The University of Connecticut has hired a new men’s basketball coach. The school has confirmed that Dan Hurley is leaving the University of Rhode Island for UConn on a six-year deal.
Adam Finkelstein, a national recruiting analyst at ESPN, said Hurley should be able to nab top recruits because he brings name recognition and the ability to put a good staff together.
“When you walk into somebody’s living room and your last name is Hurley, and you’ve won your conference, and you’ve put guys in the NBA—not just from your days as a college coach but also dating back to his days as a high school coach, when you’ve got all of that you can sell--it’s the assistant’s job and then when you’re the head coach, you have to close,” Finkelstein said.
Hurley has coached Rhode Island to back-to-back NCAA tournaments. He’s the son of a famous high school coach in New Jersey – Bob Hurley Sr. His brother Bobby played in the NBA and Bobby now coaches at Arizona State.
Hurley is replacing Kevin Ollie. UConn fired Ollie for “just cause” earlier this month. That means that the school may not have to pay out the nearly $11 million left on Ollie’s contract.
The school will introduce Dan Hurley at a news conference Friday afternoon.
