Dan Hurley Will Remain At UConn, Turning Down The Los Angeles Lakers

Dan Hurley made one of the most important decisions of his coaching career in the past 24 hours, deciding to stay at UConn and not take the Los Angeles Lakers job. 

Coming off his second straight national championship with the UConn Huskies, Hurley knew that his ties to the northeast would play a massive role in deciding whether to take on the NBA, or remain at Connecticut and go for another title. Although NIL and the transfer portal have been discussed at length regarding his decision to either stay or go, one of the most important factors in this decision came down to his wife and kids, along with his parents who have been a northeast fixture for over 40 years. 

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news, turning down a reported 6-year, $70 million dollar offer from the Lakers. According to sources familiar with the discussion, after sitting down once again with family on Monday morning, the decision to leave UConn and the northeast was not going to work out, as Hurley decided he wanted to make another run at history, and keep his family close by his side. 

Also, just on the contract front, if this is what the Lakers thought was a formidable offer, i guess they failed to lookup what Kentucky offered Hurley. If he had accepted the Lakers position, Hurley would've been the sixth-highest paid coach in the league. 

But this wasn't about the money, even though that's an interesting offer from the Lakers. This was more of a family decision, than one about the NBA. 

It was clear after Kentucky took a massive swing at Dan Hurley that it wasn't about finding another college gig, even if the Wildcats offered him a reported $100 million to leave for Lexington. Everything he's done in the sport can continue on at UConn if he wanted, not needing to chase the job that opened after John Calipari left for Arkansas. 

Now, it's known that Hurley has wanted to try his hand at coaching in the NBA, but obviously this wasn't the right time, or location, for him to make that jump right now. 

Factoring in the Los Angeles Lakers job and roster, this was clearly going to be a rebuild after LeBron James retired from the sport. It's also not hard to look at the NBA and see the constant coaching turnover that happens on what seems like a yearly basis. 

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - APRIL 08:  Head coach Dan Hurley of the Connecticut Huskies addresses the media after the National College Basketball Championship game against the Purdue Boilermakers at State Farm Stadium on April 08, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona.  (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Dan Hurley Has Always Made Rational Decisions, UConn Is Rolling

After meeting with the Lakers brass on Friday in Los Angeles, Hurley flew back home to continue the conversation with his family and close friends. The idea of taking over one of the most prestigious jobs in the NBA was how we got to this point to begin with. Knowing that word would start to leak, Hurley informed his team last week that he was having discussions with the Lakers about their opening, not wanting to catch his loyal group off-guard by the news. 

So, the same was true on Monday, with UConn having a practice scheduled for the early afternoon, pushed back two hours. There was still no word of his decision at 1:30 pm ET on Monday afternoon, but that was about to change. 

Hurley and his wife walked into the UConn basketball facility and told everyone around that he was not leaving for the Lakers. That practice, scheduled for 2pm ET would happen, with Hurley holding the whistle. 

At the end of the day, this felt like a family decision and UConn was going to give Dan Hurley everything he wanted for the future. This turned out to be a great day for the sport of college basketball, and Huskie fans across the country.