Storrs — Dan Hurley is a brutally honest, demanding, intense, hyper-competitive guy.

Basically, he's the kick-in-the-backside that the UConn basketball program needs coming off two straight losing seasons.

In his first season as head coach, Hurley is in the process of injecting his personality into the Huskies.

Friday's hour-long workout at the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center provided a snapshot of Hurley's boot camp approach.

Hurley kept the Huskies moving. They hustled from drill to drill and only briefly stopped to receive instructions from the coaching staff. The focus is on effort and energy, not teaching and techniques.

He's learning about his players and his players are learning about him.

"For these guys, it's an environment that they haven't been in before," Hurley said. "They haven't practiced like this probably in their lives. ... These guys have responded really, really well. They want to be better. They've embraced it."

"We've had eight one-hour sessions. They're going really hard. They want to be good. They're getting better at the things that we're asking them to get better at. We have a real good understanding of what guys' skill sets are. This is just about developing a mindset of how we want to compete and building togetherness with the group. That's kind of what the focus is this time of year for us.

"... This is how it starts and it's hard and it's brutal. There's a lot of pain and suffering that goes on in these practices because it's exhausting for them, initially."

The Huskies finished their workout and then went straight to the weight room before meeting with the media.

Senior Jalen Adams finds Hurley's style refreshing.

"I like it," Adams said. "I need it. He's definitely hard on us and he keeps it straight forward and tells us the truth. Sometimes it's not what you want to hear but it's definitely what you need at that time."

Since being hired in March, Hurley has been all about building relationships, toughness and a competitive spirit in his team.

Everything is a competition during workouts.

Points are awarded for everything from winning a sprint to making an assist. The UConn Men's Basketball Win Sheet, as it is called, is posted at various places around the practice facility.

"Life is competition," Hurley said. "And you've got to get comfortable with competition especially in a place like this where expectations are so high. Winning has got to be what drives you, not what you get from winning. ... I'm just trying to create that environment where it's about winning, winning, winning, winning and improvement."

Transfer Tarin Smith is the current leader on the win sheet with 21.5 points, followed by sophomore Josh Carlton (17) and senior Eric Cobb (16.5).

"That's definitely something we pay attention to and that's definitely something we constantly talk about in practice," Smith said. "I'm on top of that right now, so I'm pretty proud of that. I've got to just keep that up. It's just building a competitiveness throughout the team."

Hurley also is trying to toughen up the Huskies, both mentally and physically. He's referred to them as soft several times since taking over.

They were shown about a dozen video clips of examples of unacceptable play from last season. A lack of effort was a theme.

Giving up four offensive rebounds in one possession against Villanova. Allowing an easy basket in Colgate's first offensive trip in the season opener.

"If we were making extra efforts and scrambling, first of all, they wouldn't have gotten to the paint and the shot would have got put through the backboard," Hurley said of the Colgate breakdown. "Villanova, you're watching the game and they're giving up four offensive rebounds and guys are looking around as Villanova is making effort after effort.

"We showed them clips of getting beat to the ball and not competing. Also, clips of looking at the ref after they thought there was a foul call and acting like an idiot. Good programs, they don't act like that. They let the coach fight with the ref and just play."

The Huskies can't do anything about what happened last year. But they can make sure that it never happens again.

"Over the past two seasons, there's a lot of things that we need to work on and learn from," junior Christian Vital said. "The main thing we know what we need to work on and we have a coach who's willing to work with us and a staff that's willing to work with us. That's the only thing you can really ask as a player."

News and notes

• Guard Alterique Gilbert continues his comeback from shoulder surgery. "He's trying to get his conditioning back," Hurley said. "He hasn't done any cardio in five months. But he's able to do ball-handling, shooting. I imagine he will be cleared to do stuff live in a couple of weeks, but we won't do that with him. We're going to save him until September. ... But he looks good." ... Cobb, who was listed at 280 pounds last season, has dropped a good deal of weight. He put in extra work with new strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi "Different guy," Hurley said. "I told him if he wants to go out on his shield this year like a warrior, he's got to get to like 240, 235 to play for me the way we're going to play defensively. He's done a great job." ... After a review of his academic status, forward Kwintin Williams is now a senior after being listed as a sophomore last season. ... Graduate transfer Kassoum Yakwe was the only Husky not at Friday's workout. He's expected to be back on campus for the second summer session.

g.keefe@theday.com