STORRS – Just 15 years ago, Dan Hurley was walking into his history classroom at St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey, excited to get to know some kids other than those on his basketball team and teach the subject matter, whether he was familiar with it or not.
He reflected on his old-school path through the coaching ranks, which included stops at every level, as he spoke at UConn’s Werth Basketball Champions Center, where the decor was recently adjusted to include both of his last two national championship teams, on Tuesday. A day after securing a six-year, $50 million contract, plus incentives, worlds away from what he was making teaching history and not even the biggest deal he was offered in the last month, Hurley was proud.
“The way that they’ve rewarded me and my family, it just means a lot. It’s humbling,” he said, now one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport.
“My career has been unique, for college coaches, just the trajectory of it. Being a college (assistant) coach and going back to the high school level as a head coach and having to literally earn your way up through the business. I was a high school coach, I was a low-Division I coach, I was a mid-major coach, so my family has seen the grind. My wife and my two sons, I’ve been able to model for them what it’s like to work hard through your 20s, 30s, 40s, and as you hit your 50s, now you’re at the top of your profession.”
Almost a month ago to the day, Hurley declined even more money to take another step in his career with the NBA’s storied Los Angeles Lakers. The contract he signed at UConn, $20 million less than the reported offer from L.A., will still set his family up for generations.
And it puts him in a position to continue competing for championships, to enjoy some time at this stop, on top of the college basketball world, which all of the previous ones helped him get to.
It helps, too, that his group of assistants – harder to assemble than a competitive roster, he said – were also taken care of. Associate head coach Kimani Young and assistant Luke Murray, who was part of Hurley’s first college head coaching stop at Wagner, each signed new three-year deals. Tom Moore, now a four-time national champion evenly split between Hurley and Jim Calhoun, received a raise as well in his new one-year agreement.
“It’s always hard for me to put together a staff because I think there’s not a lot of people that can work for me, just the intensity of how we go about our business,” Hurley said. “I’m tough on the people that play for me and work for me, I’m demanding, so it’s always hard for me to find people to hire. They have to share that same kind of obsession. And they can’t be looking for life balance.”
Hurley often props up Young and Murray as candidates to take their own next step into a head coaching role. When they hear interest from other programs and bring it to Hurley, he is open and honest, almost like they are players deciding whether they should exit for the draft.
Five things to note in new contracts for Dan Hurley, UConn men’s basketball assistant coaches
“I don’t try to hold back my coaches or my players. I want these guys to keep progressing their career… Having these conversations the last couple of years with Kimani and Luke… their first job should be high-end in the Atlantic 10 or a high-major job. That’s where their mindset should be,” Hurley said. “And we’ve made it such a great situation for them here at UConn that they can be patient that way.”
The contract negotiations for Hurley, which had been ongoing for months, close to finished before his name was involved with the Lakers’ opportunity, included conversations about investments into the program so it can maintain success regardless of where college sports are headed.
“I’ve got such great trust with (Athletic Director David Benedict), I’ve worked with Dave and Dave is as responsible as any of us for where we’re at. DB has been a great partner, so we’ve had these conversations about the changing landscape of college sports and the revenue sharing that’s coming down the road here and TV deals, and being able to take advantage and maximize our brand,” Hurley said. “Our brand is at the pinnacle of college basketball and college sports in terms of our basketball excellence here on both sides. How do we take advantage of that to the utmost so that we don’t fall behind.”
Focusing on not falling behind, building a roster that can compete for a third straight title and welcoming those new players, was why, he said, the new deal didn’t come until the second week of July.
Dan Hurley signs new contract to remain UConn men’s basketball coach through 2029-30 season
“It’s not something I obsess over, if anything, I dragged my feet because I just didn’t want to look at it or read it or deal with it,” he said. “We’ve been so focused on the basketball part.”
Now preparing for the second summer session, star Alex Karaban is working his way back from a minor foot injury and so is prized freshman Liam McNeeley, who sprained his ankle on the Fourth of July while working out back home in Texas. McNeeley, who players and coaches have raved about, will miss “a couple weeks.”
“Getting these guys back on the court, getting the summer reps is so important, so we’ll push these workouts back as far as we can and try to buy some time for Liam,” Hurley said. “But (we want to) just get a head start, try to work harder than what we think other programs are doing so that we can gain a bigger advantage on people that aren’t doing what we’re doing in the summer.”
