College Sports Might Not Be Screwed After Dan Hurley Stays At Connecticut

Dan Hurley turned down a massive, six-year, $70 million contract offer from the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, electing to stay with the Connecticut Huskies. 

When the news from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke last week that the Lakers zeroed in on Hurley as their top candidate, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would decide to coach in the NBA.

Hurley has previously admitted dreams of coaching in the NBA. The Lakers are one of the league’s most historically prominent organizations. He had an opportunity to become their top man for years to come. And he turned it down.

This is encouraging news for college sports as a whole.

There’s no doubt that Hurley has it very good at UConn. His team is back-to-back champions. Reports already indicate that he has a lucrative contract extension waiting for him to remain with the Huskies, too. Not every coach has such a favorable position. 

But we’ve recently seen other top coaches who have had it good really gripe with the current landscape of college athletics as a whole. The transfer portal coupled with new, loosely regulated NIL laws have created such a headache for longtime college coaches.

We saw Coach Mike Kryzewski step away from the game of basketball this season. Rick Pitinio was even pounding the table for a salary cap in college sports.

In the world of football, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh left the Wolverines high and dry once the Los Angeles Chargers came calling, despite winning the championship with the Wolverines just weeks before. Nick Saban stepped away from coaching football. The list goes on.

This highly-publicized decision to return back to the Huskies will only benefit him while recruiting top high school basketball players. Young athletes and their families will see an opportunity to be coached by a loyal individual who turned down a life changing opportunity to stay put, continuing to capitalize on the success he’s built.

While other coaches certainly might not have it as good as Hurley, who will look for a third-consecutive college title this season, it’ll be interesting to monitor if the trend of coaches using college sports as a pipeline to the NBA and NFL continues. 

Perhaps the situation in Connecticut was just too good to leave.

Hurley is just 51 years old. Maybe at some point he elects to coach in the NBA if that opportunity was ever to arise again. But for now, he’s eyeing a three-peat with the Huskies. That’s good news for the NCAA.