Dribble Handoff: Dan Hurley, Nate Oats among college basketball coaches in line to make jump to NBA

UConn coach Dan Hurley’s flirtation with the Los Angeles Lakers is over, putting an end to a dramatic saga that threatened to wrestle a college basketball coaching giant away to the NBA. Not since Larry Brown left Kansas for the San Antonio Spurs job in 1988 has the coach of the reigning national champions left for an NBA gig.

But plenty of other college basketball coaches have been lured to the NBA since then. The most recent was John Beilein, who made it less than a year with the Cleveland Cavaliers following a great run at Michigan. Others, such as Brad Stevens, have done it and enjoyed success.

However, recent history shows the transition from college basketball to the NBA is not easy. Take Billy Donovan for example. He won back-to-back national championships at Florida in 2006 and 2007. But in nine years as an NBA coach, he’s gone deeper than the first round of the playoffs just once. And Donovan’s NBA stint has actually been more successful than the professional attempts made by colleagues such as Beilein and Fred Hoiberg.

Despite the mixed track record of the college-to-NBA coaching pipeline, there will inevitably be others who catch the attention of professional franchises in the years ahead.

Who is most likely to make the jump to the NBA from the college ranks in the years ahead? Our writers gave their answers for this week’s Dribble Handoff.

Dan Hurley, UConn

I’ll start this list with the reason this list even exists and submit Hurley as an obvious candidate to someday leave college basketball for the NBA. He passed on the opportunity this time, sure. But I remain skeptical that he’ll remain tied to college basketball forever — or even much longer.

When Hurley announced his decision to reject the Lakers and stay at UConn, some interpreted that as him picking college basketball over the NBA. I don’t think that’s an accurate way to frame things, though. In reality, all Hurley did was…

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Author : David Cobb

Publish date : 2024-06-14 14:28:39

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