UConn men’s basketball strength coach Mike Rehfeldt leaves Huskies to return to Cincinnati

UConn men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach Mike Rehfeldt has left the program to return Cincinnati to take on the same position. UConn has not confirmed Rehfeldt’s departure but the Cincinnati men’s basketball Twitter account announced his return emphatically Friday night.

Rehfeldt spent eight seasons from 2012-2020 as the Bearcats’ strength and conditioning coach, earning a reputation as one of the best in the country. After Mick Cronin left for UCLA and John Brannen was named head coach, Rehfeldt jumped ship to join UConn this past July.

While his time in Storrs was short, Rehfeldt made an almost immediate impact at UConn, showing on social media the progress he made with players such as Akok Akok, Isaiah Whaley, Adama Sanogo and Andre Jackson. And while it can’t totally be quantified, it certainly seemed that Rehfeldt's helped the Huskies get bigger, faster and stronger as they adjusted to being back in the Big East.

Rehfeldt’s departure means that UConn is once again in the market for a new strength and conditioning coach — the fifth time they have had to fill the position since longtime strength coach Travis Illian was fired in 2017. While Dan Hurley certainly provides a ton of stability at the head of the program, this constant turnover at an important coaching position may catch up with the Huskies sooner rather than later.