A few days ago, there were rumblings that UConn men's basketball head coach Dan Hurley was being heavily considered as the next Los Angeles Lakers head coach. The rumors intensified in the coming days, with Hurley setting a deadline on his decision.
Now, Hurley has made his decision clear: he will be staying with the Huskies in order to pursue a three-peat, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“BREAKING: Connecticut’s Dan Hurley has turned down the Los Angeles Lakers’ six-year, $70 million offer and will return to chase a third straight national title, sources tell ESPN. LA would’ve made him one of NBA’s six highest paid coaches.”
After another disappointing season, the Lakers fired former head coach Darvin Ham. It was slightly surprising but made total sense. Over the course of the 2023-24 season, it became clear that their WCF run was in spite of Ham not because of him. Multiple names emerged as candidates, such as Hurley and former NBA player JJ Redick.
However, it appears that Hurley was strongly considering the Lakers job while also being offered a new contract by UConn, per Wojnarowski.
“As swept away as Hurley became by the Lakers courtship and vision for him, he ultimately couldn't walk away from a chance to make history and pursue a third straight NCAA title. Even before Lakers talks, Hurley already had a UConn offer to become one of highest paid NCAA coaches and those talks will continue, per sources.”
Hurley's decision to bow out of the Lakers coaching job race does not imply that Redick will be getting the job. There are other factors to consider, such as Redick's lack of experience in the role.
Still, LA would have loved to have the UConn basketball coach's experience on their bench. Where they go now remains to be seen, but Wojnarowski gave an update after announcing Hurley's decision:
“After a dogged pursuit of Hurley over past weeks, Lakers will regroup and resume bringing in candidates for interviews with hope of hiring a coach by Draft, sources said. James Borrego is expected to remain part of group and Lakers could do their first formal interview with JJ Redick.”
As for Hurley, the head coach is coming back to the UConn men's basketball program for one mission: capture the three-peat. Only one team has won three-straight NCAA tournaments: John Wooden's UCLA teams, who won SEVEN-straight titles from 1967 to 1973. Even the list of back-to-back winners are rare: just eight teams have won back-to-back national titles.
Dan Hurley, UConn's mission
The NCAA Tournament is one of the hardest tournaments to win for a multitude of reasons.
Between rosters not staying together due to graduation and the high variance between teams, it's ridiculously hard to win the national title, let alone do it twice. There's a reason why March Madness is well-known for upset wins and Cinderella stories.
Yet, UConn's basketball program has won the title twice in the last two years. The Huskies have become the boogeyman of the college basketball scene: the team to beat in a field chock full of talent. In the 2024 edition of the tournament, UConn breezed their way past the competition, posting the highest margin of victory in tournament history.
At the helm of their rise is Dan Hurley, the legendary head coach who turned their fortunes around. Hurley's attention to player development has been critical to their success in the past two years.
In addition, UConn's gorgeous schemes on offense and defense come from Hurley too. In fact, LeBron has high praise for their schemes, perhaps a reason why LA was gunning for him.
The UConn basketball program made waves this year when they became the first team in 17 years to win back-to-back NCAA titles. Hurley has a legitimate shot at that three-peat: the Huskies are in the top-5 teams this preseason. However, it's worth noting that the team also lost three of their top stars (Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle, and Tristen Newton) to the NBA Draft.
Still, the opportunity to cement himself in basketball history is too good to pass up. Hurley and the UConn basketball team will now prepare to do the unthinkable.
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