As the summer days and weeks lengthen into months, the Huskies are practicing hard, eating better, sleeping more, and growing closer as a team. The new conditioning regime has some beefing up, others slimming down, and all looking toned and fit. Thanks to a sleep tracker on their phones, they are monitoring their own sleep, aiming to get the eight hours a day recommended by “Coach Sal.” And they are all doing better at eating three meals a day.

“Paying attention to the small things now is going to amount to achieving our bigger goals as a team,” says senior guard Jalen Adams. “The workouts are intense,” says Vital, “but we know it’s going to pay off.”

“We’re trying to put ourselves in the best position possible, physically and mentally,” says point guard Alterique Gilbert, a former McDonald’s All-American who missed two years in a row due to injury and is still rehabbing this summer after shoulder surgery. Hurley and his assistants are working with him individually, to get him up to speed and build his confidence without prematurely exposing him to contact.

Gilbert says Hurley is a very hands-on coach. “He’s such a great leader. He knows exactly what to do and when to do it. He pushes you in a way you still feel motivated.” The players agree that Hurley is tough but say he takes the time to explain what he’s doing and why. “He’s gonna tell you the truth, whether that’s good or bad,” says Gilbert.

Hurley also holds his players accountable. “If you mess up, he’s not going to let you get away with it,” says Adams. “He lets the whole team know, and the whole team has to come up with a way to resolve it.”

When Coach rips into two players for slacking on sprints — the sprints themselves being a penalty — two of their teammates call the entire team together for an impromptu players-only meeting to discuss the situation.

Hurley demands nothing less of his players than to be the best they can be in everything. It’s not just about competing and performing every single drill at the highest level. It’s also about going to every class, earning the highest grades they’re capable of, and even standing out among teammates in community service with youngsters: “Be the player the kids remember most,” as he puts it.

“Our job is to educate the guys for the 40 to 50 years when they’re not playing basketball,” says Hurley.

“All the coaches are on us about having more to our identity than basketball,” says Adams. “They say, ‘When basketball stops, who are you?’”

One of Hurley’s strongest messages is the importance of constantly learning and growing. “Better, smarter people make better players,” he says. To that end, the coach — who taught history at St. Benedict’s and aims to read a couple of books a month in his spare time — launched a team book club.

When he handed out copies of the motivational book Chop Wood Carry Water: How to Fall in Love with the Process of Becoming Great, it prompted some sideways glances. But when players, coaches, and staff gathered on the practice court around the Husky dog logo for the club’s first meeting, Hurley says he was “blown away” that every single player had read the set passages and joined actively in the discussion. Little more than two months since he’d taken over, there already was a different mindset on the team.

“Everybody’s buying into the process of what we have to do to be successful,” says Gilbert. “It’s definitely a different vibe. In just a couple of months, it’s crazy he’s had that big of an impact.”