It was no secret the Lakers wanted to hire UConn men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley. But the two-time collegiate national champion is staying put.
After winning March Madness in back-to-back seasons, Hurley is going to try for a three-peat. He would become the first men’s basketball coach who accomplished as much since John Wooden did as much for UCLA.
Hurley was an enticing but risky candidate for Los Angeles and now, the Lakers will go back to the drawing board as they look to replace Darvin Ham (now an assistant coach on the Bucks). Most likely, JJ Redick will once again emerge as the favorite.
Meanwhile, despite a few days of drama, the Huskies are back to business as usual in Connecticut. After some brief chaos and frenzy, Hurley met with his team on Monday and informed them that he is not leaving.
Update: Our 2:00 p.m. practice is underway.
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) June 10, 2024
UConn Men’s Basketball account had a casual reaction to the developing story, tweeting that their 2:00 p.m. practice had begun.
It was a perfectly nonchalant way of describing what happened, which is that nothing has changed but the day on the calendar.
Hurley was reportedly offered $70 million to leave the NCAA but he gets to defend his championships instead. It is easy to imagine that all of the players on the roster felt pretty fired up after the announcement and that the practice had tremendous vibes.
