What does Dan Hurley's decision to stay mean?
After a long four and a half days of agony, UConn men’s basketball fans heard the news they were dying to hear. In the early hours of Thursday, ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that UConn coach Dan Hurley was the top option for the Los Angeles Lakers, perhaps the most storied franchise in NBA history.
It appeared to be a tough offer to turn down. As no information leaked, numbers were thrown out. $100 million? $200 million? How could Hurley reject an offer that would give him and his family generational wealth? The ultimate offer ended up being $60 million, which is still pretty darn good, but not at the level some feared. Just before practice began on Monday, Wojnarowski sent out a tweet indicating Hurley’s choice to stay put, allowing fans to exhale. Let’s analyze what this means for all involved, both in the short term and the long haul.
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The Huskies are now able to continue on their quest for a seventh national championship with their head man still in the fold. Had Hurley left, absolute chaos could have erupted in Storrs. Would assistant coach Luke Murray follow? What about Kimani Young? Who would be the next coach? With the transfer portal reopening for players, who would stay/go? The “Stairway to Seven” could have turned into a fight for .500 real quick.
However, that’s not the case. The team he has is extremely strong. It’s a team that screams “Dan Hurley,” with great size, shooting and defense. He has a hard-nosed fifth year player at the point, two rising sophomores who have the chance to make huge jumps, a veteran center who has been through it all, two capable transfers, a handful of great freshmen and a veteran starter with two national championship rings.
Hurley has seemingly cracked the code and will look to break history as just the second coach to complete a 3-peat. His roster has been doubted by some as not having enough experience or elite talent, but we’ve read that book before. The Huskies are in the top handful of championship favorites until proven otherwise, with the chance to pass UNC and gain sole possession of the third most championships.
On a bigger scale, the past few months–and more–have been a demonstration that the UConn job is very attractive. Looking back a lifetime ago to 2014, then reigning champion Kevin Ollie was rumored to be in talks regarding the Lakers’ head coaching vacancy. He instead elected for more time in CT, but didn't have any more success in Storrs. Still, he turned down the job for UConn.
Now a decade later, Hurley is making the same choice to avoid the City of Angels and instead stay in the sleepy cow town where basketball is king. Whether people like to admit it or not, the UConn job has pull and is attractive. It functions as a professional sport in the state of Connecticut and the coaches are paid and regarded as such. Hurley’s choice should make those around the state feel good about what’s being built, as something that’s obviously tough to leave. If Hurley does leave some day, it won’t be a hard sell for another rising coach–or someone else who is already at the top.
As an added note, recruiting just got even easier for Hurley. If you're a recruit and Hurley tells you "I turned down the Lakers to coach you," how could you say no?
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One never knows when the next opportunity will or won’t emerge. Some would argue that the Lakers are the best job in the NBA–the brightest lights and the highest expectations. That’s also why it’s the worst job to many, and is why they’ve had eight different coaches in the past 15 years. The cons of the job, as mentioned, along with the fact that Hurley and his family are east-coast based through and through, led to him coming back to Storrs.
In the short term, Hurley has the chance to win three straight, something that seems unthinkable in the modern era of college basketball. There are so many transfers coming in and out of most programs, hardly resembling the product that someone like Jim Calhoun endured just a few decades earlier.
Even if he doesn’t win, it will be okay. It’s tough to tell what the bar is from a fan’s perspective after winning two straight, but it’s certainly not reasonable to ask him to win more than one every five years. Much less three in three years. Either way, his leash is long and it would ultimately take a lot to fire him. Knowing him and the way he coaches, there shouldn’t be any reason to even think about giving him the boot.
Looking broadly Hurley has the chance to be the greatest coach in the history of the program–or even the sport if things keep going at this pace. He has two titles in six years, a 33% hit rate. Calhoun was *just* three for 36. Reaching the top of the mountain is harder than UConn fans probably realize it is, but giving Hurley 10-15 more years to get there feels like an awful lot. It’s difficult to determine what number of championships would give him the chance to surpass John Wooden’s 10, since titles now feel harder than titles likely did back then. I don’t know though, I wasn’t there. The opportunity to become one of the GOATs is tremendous and giving that up to gamble in LA is something that Hurley didn’t want to risk.
As for other NBA jobs, they come and go all the time. As a New Jersey guy, Hurley would likely have the Knicks, Nets and 76ers circled if he does want to leave for the pros at some point. If he keeps performing his magic in Connecticut, that local job will come. Ultimately the Lakers didn’t make a ton of sense for him and Husky fans will have at least another year to enjoy his greatness.
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