Dan Hurley on rumors Kentucky would double his UConn salary: 'It's flattering'
Kentucky is hiring a new head basketball coach this offseason and Dan Hurley’s name continues to be brought up, despite the fact he’s made it clear he does love where he’s at with UConn.
Obviously, Hurley just summited the mountain for a second straight season, winning back-to-back national championships with the Huskies in 2023 and 2024. But with that success comes other suitors, like one of the historical powerhouses in college hoops in Kentucky.
So, when joining The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Hurley was asked point blank about other job offers coming down the pipe which could double his salary or more.
“You feel like UConn, but you don’t want schools to take advantage of that. You’ve got a big market if you want to leave. What happens if somebody brings up a brinks truck and you have to go to your boss and say ‘okay, they gave me a zillion dollars.’ Where are you on that?” asked Cowherd, further explaining the unique leverage Hurley now has.
“Because Dan, for the next five years, you’re going to have 50 offers. How do you kind of reconcile with the fact that you love where you’re at, but you may have somebody double what you’re worth. Where are you on that? What do you do with that?”
“Yeah, it’s flattering,” Hurley answered at first, giving an explanation of how he’s come up through the coaching ranks and hasn’t always bit on every great offer he’s had.
“I’ve come a long way since being a high school coach 15 years ago, and had to kind of work my way up the ladder in the business as a coach the way coaches did it back a long time ago.
“You know, it’s certainly flattering. But I’ve got a long career of turning down jobs or more money to stay in places that I was happy and that fit me and that provide me the resources to, at that level, achieve the things you want to achieve.”
For now, says Hurley, his heart is in Storrs and gearing up to make a run at a third straight national title for UConn, who currently has the most national titles of any program in the 21st century.
“I mean, right now, at UConn, my relationship with Dave Benedict (UConn athletic director) and what the place means to us, the opportunity to go for a three-peat right now is the only thing that is obviously on anyone’s mind, so I just can’t see that being a thing.”
For those anxious Kentucky fans out there, Dan Hurley’s comments certainly don’t translate as a flat-out “NO” to the UK job, but those sound like the words of someone who plans on being on the Huskies’ sideline next fall.