Perhaps the only problem UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley could have with fans hiring an Etsy witch to lift a curse around the program is that he didn’t think of it first.
After his Huskies won at Seton Hall University for the first time in five years on Tuesday, January 13, Hurley, 53, admitted he was unaware that Sylvia, an Etsy witch, said in a letter to a fan that she had “detected a very heavy, jagged and ‘sticky’ energy surrounding the team’s aura” when focused on the Pirates’ home court.
“What the f***? What was that?” Hurley asked reporter Jaden Daly about Sylvia. “Well, I would say UConn fans are a different animal. It’s not surprising, but what am I gonna say about it? I spray holy water all over the court, I sage my court, I throw garlic under the bleachers.”
“I mean, I’m a f***ing cartoon character,” he added. “So I don’t know how I could pass judgment on some other bizarre s***.”
If, like Hurley, you’re unfamiliar with Etsy witches, they are supposed witches who offer their metaphysical services on Etsy do things like enact revenge on a customer’s enemies, help someone in a romantic relationship or allow a basketball team to win a big game on the road.
In other words, it’s the exact sort of person that Hurley, whose lucky dragon underwear made national headlines during the 2024 NCAA Tournament, would turn to in a time of crisis.
The Huskies had lost their last four games against Seton Hall at the Prudential Center and Sylvia said she sensed that a “static hex” led to a “low-vibrational loop designed to trigger confusion and ‘comical’ errors at crucial moments.”
The way those games unfolded led UConn fans to a similar conclusion.
In 2022, UConn lost in overtime. The next year, COVID-19 ran through the UConn coaching staff and the Pirates’ only lead of the night came at the buzzer. In 2024, UConn had one of the most dominant teams in recent men’s basketball history, but star Donovan Clingan suffered an injury in the first half and Seton Hall won by 15. In 2025, Seton Hall had one of its worst teams ever, but again beat UConn in overtime, this time by overcoming a five-point deficit in the last 18 seconds of regulation and winning at the buzzer in the extra session.
Yes, UConn fans were at their wits’ end.
So on Tuesday morning, a fan who goes by Mediocre Dan posted a screenshot via X of an exchange his friend, Greg, had with Sylvia, the Etsy witch.
“Hello Greg, I have received your request and I want to tell you: your suspicion was absolutely correct,” she wrote. “I have now fully completed and sealed the Powerful Hex Removal & Protection Shield for the UConn Men’s Basketball Team specifically for their game against Seton Hall on 1/13/26.”
On Wednesday, UConn again blew a big lead, but this time the Huskies held off the Pirates to win, 69-64.
“Victory is no longer an uphill battle,” Sylvia wrote. ”It is their natural state.”
