furphy for the American basketball world. This was the first time that Hurley has seen his new new role, and what a series of offers he saw Wurai.

Murray said, “He does not necessarily have the best body, and he has no incredible length, huge athlete, or great speed,” Murray said. “But this is part of the reason that people do not think [former UConn star] Cam Spencer was good at high school, as you know, or you did not think it was good in Liola [before entering the transfer portal].

“So again, I think many of them are related to a stylistic way. It may not be completely suitable for everyone, but it is suitable for us.”

Michael Cohen It covers university football and university basketball for Fox Sports. Follow it in @michael_cohen13.

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