University of Connecticut head men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley chose on Monday to stay with his program rather than take the Los Angeles Lakers’ offer of 6 years, $70 million.
This would have been the Hurley family’s first foray into the pros. Older brother Bobby, currently the head coach at Arizona State University, started his coaching career at the University of Buffalo while father Bob carved out an outstanding 36-year career at the high school level in New Jersey. For Dan, the temptation had to have been the Lakers’ profile and of course LeBron James. Who could say no to one of sports’ marquee franchises and one of the greatest players the game has ever seen, right?
Truth is, few coaches would. Except one perhaps who had had boundless success at another institution, was from that same area where he had the success, and was staring potential history in the face.
That is where the 51-year-old Hurley, a former guard at Seton Hall University, comes in.
Hurley is a northeast kid, a Jersey City, N.J. native - the town where his father from 1972-2017 won 26 state championships. Seton Hall, in South Orange, N.J., is not far from St. Anthony’s, where Hurley served as an assistant under his father from 1996-1997. Where Dan coached next, Rutgers University, is less than an hour from Jersey City. From 2001-2010, Dan coached at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark. A two-year stop at Wagner College (Staten Island), and six years at the University of Rhode Island preceded where he is now in Storrs, C.T. Storrs seems a lifetime away from Jersey City. It’s a less than a three hour trip by car.
Unlike his brother Bobby, who had ventured to upstate New York and now far west to Tempe, A.Z., Dan has always remained relatively close to home.
It is why his decision to bypass the Laker offer and remain in Storrs should not be surprising - as enticing as the warm weather and beaches are and as enticing as the snow and less than 26,000 population of Mansfield, C.T. (where Storrs resides) is not. Sometimes, it is difficult to leave home. Sometimes, there is no desire to. Sometimes, where you are comfortable is where you are comfortable.
$70 million over the next six years would have made Hurley the fifth-highest paid coach in the NBA, trailing Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, and Monty Williams. A lot of times, money does talk. In Hurley’s case, no amount of money was going to drag him out west and prevent him from a history making attempt next season - becoming just the second coach in men’s college basketball history to win at least three consecutive national championships (John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins are the only other program to do, from 1967-1973).
In six seasons with the Huskies, Hurley has a record of 141-58. In 2023, he signed a six-year, $32.1 million contract with performance incentives. His Laker contract would have doubled that and then some, but he can make near that amount over the course of his career. Perhaps, too, he’ll get other NBA offers down the line if he is willing to go that route.
There is a cliche saying - “home is where the heart is”. In Hurley’s case, his heart is in Jersey City, it is in Storrs. It is fully entrenched in the northeast basketball culture.
Connecticut over Los Angeles.
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