Iowa State fans, you can take that long-awaited sigh of relief; T.J. Otzelberger isn’t headed to UConn, or at least not this year. *ducks*
UConn head basketball coach Dan Hurley was reportedly offered a six-year, $70 million offer to be the next head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, but turned down the deal in order to return to UConn in 2024-25, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Had he taken the deal, Hurley would’ve been one of the six highest-paid coaches in the NBA. However, UConn had a preexisting offer with the Huskies that would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball—now all that’s left to do is pay up.
After winning the National Championship in 2022-23, Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million deal to remain with Connecticut, and now, after leading the program to a second consecutive title, Hurley is in a position to name his price.
The decision to stay with the Huskies is a bit surprising, considering the amount of momentum that LA seemed to have in the discussions. On Sunday, Wojnarowski reported UConn’s head coach was “extremely impressed” after spending the day with Lakers management, but his love for the program that he’s built back up in Storrs outweighed anything that the NBA’s biggest brand could throw at him.
UConn fans aren’t the only ones breathing a sigh of relief on Monday, as several huge names across college basketball were set to become candidates for the job had Hurley decided to make the jump to the NBA. However, we will never know how any of that would’ve played out now that Hurley has made the decision to stay put.
Connecticut is the first team to win back-to-back titles since Florida did it in 2006-07 and will now look to become the first team to three-peat since John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins won seven straight titles from 1967 to 1973.
