The Los Angeles Lakers’ pursuit of University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley continues. They met with him on Friday, and he will reportedly make a decision by Monday on whether he will remain with the Huskies or join the Purple and Gold.
The news of this pursuit came out of the blue on Thursday after a couple of weeks of speculation that they were on their way to eventually naming JJ Redick their next head coach.
A report has indicated that Hurley has been a candidate of theirs for a while, but that the interest in him had been kept a secret. According to Marc Stein, the team also may have had a secret interest in another successful NCAA coach: Jay Wright.
Via Marc Stein Substack:
“I know that there is great interest in the backstory here …. whether Hurley indeed was the Lakers’ dream target all along or if the Lakers increased the intensity of their Hurley courtship more recently because of 11th-hour doubts about Redick or anyone else in the process. (I had been warned early on by one well-placed insider, for what it’s worth, to stay ready in case former Villanova coach Jay Wright emerged as a stealth candidate.) The good news on this front if you’re so inclined: That backstory is sure to surface sooner rather than later … presumably soon after the Lakers do or don’t land Hurley.”
From 2001 to 2022, Wright was the head coach at Villanova University. During that time, the school reached the NCAA tournament 16 times and won the national championship in 2016 and 2018. The 62-year-old has been retired ever since the completion of the 2021-22 season.