Imagn/David Butler II
On Thursday, people across the United States will chow down on some turkey as part of their Thanksgiving celebration. However, that does not include the UConn basketball players who will be banned from consuming that particular form of poultry thanks to Dan Hurley.
UConn’s men’s basketball team fell short in its quest to pull off the three-peat in the NCAA Tournament last season, but the Huskies were still viewed as top contenders to get their third championship as the fourth-ranked team in the country heading into Dan Hurley’s eighth season in Storrs.
Hurley may fall short of Joe Mazzulla levels of eccentric, but he is known for being a very animated coach who is not afraid to speak his mind both on and off the court.
He is also one of those people who simply lives and breathes basketball and is on high alert for potential distractions that could put his team at a disadvantage, and he’s not taking any chances when it comes to ensuring his team is ready for their showdown with Illinois the day after Thanksgiving.
Dan Hurley is making UConn players celebrate Thanksgiving on Wednesday because he doesn’t want them to be tired from eating turkey
The post-Thanksgiving dinner nap is one of the best parts of that particular holiday, and plenty of people would tell you that tryptophan (an amino acid that triggers hormones linked with sleep) in turkey is a major reason sated celebrants feel the urge to get some shuteye after filling their stomachs.
That includes Hurley, who told reporters he and his players will be celebrating Thanksgiving during a team meal on Wednesday as opposed to Thursday in order to avoid falling victim to lingering levels of tryptophan when #5 UConn heads to Madison Square Garden to face off against #13 Illinois on Friday afternoon.
Always prepared. 4D Chess. pic.twitter.com/pzBT6YkkI5
— Postradamus (@Postradamus4) November 24, 2025
That would be a sound theory if not for the fact that it isn’t actually based on any evidence, as turkey doesn’t have particularly elevated levels of tryptophan.
The need to sleep tends to be triggered by a blood sugar crash stemming from the overconsumption of carbohydrates, and it would be difficult for any player to be impacted by a tryptophan hangover when you consider the body would have firmly processed the substance by the time the game rolls around.
I’m aware there’s a very good chance Hurley was simply joking around, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was deciding to err on the side of some borderline paranoid caution.