Dan Hurley on potentially leaving UConn amid Kentucky rumors: 'I don't think that's a concern'
One day before the national championship, news broke that John Calipari was in the running to replace Eric Musselman at Arkansas. Almost immediately, a coach who was getting ready to patrol the sidelines came up as a potential replacement at Kentucky.
Monday night, UConn’s Dan Hurley addressed the speculation about the UK opening.
Hurley was asked about the rumors after the Huskies completed the first repeat in 17 years, defeating Purdue 75-60 for the sixth title in program history. He joins the likes of John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski and Billy Donovan as coaches to repeat as champions. After the game, he talked about the resources at UConn, and he was asked about rumors surrounding “a job that might open tomorrow” – indirectly referring to Kentucky.
“I don’t think that’s a concern,” Hurley said with a chuckle. “My wife, you should have her answer that. … She’ll answer that question better than I can. Shit.”
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Hurley has been at UConn since 2018 and helped take the Huskies all the way back to the mountaintop. The program went 16-17 overall and 6-12 in American Athletic Conference play during his first season, but Hurley kept building and took UConn to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 – the Huskies’ first year back in the Big East. Two years after that, they won it all for the first time since 2014, and they had a chance to repeat Monday night against Purdue. They did just that.
All told, Hurley has a 140-58 overall record at UConn, including a 71-41 mark in conference play across the American and Big East. He also stacked up the honors this year by winning the Big East and Naismith National Coach of the Year awards.
Given Hurley’s ability to build UConn back up after a rough end to the Kevin Ollie era, it’s led some to wonder if he could be Calipari’s successor after 15 seasons at Kentucky. He’s not the only big name who could be in the mix, though.
Baylor coach Scott Drew is viewed as one of the early favorites to land the job, and Alabama’s Nate Oats and Illinois’ Brad Underwood have also come up, according to KSR’s Matt Jones. There’s also a thinking UK could turn to the NBA for a former SEC rival in Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, although ESPN’s Pete Thamel indicated his answer about returning to the college realm likely hasn’t changed.
One thing’s for sure. Kentucky is going to have options, especially after saving $33 million on Calipari’s contract since he left on his own volition.