"It was weird, just weird, weird stuff": UConn HC Dan Hurley recounts Lakers interest in him sparking surreal fan encounters during his LA trip 

Dan Hurley recently had a chance to make it to the big league. The UConn head coach was the Los Angeles Lakers' prime choice to take over at the helm and was offered a $70 million deal last week. Despite having the chance to lead one of the NBA's biggest franchises and best player, Hulrey denied the offer and resumed his role in Storrs.

As Dan Hurley visited LA to meet with Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss, certain interactions with fans helped pose his final decision. In an exclusive with CBS SPorts' Matt Norlander, Hurley shed light on one of those:

"Walking out of the workout room at the hotel the day I was meeting with them, after getting my cardio in, and I'm literally rounding the corner and there's a med student, a UConn student who's there as part of a bridal party, who's bending the corner and I almost knock into her," Hurley said.

"And we kind of make eye contact and we both keep walking. And then she recognizes me and comes back, 'Hey, Coach, I go to UConn. Don't go. I'm here for a wedding. You're not going, are you? I know why you're here.' It was weird, just weird, weird stuff," he added.

Hurley returns to collegiate basketball after winning back-to-back NCAA championships. With that, he will compete for a historic three-peat next season. The achievement would immediately push Hurley's legacy into the limelight as the best college coach of modern times.

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Dan Hurley could be rewarded with a new contract by UConn

Even though it likely won't be as lucrative as the Lakers' offer, Dan Hurley could potentially be handed out a new collegiate coaching contract. The Los Angeles' $70 million offer would have made Hurley the sixth richest NBA coach. Whereas, there is a possibility that Hurley could become one of the richest college coaches as soon as UConn jots up an offer.

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Hurley is bound with Connecticut until 2029 under his current contract. Nevertheless, rumors around a new deal that could see Hurley getting $50 million over six years have stemmed from the notion that Hurley might have leveraged the Lakers' interest to eye more money at UConn.

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