UConn finally lands in Phoenix for the Final Four after travel nightmare saw the defending national champions delayed over SEVEN HOURS and arriving around 3:15am local time
Another year, another travel nightmare for the Connecticut Huskies after the team’s plane for the Final Four landed multiple hours behind schedule following a series of unfortunate events leading up to their arrival in Phoenix.
The Huskies were set to take off from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut at around 6:00pm ET.
But as coach Dan Hurley told CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, their plane – which was set to arrive from Kansas City – was beset by mechanical issues and had significant delays.
That initially planned charter flight wouldn’t have been able to take off until 10:00am ET either, due to FAA restrictions on the flight crew.
So after scrambling, the Huskies were able to get a last-minute charter flight from Allegiant Airlines to take off from Cincinnati and landed in Connecticut late in the night on Wednesday.
The UConn Huskies saw significant travel delays on their trip to Phoenix on Thursday morning
UConn coach Dan Hurley puts his head in his hands, as captured by his wife Andrea Hurley
The team finally landed at 3:12 PT (6:12 ET), over 12 hours after they were supposed to take off
With the Huskies all boarded and ready to take off, further disaster struck when their new plane was hit with more mechanical issues as bad weather swept across the state – resulting in even further delays.
Morale on the plane dropped, with Hurley’s wife Andrea snapping a pic of the coach with his head in his hands.
Thankfully, according to the NCAA, the on-board mechanic was able to fix the issue and the plane departed Windsor Locks at 1:33am local time.
The Huskies didn’t encounter any further issues on their flight and landed at 3:12am Pacific Time – or 6:12am Eastern Time, over 12 hours after they were supposed to have taken off.
The NCAA, which organizes the travel for teams going to the Final Four, blamed the travel debacle on ‘an unfortunate set of circumstances’. To accommodate for the delay, they shifted back Hurley’s media availability and cancelled an open locker room press availability after a Thursday practice.
Last season, the Huskies had their bags stolen and arrived in filthy hotel rooms for their Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups in Las Vegas.
They still managed to overcome that by winning a national championship in Houston.
