Dan Hurley turned down a six-year, $70 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and will return to chase a third straight national title at UConn.
“I am humbled by this entire experience,” Hurley said in a statement released by the school. “At the end of the day, I am extremely proud of the championship culture we have built in Connecticut. We met as a team before practice today and our focus now is on improving this summer and connecting as a team as we continue to chase championships.”
The Lakers would have made Hurley one of the six highest-paid coaches in the NBA. But before starting talks with the Lakers, Hurley already had an offer from UConn to become one of the highest-paid coaches in the NCAA, and those talks will continue, sources told Wojnarowski.
Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million contract with UConn after the 2022-23 season. He had the option to take over one of the most famous franchises in professional sports and a possible opportunity to coach the NBA's all-time scoring leader, LeBron James.
But Hurley ultimately decided to stay at UConn, which has gone 68-11 over the past two title-winning seasons and 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 consecutively, won seven straight NCAA championships from 1967 to 1973.
UConn had not officially announced Hurley's decision as of Monday afternoon, but the university published an image to Hurley's social media with his hands in the air, and another post saying that the Huskies' 2 p.m. ET practice was underway.
Assistant coach Luke Murray, who worked with Hurley at Wagner, Rhode Island and UConn, also posted a video of Hurley raising his arms in the air in celebration of the national title.
“Our MVP coach will stay in CT,” Governor Ned Lamont posted on social media. “Now let's get ready for a repeat #3, because Connecticut knows this is where champions are made!”
Hurley told Wojnarowski on Sunday that the Lakers made a “compelling case” and presented a “compelling vision” for him to become their next coach, but that he loves what he has built with the two-time defending national champion Huskies.
Hurley also told Wojnarowski that he came away “extremely impressed” with Lakers vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss, and that he had spent Sunday weighing his offer.
After a dogged pursuit of Hurley over the past few weeks, the Lakers will regroup and resume hiring interview candidates in hopes of hiring a coach by the NBA draft later this month, sources told Wojnarowski.
New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego is expected to remain among Los Angeles' candidates, and the Lakers could hold their first formal interview with JJ Redick, who has also been linked to the job.
The Lakers' failed pursuit of Hurley came 20 years after they similarly attempted to sign Mike Krzyzewski from Duke to a record contract in 2004. Krzyzewski ultimately decided to remain at Duke.
After back-to-back historically dominant national title seasons, Hurley has become the sport's most coveted coach after building a juggernaut that surpassed college basketball, culminating in the first repeat NCAA champion in 17 years and a tournament performance. which produced the largest point difference in the history of the tournament: 140 points.
The possibility of UConn winning a third straight title is present with the return of a preseason top-five team, but the Huskies lost two likely lottery picks (center Donovan Clingan and guard Stephon Castle) and an All-America point guard from the first team. (Tristen Newton) to the NBA draft.
Hurley is 141-58 in his six seasons at UConn and 292-163 overall in 14 seasons as a college coach, including his years at Wagner and Rhode Island. He has gone through four losing seasons in that span; his first year at Wagner, his first two years at Rhode Island and his first year at UConn.
The Lakers fired coach Darvin Ham after a first-round exit in the Western Conference playoffs. Ham went 94-70 in two seasons, including a trip to the Western Conference finals in 2023.
