Dan Hurley is staying in Connecticut and has decided to turn down an offer to take over the Los Angeles Lakers, ending several days of speculation about his future and meaning he will try to lead the Huskies to their third straight NCAA championship.
“Our MVP coach is staying in CT,” Governor Ned Lamont posted on social media.
ESPN first reported Hurley’s decision on Monday, and was the first to report last week that he had emerged as a serious candidate for the Lakers job. Hurley met with Lakers officials on Friday and then spent the weekend weighing his options.
And it seems likely that Hurley will soon be richly rewarded for staying at UConn: Just before ESPN’s report on Hurley’s decision to stay where he was, Lamont, who had been in contact with Hurley throughout the weekend, said the state “will ensure he is the best.” -paid college coach” if he stays with the Huskies.
The only immediate comment from UConn was the university posting an image of Hurley with his hands up, and another post saying the team’s 2 p.m. practice was underway. Assistant coach Luke Murray, who worked with Hurley at Wagner, Seton Hall and UConn, also posted a video of Hurley raising his arms in the air in celebration of the national title — without a caption, probably because the meaning of the post was quite clear.
“Now let’s get ready for a #3 peat, because Connecticut knows that champions are built here!” Lamont wrote.
Hurley had the option to take over one of the most storied franchises in professional sports, not to mention perhaps the chance to coach the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, LeBron James. But in the end, his stay in the coaching version of the transfer portal was brief — and he will remain at UConn, where he was 68-11 over his last two title-winning seasons.
On the way to those two titles, the fiery Hurley and the tough Huskies left no doubt – 12-0 in NCAA Tournament games, winning by an impressive average of 21.7 points per contest. UConn will try to become the second program to win three consecutive men’s national titles; UCLA, the only men’s program to do better than consecutive games, won seven straight from 1967-73.
Hurley will pursue something rare, turning down the opportunity for something equally rare: leaving the reigning NCAA champions for the NBA.
The last time a coach made such a move was after the 1987-88 season, when Kansas won the NCAA title and Larry Brown decided to leave for the NBA. He took over the San Antonio Spurs and Roy Williams became the head coach of the Jayhawks.
The Spurs gave Brown $3.5 million for five years, which was a lot of money at the time, but nothing compared to what Hurley would have commanded from the Lakers — likely more than $10 million per season, or nearly double the which he currently earns at UConn. And Brown became the only coach to win an NCAA title and an NBA championship; he won that title with Detroit in 2004.
Hurley had the chance to try to follow that same path. He might get the chance again one day — but for now, at least, the NBA can wait.
Hurley is 141-58 in his six seasons at UConn and 292-163 overall in 14 seasons as a college coach — combining his years at Wagner and Rhode Island.
He went through four losing seasons in that span; his first year at Wagner, his first two at Rhode Island and his first year at UConn. Once he starts playing, the wins simply pile up: Discounting how those stops started, Hurley’s record is 241-90 — a .728 winning percentage.
And he was rewarded for this success; last June, he signed a six-year, $32.1 million contract. Another deal is almost certainly on the way now, one that will come soon after UConn hired women’s coach Geno Auriemma last week to a five-year extension worth nearly $19 million.
“We’re going to try to replicate it again,” Hurley said in April after winning his second straight national title. “We will maintain a championship culture. We’re bringing in some very talented high school freshmen. Our returning players, through player development, will take a huge leap forward. We will add strategically through the portal. I don’t think we’re going anywhere.”
The Lakers almost changed his mind. And now the search continues.
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