STORRS, Conn. — University of Connecticut men's basketball coach Dan Hurley spoke publicly Thursday afternoon to explain why he decided to stay at UConn instead of signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.
His decision to stay in Storrs was announced Monday. On Thursday, he spoke to the media for about 30 minutes.
"It was obviously tempting. Obviously, the Lakers’ organization was just incredible," Hurley said on Thursday. "(It’s) once in a lifetime to be presented with an opportunity to lead one of the most storied franchises in sports and to get a chance to know some amazing people in (Lakers' General Manager) Rob Pelinka and (Lakers owner) Jeannie Buss, but in the end there were just too many reasons to be here at UConn."
When asked why he chose to stay, Hurley said there were many factors, and it was a tough decision. He said his thoughts were racing as he chose between maintaining the championship culture in Connecticut or joining the "world-class brand" that is the Lakers.
“If you think about the two places in your mind that you’re trying to choose between, you’re the head coach of the back-to-back champs at UConn or the L.A. Lakers. There aren’t many coaches who have had to make a decision between those two options for your career," Hurley said.
Hurley said the only current UConn player he consulted was redshirt junior forward Alex Karaban. He said the Lakers initially reached out to him early last week. He felt bad for his players when the news dropped, but said that the timing didn't affect his decision.
“The timing wouldn’t have impacted it that much because in the end (it’s about) what fulfills you, what does the combination of your mind and heart tell you to do and what’s best for your family. And where do you belong at this point," Hurley said, noting that his players were really excited to hear he was returning.
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As he worked to make a decision, Hurley reached out to numerous NBA general managers that he's formed a relationship with as his players have entered the NBA Draft in recent years.
“I’ve had conversations with a lot of organizations over the past couple of years so there was some familiarity," Hurley said.
Ultimately, Hurley said his family played a key role in his decision to return to UConn, specifically his wife Andrea, who was not happy to hear that the Lakers were in pursuit of her husband.
“She was angry. Anger turned to tears. She wasn’t happy because we all love it here, and when you love it and you’re so happy, you don’t want that type of disrpution, especially one that’s special like the Lakers," Hurley said. "If it was a lesser opportunity, she wouldn’t have acted so emotionally. Then, we handled it like adults. We considered it and weighed it and took the trip and factored all the things that mattered to us.”
Hurley's brother Bobby, also a two-time NCAA champion and one of the greatest college point guards of all-time, helped his brother take a non-emotional approach to making the decision. Hurley said his parents, including his Hall of Fame father Bob, were pulling for him to stay at UConn but did not overpower him with their opinions.
“My dad loves his Big East Tournament tickets so he didn’t want to risk them. My dad and mom are older, and I’m sure their preference was to stay at UConn, but they didn’t make that (loud)," Hurley said. "But my parents, they wanted UConn; they probably didn't want me to go out there on the plane."
For Hurley, two text exchanges with Andrea may have sealed the deal. He explained on Thursday.
“We sent each other a text on Sunday night right before we went to bed, we said, ‘One, two, three, send a text message to each other; go or stay. One, two, three, send it, and we both got it, and it was 'stay.' I said, ‘Let’s do the same thing in the morning,’ and it was the same. I know it sounds bizarre," Hurley said.
Following his decision, Hurley said he feels relieved, lighter and happy to get "back to business" on the recruiting trail and in the gym. He said Thursday was the first day that felt normal with his full team at practice and he enjoyed the reception he's received compared to the reactions he saw last week.
“I didn’t like the looks when I talked to them on Thursday to tell them I was going to consider it and go out there and take on the process. I didn’t love the faces that looked at me," Hurley said. "There’s images of things that will always be embedded in your mind. Sharing that initial news; I didn’t like the way they looked at me when I told them I would consider it, and I’ve enjoyed their faces since Monday.”
Hurley said his agent reached out to the Lakers to inform them of the decision, and Hurley later reached out as well to thank them for the opportunity.
Earlier this week, UConn Athletic Director David Benedict said the university is thrilled that Hurley made the decision to stay in Storrs and continue building upon the program's championship tradition.
"He has helped return our men’s basketball program back to the pinnacle of the sport, including back-to-back NCAA championships, and we’re grateful for his loyalty to UConn," Benedict said. "We look forward to Dan’s continued leadership on and off the court at UConn. He will continue to bring great pride to Husky fans everywhere as we work toward a three-peat."
Benedict said that as the university navigates the rapidly evolving college athletics landscape, donations will more than ever be necessary to sustain the program's success.
"The continued financial commitment from loyal and new donors to both departmental operations and NIL activities, such as the Husky Athletic fund and Bleeding Blue For Good, will be paramount to remain competitive on the national stage," Benedict said.
And it seems likely that Hurley will soon be richly rewarded for that decision: Shortly before the ESPN report, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who was in contact with Hurley throughout the weekend, said the state will “make sure he's the top-paid college coach" if he remains with the Huskies.
During his Thursday press conference, Hurley addressed his contract situation. Hurley has a contract offer on the table that will make him one of the highest paid coaches in the sport; it is unclear if he will be the top paid, as Lamont insinuated.
Hurley said he hopes to finalize the deal soon and that he is very "flattered" by the "very fair" offer Benedict has put in front of him. He said he did not consider the Lakers job to get a higher contract offer from UConn.
"This was not a leverage situation. I’ve won back-to-backs," Hurley said. "When the Lakers come calling, and you’re the type of person that is competitive and looking for challenges and wants to be the best the way I am, it was something that I really had to consider for me."
That said, Hurley considered it hard to wrap his mind around the sheer amount of dollars the Lakers offered him. He reflected on the steps he's taken as he's evolved from a high school coach to the head man at Wagner, then Rhode Island and now UConn that put him in the position to receive job interest from the University of Kentucky and the Los Angeles Lakers in the same offseason.
“Fifteen years ago, I was a high school coach, so you have a lot of self-believe that you’re going to have a great career in coaching even at that point, but you can’t imagine you’d be in a position to make those choices and talk about those types of financial numbers and stuff," Hurley said.
When asked if his intense coaching style is best-suited for college basketball, Hurley responded strongly, noting that he could coach well in any situation.
“I could coach great anywhere. I’ve had to adapt from high school to low Division I to mid Division I to the best program in the country. You’ve had to adapt to the portal," Hurley said. "You’ve had to adapt to coaching players that go from making nothing to NIL. Tactics, player development, building great relationships, building a great culture, being able to evaluate talent; all those things translate.”
While Hurley had the option of taking over one of the most famed franchises in pro sports, he may have also had the chance to coach NBA all-time scoring leader LeBron James. He said on Thursday that James reached out to him last weekend, which he considered awesome.
"The thought of coaching LeBron James was incredibly exciting. An all-time great player; he's somebody that works his absolute butt off, has great levels of expertise and is authentic," Hurley said. "The chance to coach LeBron made it incredibly appealing, but for me, I just think this is just a high level sport, especially where we’re competing at, and I have a chance to coach 18, 19, 20-year-old kids that you can really help change their lives.”
Hurley pointed out the impact he's made on the families of players such as Jordan Hawkins and Donovan Clingan. So, in the end, his stay in the coaching version of the transfer portal was brief — and he will remain at UConn, where he has gone 68-11 over the last two title-winning seasons.
On the way to those two titles, the fiery Hurley and the tough-as-nails Huskies have left no doubt — 12-0 in NCAA tournament games, winning by a staggering average of 21.7 points per contest. UConn will try to become the second program to win three straight men’s national titles; UCLA, the only men’s program to do better than going back-to-back, won seven in a row from 1967 through 1973.
Hurley will chase something rare by turning down the opportunity to something just as rare: leaving the reigning NCAA champions for the NBA. By deciding to stay in Storrs, Hurley said it was an exercise of appreciation for what he has currently and a testament to how much he values his family and the people at UConn. The chance to three-peat didn't hurt either.
"This was a great test and exercise for me about how I feel about UConn and how I feel about being a college coach and all the things that I value. I think situations come up like this to test your value system and the things that are important to you, so in a way this was a great opportunity for self reflection about the things that are most important."
In closing, Hurley inferred that happiness is difficult to attain, hard to hold onto and something you don't mess around with even when an incredible opportunity comes knocking.
"I feel great," Hurley said. "When you really couldn't be happier, why would you disrupt that? When you love where you live and you love where you work and you love the people you're around and you're close to the people you're around family-wise, and in the end, you just love UConn... The only regret was that it was an unbelievable, once in a lifetime franchise comes your way, and for most coaches, you'll never get a second chance to coach a franchise like that. It's almost like at Rhode Island if I would have not come to UConn. How many chances in your life will you ever get to coach at UConn? Not many."
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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