Two-time national champion UConn men's basketball coach Dan Hurley told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that he's set a deadline for Monday (June 10) on whether he'll stay at his current job or take a reported "massive" head coaching offer from the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers.
Hurley, 51, told Wojnarowski that he was left "extremely impressed" with Lakers vice president and general manager Rob Pelinka and team owner Jeanie Buss, who made a "compelling case" and presented a "compelling vision" last Thursday (June 6) and Friday (June 7) but loves what he's built at UConn following back-to-back national championships.
Last week, Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers were "preparing a massive" offer to Hurley.
"BREAKING: The Los Angeles Lakers are targeting Connecticut’s Dan Hurley to become the franchise’s next coach and are preparing a massive, long-term contract offer to bring the back-to-back national champion to the NBA, sources tell ESPN," Wojnarowski wrote on his X account at the time.
Hurley has reportedly been Los Angeles' primary target throughout its coaching search, despite the franchise interviewing several other candidates, according to the sources. The former point guard agreed to a six-year, $31.1 million extension to remain UConn's head basketball coach through the 2028-29 season last June, which came two months after becoming the third coach to lead the Huskies to a national championship, following Jim Calhoun (1999, 2004, 2011) and Kevin Ollie (2014), in April.
UConn repeated as national champions with a 75-60 win against Purdue in the March Madness Tournament Final at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, earning its sixth national title in program history and tying North Carolina for third all-time behind only UCLA (11) and Kentucky (8). The Huskies concluded the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a +140 point differential, the highest total in March Madness history, defeating No. 16 Stetson (91-52), No. 9 Northwestern (75-58), No. 5 San Diego State (82-52), No. 3 Illinois (86-72) and No. 4 Alabama (86-72) en route to their second consecutive national title.
Hurley previously shut down rumors of potential interest in Kentucky's coaching vacancy, joking that his coaching career had previously moved his wife, Andrea, a fellow New Jersey native, and that he wasn't taking a chance on relocating again, in April.
"We just went to Rhode Island, which I had to drag her to, and then to Connecticut, I got her closer (to New Jersey). I can’t afford a divorce right now, I just started making money," Hurley said via college basketball writer Jaden Daly.