Dan Hurley joins coaches denying interest in Kentucky job following UConn title
After UConn’s victory in the national title game on Monday, Dan Hurley made it obvious where he would play next: Kentucky would have to eject him and his wife, Andrea, from Storrs, Connecticut, if it wanted him.
After the Huskies became the first program to win back-to-back titles in 17 years, the UConn coach ruled out any interest in the Kentucky position, citing his wife as the reason he will not make the move.
“Oh my God, Kentucky or anywhere that’s going to take her further from New Jersey,” Hurley told reporters of the Kentucky opening. “I mean, we just went to Rhode Island, which I had to drag her to, and then to Connecticut. I got her closer. And now further? I can’t afford a divorce right now, too. I just started making money.”
Hurley told reporters that his goal is to assist UConn in becoming the first team to win three titles in a row since UCLA did so from 1967 to 1973, saying, “the last thing I am thinking about is another place.”
Hurley reaffirmed his dedication to the university, but David Benedict, the athletic director at UConn, will take steps to keep him in Connecticut. Benedict stated that he will “do everything we can to stay in position to win championships” in an interview with The Athletic.
“The market is the market and Kentucky is obviously Kentucky, but last time I checked, we won the last two national championships and we’ve got six of them,” Benedict added in his comments to The Athletic. “So I think UConn is a pretty good job and Dan’s doing an unbelievable job.
“We obviously hope that he’s with us for a long time. UConn has a tradition of keeping coaches that have reached Hall-of-Fame level success at UConn for a long period of time — coach [Jim] Calhoun, coach [Geno] Auriemma. I’m sure they had plenty of opportunities to leave and we certainly hope that Dan follows suit.”
Roughly twenty-four hours after it was announced that John Calipari was leaving the program to take a head coaching position at Arkansas, Hurley declared his disinterest in the Kentucky position. Although Calipari’s hire by Arkansas has not been confirmed as of Tuesday morning, the news made waves in the college basketball community before to UConn’s victory over Purdue.
On Monday, Alabama coach Nate Oats—who was among the first highly anticipated possibilities to succeed Hurley as Calipari’s replacement—denied having any interest in the Kentucky position.
“I am fully committed to this team and to this University,” Oats wrote in a statement. “We have already accomplished some great things here, and there is nothing I want more than for the University of Alabama to win its first national championship in men’s basketball. Despite any rumors to the contrary, rest assured that I will continue that pursuit as your head coach.”
Reportedly, former Villanova coach Jay Wright would resign to take a coaching position at Kentucky. When asked if he was saying “firm no” to the job, Wright, who is currently an analyst for CBS Sports, said “absolutely.”
“What John Calipari has done in Kentucky, it’s not just the recruiting, the Final Fours,” Wright said of the Kentucky job on TBS’ pregame show ahead of Monday’s title game. “It’s getting guys to the NBA, taking care of their families. It’s their big blue Midnight Madness, having Drake come in, having the top recruits in the country every single year. That program is known worldwide.
“And it always was, but he took it into this new generation and did an incredible job. That guy that replaces him is going to be in a really difficult position to cover all the areas of college basketball.
“We’re going to dive in and put together a roster that can play a comparable level of basketball to the one that you guys have witnessed the last two years,” Hurley said. “That’s I know what our mindset will be.”