From peddling for $10 at a gas station to rejecting $70 million from Lakers: A deep dive into Dan Hurley's incredible journey with UConn
Dan Hurley could have been directing the plays for LeBron James, his son Bronny, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht. This would have happened if he had accepted a six-year, $70-million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers during the offseason.
However, the reigning, back-to-back national champion coach turned it down in favor of a $50 million offer from the UConn Huskies. This is for his quest to join John Wooden as the only three-peat champion in NCAA history.
Hurley denied pressuring the UConn athletic department to become the highest-paid college coach. He noted that his decision to stay at Storrs was based on the connection his family, particularly his wife, sons, father and mother-in-law have to the school.
"I know how much it means to my dad to go to the Big East tournament and come to 10 UConn games a year at home, sitting courtside, when I'm coaching against Rick Pitino. To leave all of that behind, there probably is a number," the Huskies coach said in an ESPN interview.
The decision to sign a lesser deal in terms of figures over a more lucrative offer by one of the NBA's most winningest ballclubs could have been a bigger deal when he was starting as a high school coach at St Benedict's Prep.
There was an instance he had no money in his wallet and asked $10 from strangers to pay for the gasoline he pumped into his wife's car when he was in Pennsylvania.
"I never had any money. Me and my wife never had any money. We were always broke. Always. One of the reasons at the end that I (went to) college was that," he said.
Gas station incident motivates Dan Hurley to coach in college
That incident provided the motivation for Dan Hurley to step away from St. Benedict's and call the shots for Wagner College in 2010. After a 13-17 finish in the 2010-11 season, he guided the Seahawks to a 25-6 finish the following year, good enough for second place in the Northeast Conference.
He then transferred to Rhode Island in 2012 and coached the Rams for six seasons, achieving back-to-back NCAA Round of 32 appearances in 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. Rhode Island's rise in those two seasons was his leverage to sign with UConn in 2018.
He signed a six-year contract worth $32.1 million to guide the Huskies to its road to redemption. The program has slipped rapidly over the past few years and is uncertain over what should they do moving forward.
Dan Hurley's initial three years with the Huskies weren't that promising but he took the team to the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Hurley then helped UConn improve to 23-10 and make the NCAA tournament for another season.
The two first-round finishes were the motivation Hurley needed to guide his team deep into the 2023 NCAA tournament and won the national title with a win over San Diego State in the final. Then, he would repeat this past season with a masterful beatdown of Purdue in the final and end the year with a 37-3 mark.
Hurley described the Lakers' more lucrative offer was something he wanted to explore. The opportunity to coach the best players in the world (Anthony Davis and LeBron James) was already on the table and the mystique and achievements of the multiple-time NBA champions was worth considering.
Dan Hurley described the situation he had with UConn and the LA Lakers as a rare moment for an NCAA champion coach as there aren't many mentors who can make that choice in their careers.
As of this moment, UConn is 8-3 and is on a four-game winning streak after losing three straight in Hawaii last month. It is still a long way to go for Dan Hurley and it'll be until April to see if deciding against the Lakers' offer for an opportunity to win three straight titles was the correct move for him.