Storrs — UConn held its first official men's basketball practice of the 2021-22 season Tuesday afternoon, but it didn't feel like it to the Huskies.

They've been working out and practicing since the summer months at the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center.

Long gone are the days when they started their first official practice in mid-October at Guyer Gymnasium before heading over to Gampel Pavilion.

"For us, it really doesn't feel like our first day," coach Dan Hurley said. "I don't know if our players felt like it was the first day. The level of this sport that we play at, it's got to be an all-year round commitment. We've been practicing since the summer. We just didn't have the 20 hours per week.

"We went really hard this summer. We've gone really hard in the preseason. Our practices have resembled much more of a practice than an off-season. The margins that our games are played at, we've been going hard since June with little breaks."

This is Hurley's fourth season in charge, and the Huskies have never had a deeper or more talented team during his tenure.

They've received a boost from the return of Tyler Polley and Isaiah Whaley who both elected to take advantage of a fifth season of eligibility allowed by the NCAA due to the pandemic. They've also added a strong freshmen class.

"We're so deep this year," Polley said. "We have a lot of depth and a lot of talent. It's just so scary how good we can be this year."

Expectations are sky high for the Huskies, who took a major step last season qualifying for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016 and finishing third in their return to the Big East.

"It's fun," Whaley said about dealing with expectations. "It's a different feeling than when you're coming into a season and people don't care about you. ... Now people are like, look out for UConn now, so it's a different feeling. We still feel like we're underdogs and we've got that chip on our shoulder."

The Huskies are ahead of schedule compared to last year at this point. The COVID-19 shutdown severely disrupted the team's off-season workout schedule in 2020.

Hurley believes summer workouts are crucial to his team's development. He tries to maximize every second that he spends with his players.

"It gives us a greater advantage hopefully going into the year over other programs that don't do quite as much as we do all-year round," Hurley said. "Obviously, we lost that advantage last year with COVID not allowing that. We feel like we have a head start on our competition."

Whaley has noticed a difference in the team chemistry after spending a summer together.

"We've got a better feel for each other's games," Whaley said. "We've built a lot more chemistry than last year. Last year, we couldn't really build any chemistry because we weren't really together. This year, we've gotten to know each other a lot more and that's going to help when the season comes."

The season opener is Nov. 9 against Central Connecticut.

The Huskies will not hold an exhibition game this fall. Instead, they will play two closed scrimmages against Division I programs.

UConn Basketball First Night returns on Oct. 15 at Gampel Pavilion. The event will only be open to UConn students.

Hurley says he can't wait for First Night. He's recharged after taking some time off this summer.

"I'm shot out of a cannon," Hurley said. "I'm ready to go."

g.keefe@theday.com