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Dan Hurley signs new contract to remain UConn men’s basketball coach through 2029-30 season

Back-to-back national champion coach Dan Hurley has agreed to a new contract that runs through the 2029-30 college basketball season, the UConn athletic department announced late Monday morning.

The six-year agreement is valued at $50 million and includes opportunities for additional compensation in the form of performance-based incentives.

Hurley will receive a base salary of $400,000 per year and an additional compensation for speaking, consulting and media obligations of $6.375 million for the 2024-25 season, which escalates each year through the term of the contract. He will also receive a retention bonus of $1 million per year, according to a UConn release.

UConn assistant coaches Kimani Young, Luke Murray and Tom Moore – who Hurley refers to as the best staff in the nation – have also agreed to new contracts, a UConn source confirmed. Young and Murray will receive $400,000 per year base salaries, with Moore earning $375,000.

Young and Murray will also receive supplemental salaries for speaking, consulting and media, ranging from $300,000 to $450,000 annually over the next three years. The two can also earn $50,000 in retention bonuses each of the next three years and up to $50,000 in performance bonuses, plus up to $100,000 in postseason bonuses. Moore, who signed a one-year deal, is also eligible for up to $50,000 in postseason bonuses.

“It’s an honor to coach basketball at UConn and to represent this world class institution and the great state of Connecticut,” Hurley said in the release. “We are extremely proud of the championship program that we have rebuilt for our supporters and fans. We will continue to obsessively pursue championships and historic success, while continuing to develop great young men. Bleed Blue!”

Already the highest-paid Connecticut state employee, the 2023-24 season was the first year of a six-year, $32.1 million contract that Hurley signed following the 2023 national championship.

Earning about $8.3 million per year, up from about $5 million annually, he is now the third-highest paid coach in college basketball, according to a USA Today database, which is based on 2023-24 salaries. Kansas’ Bill Self earned $9.63 million during the 2023-24 season, and John Calipari, while at Kentucky, earned about $8.55 million.

The increase in pay in Hurley’s new contract, as well as additional program investments, will be covered through donations to the Husky Athletic Fund and increased ticket sales revenue, according to the school.

“Dan Hurley is the best men’s basketball coach in the nation and we are delighted that he will continue to call UConn home,” UConn President Radenka Maric said. “In addition to the exceptional program he has built over a period of years and the extraordinary back-to-back NCAA championships he and his teams won, Coach Hurley serves as a critical mentor to our student-athletes, pushing them to achieve both on the court and in the classroom, helping to lay the groundwork for their success in life long after they have left UConn. We are grateful both for his championship culture and for his leadership at our university and in our state.”

Hurley coached the UConn men’s basketball team to a program-record 37 wins and just three losses during the 2023-24 season, which culminated in a second consecutive national championship. His Huskies won both the Big East regular season and tournament, and won every March Madness game by double figures for the second year in a row.

UConn is 141-58 (.709) over the last six years under Hurley. In his 15 years coaching at the Division I level, with previous stints at Wagner and Rhode Island, Hurley holds career record of 292-163 (.642).

Hurley was named the Big East Coach of the Year and the Naismith College Coach of the Year this past season. UConn had four players drafted, two in the first seven picks, in the 2024 NBA Draft, making eight NBA draft picks and four lottery selections over Hurley’s tenure.

The Huskies’ head coach turned down potential opportunities to coach elsewhere twice this offseason, shutting down the idea of leaving for Kentucky shortly after the Final Four and then entertaining the Lakers last month. He was reportedly offered a six-year, $70 million contract after meeting with Lakers’ GM Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss, but opted to stay in Connecticut and compete for a third straight NCAA championship.

Five things to note in new contracts for Dan Hurley, UConn men’s basketball assistant coaches

Hurley, who has said publicly that he wouldn’t leave UConn to coach college basketball anywhere else, would owe UConn $6 million if he were to take another Division I coaching job before March 31, 2025. That number would shrink to $4 million if he leaves before the same date in 2026, $3 million in 2027, $2 million in 2028, $1 million in 2029.

Should Hurley decide to leave for the NBA, something he’s been open about wanting to do eventually, the new contract includes a significantly smaller buyout of $2 million next year, $1.5 million in the second year and $1 million in year three. There is no buyout in the last three years of the deal.

Performance incentives include $50,000 for a Big East regular season championship, an additional $50,000 for a Big East Tournament championship, and $25,000 for an NCAA Tournament appearance. The NCAA Tournament incentives include $50,000 for a Round of 32 appearance, $75,000 for a Sweet 16 appearance and $125,000 for getting to the Elite Eight. A Final Four appearance will earn him $200,000.

Hurley will receive $300,000 for appearances in the national championship game, and $500,000 for an NCAA title. The contract also includes $25,000 for Big East Coach of the Year awards and $100,000 for national coach of the year honors.

“On behalf of UConn Nation, we are thrilled that Coach Hurley will continue to lead the men’s basketball program for the foreseeable future,” said UConn Director of Athletics David Benedict. “Dan and (his wife) Andrea have poured themselves into the rebuilding of this program that culminated in the last two National Championships.  This contract is recognition for the immense amount of effort that went into producing those results and the dedication it will require to sustain a program that expects to compete for conference and national championships in the future.”