In recent days news that UConn‘s Dan Hurley is a target for the Los Angeles Lakers job has rocked the sport, with many wondering if the two-time defending national champion might actually jump ship to the professional ranks.
ESPN convened some of its best and brightest on Thursday morning on the College GameDay podcast to discuss the topic following the news bomb dropped by Adrian Wojnarowski.
“So I think the verbiage Woj used was “the target” and I think Dan Hurley is the target and he has a looming decision to make in the upcoming days,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel said. “Woj reported that this decision is really going to come into focus over the next few days. I think, Rece (Davis), that this is the most compelling basketball decision we will see this year and, quite frankly, in many years.”
It certainly has the potential to shake things up.
Though it wouldn’t be the first time a prominent college basketball head coach has jumped to the NBA — Billy Donovan comes to mind as a somewhat recent example — it would be jarring.
After all, it’s hard enough to win back-to-back national titles. In fact, it was Donovan’s Florida teams in 2006-07 that were the last to do it before Dan Hurley and the Huskies this year, and while Donovan briefly flirted with the Orlando Magic, he opted not to leave for the NBA until years later, ultimately.
And Florida’s program wasn’t quite at the level UConn’s is.
“As you said, UConn has won six national titles since 1999. It is the sport’s best program for the last quarter-century,” Thamel explained. “The Lakers have not been the best franchise for the last quarter-century, but they have certainly been the most interesting and they are undeniably the most glitzy, even as I sit in the city of Boston and have tickets in the rafters for Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight. I would not say that, in any way, that the Celtics’ job has the cache of the Lakers’ job. There’s just something about the celebrity in Hollywood that gives that job an extra allure.”
Would that be enough to attract Dan Hurley?
“Danny Hurley has to decide, much like Mike Krzyzewski had to decide 20 years ago this month, ‘Do I go to Los Angeles and try to slay the biggest beast in basketball, the most challenging and vexing job in basketball, or do I stay at UConn and have the court named after me?'” Thamel said. “And I know some stuff’s probably named after (Jim) Calhoun and Geno (Auriemma), by the way, but you can be immortal there and you can keep winning there.
“I don’t know if he would be the first three-peat coach since John Wooden this year, that’s certainly not guaranteed the way rosters turn over, but I think they’d be in the thick of the conversation for it and we’d be surprised if they weren’t a top-four seed and scare the pants off whoever they play that second weekend of the tournament. Obviously he has brought back some key pieces, but really brought in some good pieces, too, to put another contending roster together.”
Bottom line: It’ll likely be a tough decision for Dan Hurley as he mulls it over in the coming days.
“So I have my popcorn ready and am fascinated by how the next couple days unfold,” Thamel said.
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