Dan Hurley, UConn agree to new six-year, $50 million contract as Huskies chase third straight NCAA title

Dan Hurley has officially agreed to a new contract with UConn that is worth $50 million over six years, the school announced Monday.

As the Huskies gear up to chase a third consecutive national title in the 2024-25 season, Hurley’s new deal, which averages out to $8.3 million annually, would leave him just behind Bill Self of Kansas, the highest-paid coach in college basketball after earning over $9 million in total compensation in 2023-24 

The new contract also comes amid an offseason that saw Hurley emerge as a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers coaching vacancy.

The Lakers offered Hurley $70 million over six years, but he turned them down to stay with a UConn program that he’s established as the class of college basketball. Hurley’s new deal with UConn was in place prior to his discussions with the Lakers. 

“One of the biggest misnomers that I’ve seen, and I’ve had a chance to see some things [in the media], is this was a leverage play,” he told CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander in June after turning down the NBA opportunity. “It was a zero leverage play. Zero. I mean, zero. How much more leverage do I need? We just won back-to-back championships. I didn’t need leverage and I wouldn’t have tortured myself if there wasn’t some strong, like, should I do this? I thought it through. I wanted to give it great consideration. It has nothing to do with improving my position here.”

The last school to win three consecutive national titles was UCLA, which won seven straight under John Wooden from 1967-73. Since then, the only coaches to win back-to-back titles are Hurley, Billy Donovan (Florida) and Mike Krzyzewski (Duke).

Achieving the three-peat will require Hurley to successfully replace four starters from a team that finished 37-3. Veteran forward Alex Karaban, a mainstay in the lineup over the past two seasons, will be joined by a mix of returning reserves, transfers and three true freshmen in the…

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Author : David Cobb

Publish date : 2024-07-08 16:46:28

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