Hurley would have been fired at UK before ever winning a champ
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Lulz. UCONN only has 19 sw16s, 17 before Hurley, buttercup.
He took over a team on probation who went 14-18 the year before he took over.
He improved them each season. He also had a track record of doing so at 2 previous schools
So, try again?
Yes and no. Some that 22M was spread over 2 years first some players. Still a lot for what we got.That 22 million dollar figure isn’t a lie.
Kentucky’s $22 Million Payroll Expected to Lead College Basketball for 2025-26
Wildcats outpace the rest of the nation in first season under new NIL rulessports.yahoo.com
Kentucky reportedly spent $22 million on its basketball roster. Why isn’t it working?
The Athletic spoke with coaches and watched UK's games to assess what Kentucky must do to salvage its still-young season.www.nytimes.com
Well fair enough it's a joke it's pay for play then give it all to that stokes kid lmao
I feel like at Kentucky you’ve got 5-7 years to win a title. If it’s obvious that isn’t going to happen then you need to move on even sooner if need be. Like the situation we have now. The standard should never be lowered. WE ARE college basketball and it’s an absolute disgrace to see what Barnhart has done to this program and all of athletics over the past decade.
Please don’t try tell us Hurley turned around a fledging U Conn program. That’s laughable. They had 4 NCAA titles… 4… and numerous conference titles prior to his arrival.
Additionally he was only a 60% winner at his 2 prior stops. No titles.
C’mon man. Took him 5 years at U Conn to get out of the 1st round in the Tourney. Wasn’t even in it his first 2 years at U Conn.
Not saying he didn’t develop into a fine coach but he got time to find himself and he wasn’t setting the college game on fire before he got there.
Not saying it doesn’t mean it didn't happen, though. They were in fact 14-18, under investigation and put on probation when he took over. He did in fact turn them around, improved each season and went on to win 2 titles. He did that during a time when no instant eligibility transfer portal or NIL existed.
When you take over dumpster programs and build then up, you're going to have a lower win percentage. He went 13-17 and then 25-6 in 2 years at Wagner. That's impressive.
At RI, he took over a team that went 7-24. His teams won a conference tournament and a regular season champion in his last 2 years and he took them to their first 2 ncaa appearances in almost 20 years. Again, no portal, no NIL. Just good coaching. Had a 68% win his last 4 years and 74% his last 2.
C'mon man, he took over a trashed Uconn program that was on probation. He didn't have the luxury of a portal or NIL to rebuild instantly. Yet they improved each year.
I mean... if we just ignore his resume and the reality, we can pretend that's true, but he was honestly considered a strong young coach at the time.
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Easy answer can’t recruit can’t recruit can’t recruit. Hurley is not pope . Pope is like a youth pastor and Hurley is a A-hole but he demands more from his players he just coaches differently.
We’ll see we waited 6 years of bs with cal to be gone if we go another 5 similar to those 5 years my god we would never be good again it would be 20 years without even a final four
People trying to compare Hurley to pope Hurley has it in him to have a been a good coach pope has never proven or done anything in his life to prove that he can coach. He should’ve been a doctor bad career change on his part
Hurley doing something really stupid I could see it he’s crazy it’s just a matter of time . Who knows he could head butt a ref.he did it to his players I’ve seen it in a game before and he was like laughing afterwards. He’d be the guy to get in a fist fight with another coach or do something crazy to his players that get him fired
Did anyone have 22 million to spend on players back then? He competed on a level playing field and didn't do so well.
typical response from an irrational fan who is miserable.... of course they are different people ... DUH... that was in no way the point lol
UCONN was on probation a year after when Hurley took over. "UConn men’s basketball has been placed on NCAA probation for two years from July 2019 to July 2021, stemming from violations regarding impermissible activities under former coach Kevin Ollie." Also, in 2020 there was no tourney.
Maybe not as much as you think. Hurley admitted that he had to CHANGE his coaching philosophy to turn things around at UConn. I don't know why everyone ignores this fact.
Dan Hurley's desire to adapt helped UConn evolve into an offensive juggernaut | FOX Sports
Two years ago, UConn coach Dan Hurley made a commitment to embracing offense with NCAA Tournament success in mind. Michael Cohen explains how Hurley's desire to adapt has helped transform UConn into an offensive juggernaut.
www.foxsports.com
Guys Dan Hurley had accomplished enough to that point to warrant patience. Mark Pope has not. And hes had plenty of time to do it. 11 years.
Dan Hurley also learned under arguably the greatest high school basketball coach in History. Seriously. His dad is a legend. After 2 years as a player under Rick Pitino 30 years ago, Mark Pope learned under…Mark Fox.
Theres really no comparison. We all wanted to believe but it’s become painfully obvious to anyone with a functioning brain that hiring Pope was a massive reach.
Dan Hurley also learned under arguably the greatest high school basketball coach in History. Seriously. His dad is a legend. After 2 years as a player under Rick Pitino 30 years ago, Mark Pope learned under…Mark Fox.
Theres really no comparison. We all wanted to believe but it’s become painfully obvious to anyone with a functioning brain that hiring Pope was a massive reach.
There’s more to it they act way different meaning Hurley gets a lot more out of his players also Hurley didn’t have 22 million dollars.Hurley is not the coach of Kentucky this isn’t a rebuild type of program never has been. There’s just no comparison with Hurley and pope two totally different situations and also pope can’t recruit not a single player. You don’t need 5 years to see a guy that can’t recruit a coach that changes his lineups every two seconds he has horrible roster building how many years does pope get it to get right ? He has coached 62 games here he’s lost 6 games at rupp worst in his first two years here which is the most a Kentucky coach has had in his first two years . He is down by double digits every single game he should have a losing record. Everyone knows Pope can not be here any real fan would see he’s just not gonna cut it .
Basing that on easier recruiting and name recognition. Nothing about his coaching.Maybe not as much as you think. Hurley admitted that he had to CHANGE his coaching philosophy to turn things around at UConn. I don't know why everyone ignores this fact.
Dan Hurley's desire to adapt helped UConn evolve into an offensive juggernaut | FOX Sports
Two years ago, UConn coach Dan Hurley made a commitment to embracing offense with NCAA Tournament success in mind. Michael Cohen explains how Hurley's desire to adapt has helped transform UConn into an offensive juggernaut.
Problem with that logic is that Pope was supposed to be a mastermind coach of offense.Maybe not as much as you think. Hurley admitted that he had to CHANGE his coaching philosophy to turn things around at UConn. I don't know why everyone ignores this fact.
Dan Hurley's desire to adapt helped UConn evolve into an offensive juggernaut | FOX Sports
Two years ago, UConn coach Dan Hurley made a commitment to embracing offense with NCAA Tournament success in mind. Michael Cohen explains how Hurley's desire to adapt has helped transform UConn into an offensive juggernaut.
I am not sure what you are seeing in the article but what I see is an overhaul of his coaching approach.
"Hurley and his assistants envisioned a movement-based offense that emphasized off-ball screening over isolation plays or traditional pick and rolls. They dreamed of a roster stuffed with high-level passers, shooters and "game processors" who could operate a system culled largely from overseas concepts. Change arrived in the form of a four-pronged plan that would touch nearly every corner of the program: from rewriting the core offensive principles to revising the player profiles used in recruiting; from reconfiguring the coaching staff's study habits to rearranging the way practice time was apportioned."
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I wasn't talking about Pope. If I were, I would have made the point that Pope needs to make some significant changes to be successful which is EXACTLY what Hurley did, to his credit. This board has the impression that great coaches are born great. Life isn't that simple. Hurley is a living example of a coach who struggled, asked the right questions and then answered them by reinventing his approach to coaching. Tubby Smith and Cal both seeminly refused to make any changes. If Pope is still here next year, that is what I want to see happen.
I mean, that might be your interpretation, but Hurley never really struggled.
In his first year at Wagner, they went 13-17. In his 2nd, they went 25-6, finished 2nd in their conference.
He then moved to RI. Took over a team that went 7-22 the year prior. He improved them each season and had a 23-10 record by year 3. He finished at RI with a 25 win and win season, winning the conference championship and then the tournament championship. He also took them to their first NCAA appearances in almost 20 years, advancing past the 1st rd both years.
He then was hired at Uconn amidst an investigation and subsequent probation. They were 14-18 the year prior to Hurley. In his 3rd year, he had them back in the tournament and finishing top 3 in the big east.
Hurley did that without the current tranfer portal or NIL.
He didn't simply become great because he evolved his offense with the current trend.
Pope has nothing in his resume to suggest he will ever be good.