Tag: Dan Hurley

Dan Hurley’s stunned reaction said it all after UConn lost a third straight game

Dan Hurley is down bad.

Somebody might want to check on UConn head coach Dan Hurley. His team just lost a third consecutive game, and he was so stunned by it all that he seemingly couldn’t bear to watch.

The UConn men’s basketball team is GOING THROUGH IT. The back-to-back champs’ time at the Maui Invitational couldn’t have gone worse. The Huskies lost an overtime stunner to Memphis, partly thanks to Dan Hurley’s sideline antics that drew an ill-timed technical foul. Then, they lost to Colorado, and you guessed it — there were more Hurley shenanigans.

But Wednesday’s loss to the Dayton Flyers stunned the UConn coach. As time expired, cameras caught the moment Hurley was on the sidelines, bent down, putting his head into his hands, seemingly trying to wrap his mind around what just happened.

(Feature image courtesy of ESPN)

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Dan Hurley ruined UConn’s epic comeback with the most inexcusable technical during overtime

When the coach loses his team a game …

Throughout his coaching career, Dan Hurley has never been one to go easy on the officials. And honestly, officials give him plenty of leeway to complain. But every ref has their limit, and on Monday, Hurley crossed that line at the worst moment.

It essentially lost his team the game in the process.

In the opening round of UConn’s Maui Invitational matchup with Memphis, the Huskies overcame a double-digit deficit in the final 2.5 minutes to force overtime. Momentum was clearly on UConn’s side. But when Liam McNeeley was called for an over-the-back foul, Hurley couldn’t help himself.

Rather than let the (correct) call go in a tie game, Hurley berated the officials. And it doesn’t take expert lip-reading skills to see that Hurley got personal with it too.

Hurley was called for the technical, which sent P.J. Carter to the line for four three throws. He made all of them.

What would have been a one-possession game, turned into two just like that. And it had nothing to do with the players on the court. UConn was able to get a final look at the end, but those two points were so costly in the 99-97 loss.

Hurley’s antics completely changed that game.

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Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer wants to start a series with UConn

According to a Monday report, Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer has an idea for a future campus series with the Connecticut Huskies.

The Duke Blue Devils and Connecticut Huskies have played each other more on the football field than the basketball court over the past few years, but Duke head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] wouldn’t mind changing that trend.

According to a Monday report from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Scheyer is “open to starting a series” with the two-time defending national champions.

Duke and UConn have combined to win 11 national championships since 1991, including six of the past 14 titles, but the two have never played each other in their own stadiums.

Duke has a 5-4 all-time record against UConn with wins in the last two matchups. The schools haven’t faced off since December 2014 when legendary head coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] captained his team to a 66-56 victory on a neutral court. Tyus Jones led the team with 21 points in that game, and the Blue Devils won the most recent of their five championships at the end of that season.

The Blue Devils football team has also beaten Connecticut on the football field in each of the past two seasons, including a 26-21 comeback win on Saturday.

Dan Hurley discussed his underwear and cursed in front of President Biden during UConn’s White House visit

Never change, Dan Hurley.

UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley is unapologetically himself, no matter what. He reminded everyone while at the White House on Tuesday.

After winning his second consecutive collegiate men’s basketball national championship in 2024, the NCAA head coach was invited to celebrate his title at the White House with President Joe Biden.

Hurley had some highlights of his own during the celebration, including a moment in which he discussed his lucky dragon underwear. It wasn’t the talking point that many would have used if they had the opportunity to visit the White House, but it was what Hurley chose anyway.

Warning: The following is potentially not suitable for work.

Later in the visit, Hurley then spoke about the honor he had on that day.

According to the head coach, he thought it would get easier to speak at the White House this time around because it was no longer his first time there to celebrate a national championship.

Instead, however, he was it was “scary as [expletive]” before getting a big laugh from everyone listening to him speak.

Never change, Coach Hurley. You are perfect just the way you are.

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In Liam McNeeley, UConn has college basketball’s next villain

UConn Huskies freshman wing Liam McNeeley is set to be college basketball’s villain for the 2024-25 season.

After winning back-to-back national championships, Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies have fully embraced being college basketball’s villains.

Hurley’s extreme reactions on the sidelines and “us against the world” mentality have helped build the villainy, and many of the players who come into the program are taylor made to be college basketball villains – with Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer filling the role admirably last season.

This year, Hurley already identified Spencer’s replacement as incoming freshman Liam McNeeley, the No. 10 ranked player in the 2024 recruiting class who is expected to be a day one starter and one-and-done player who gets taken in the lottery of the 2025 NBA draft.

Hurley spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed McNeeley’s attitude and confidence, going as far as to say he thinks “opposing fan bases will find him to be an acceptable villain.”

McNeeley is from Richardson, TX and was a McDonald’s All-American who spent time at three different high schools. He originally committed to the Indiana Hoosiers before reopening his recruitment and joining the Huskies as they look for a third straight national title.

Fan bases in Texas and Indiana already have a reason to treat McNeeley like a villain, and soon the rest of the Big East will follow suit – particularly if he plays a big role in UConn continuing to win at an absurdly high rate in 2024-25.

What’s next for JJ Redick as he prepares for his first season as the Los Angeles Lakers coach?

Looking at what JJ Redick has in front of him as he prepares for his first season as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Monday was a massive day for [autotag]JJ Redick[/autotag]. It was officially the first day of an entirely new chapter in his life as he was introduced as the 29th head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers at a press conference.

Redick was the Lakers’ choice after an offseason that saw them pursue and fail to land Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley. Redick was an early option to replace Darvin Ham, who was replaced after the Lakers got bounced from the NBA playoffs by the Denver Nuggets for a second consecutive season.

Redick could not interview and meet with Lakers brass as he was an analyst for the NBA Finals. It wasn’t until after the Boston Celtics’ 4-1 win over the Dallas Mavericks that the Lakers could sit down and get into the fine details with Redick.

Redick connected with Lakers Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka, and if this hiring pans out, that relationship will be meaningful in the future.

“It was very evident that he had a unique perspective and philosophy on basketball and how it’s to be taught,” Pelinka said at the introductory press conference.

Pelinka also reiterated that he and Redick share “a basketball philosophy that was very similar, and it was based on high-level strategy, it was based on a certain way of communicating with players and teaching them,” in addition to “prioritizing player development.”

With things official, what’s next for Redick as he prepares for his first season as a professional basketball coach?

Picking a staff and preparing for the NBA draft, plus NBA free agency, are the big ones for Redick.

Where does Redick get a coaching staff when he is not a coach with prior coaching connections? There have been murmurs that the Lakers and Redick are united on the notion that Redick’s assistants are fellow high-IQ minds like himself mixed with multiple former coaches with head coaching experience. That would be of real value to Redick, who doesn’t know what it takes yet to handle a locker room, especially in a locker room led by LeBron James.

Roster construction matters more than ever, and for the Lakers, it matters even more because they don’t have the financial wiggle room to be free spenders. They’ll have even less once we consider their plan to offer what would likely be LeBron James’ final contract as a Laker.

James has until June 29 to opt into the final year of his current contract, which would pay him $51.4M for the upcoming 2024-2025 season, but the expectation is that he’ll forgo that player option and become a free agent. Any new deal would only have a three-year max because James is 39, and the NBA employs an over-38 rule that stipulates that no player over that age can sign for more than three years.

Assuming LeBron returns to LA at his age, he can’t be the focal point anymore. Redick should look to building the roster around star forward Anthony Davis more. He discussed that in the conference when referring to Davis and how he planned to use him.

“One of the things I brought up with him is just the idea of him as a hub,” Redick said. “There’s a bunch of guys at the five position in the NBA that operate that way. I don’t know that he’s been used that way and maximized all his abilities.”

With that said, shooting, wing defense, and competent depth down low to take some of the load off Anthony Davis nightly were significant holes in the Lakers last year. The Lakers have a first-round pick in the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft, where they pick 17th. College Sports Wire’s Andy Patton mocked a player from a familiar school to the Lakers in Wednesday’s opening round.

Patton mocked Kyle Filipowski from Duke University for LA’s first-round pick. Filipowski has the size and skill to be a floor-spacing big that the Lakers could slot in and around Anthony Davis. He can handle the ball, as we’ve seen for Duke, and he has a wide array of offensive skills that complement Davis.

The Lakers’ new head coach and Pelinka, his new boss, both spent a significant amount of time harping on player development and how that would guide LA in the short and long term. Redick riffed about communicating with players already under contract about how they can improve and how they will function in his offensive and defensive system. For Redick, he spent his college years playing under one of the most outstanding teachers ever to grace the game of basketball, Coach K.

If this new venture is to work for Redick, it’ll have to be in the hands to create a culture and mentality in LA. This is something that has been missing for the Purple and Gold since the days of Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson.

“The pursuit of greatness can’t be miserable,” Redick said. “Every day somebody walks into this building, they have to enjoy it. I think part of being a coach, right, is, like, ‘Can I maximize each player?’ That helps maximize the group. And does everybody in the building, not just the players and staff, does everybody in the building enjoy coming to work every day? That’s sort of on me to create that culture.”

Lakers hire former Duke star JJ Redick as next head coach

Former Duke basketball star JJ Redick will be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers after Dan Hurley turned down the position.

After striking out on Dan Hurley, the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly agreed to a four-year deal to make JJ Redick the franchise’s next head coach.

ESPN reported that, after a meeting over the weekend and conversations throughout the week, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka offered Redick the job on Thursday morning.

Redick comes to Los Angeles from ESPN, where he works as an NBA analyst – calling games during the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Mavericks.

Despite not having any previous coaching experience, Redick was picked for his basketball IQ and ability to connect with the players – with Pelinka believing an elite coaching staff will help Redick adjust quickly to the job. The soon-to-be 40-year-old is also close with Lakers superstar LeBron James, with whom he co-hosts a podcast.

Redick had an extremely decorated college career at Duke, twice winning ACC Player of the Year and earning All-American nods, while also winning the AP Player of the Year in the 2005-06 season.

He went on to have a 15-year NBA career, primarily as a sharpshooter,  and has worked as an analyst since his career ended in 2021.

Dan Hurley’s wife talks about crying while meeting with the Lakers, Jeanie Buss

Apparently, the meeting between Dan and Andrea Hurley and the Lakers was a very emotional one.

Perhaps when Dan Hurley and his wife Andrea met with the Los Angeles Lakers about a week ago to discuss the team’s head coaching offer, there was sincere mutual interest. But ultimately, Dan Hurley said no to the Purple and Gold and decided to remain put at the University of Connecticut.

There is no doubt he has something outstanding going for him at UConn, a school he has guided to back-to-back national championships the last two seasons. But many have speculated on the real reasons he rejected L.A.’s offer.

Andrea Hurley talked about meeting with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and getting emotional. She said that as she looked at Buss’ face, she started to think about the players his husband had been coaching and developing (h/t Lakers Daily).

“They sent their plane,” Andrea Hurley told WFSB in Connecticut. “They — literally attention to detail, they made us feel welcomed and they wanted to be a part of our family, and they wanted us a part of their family. And it was just so sincere and the way that they were talking to us, it was — I sat there, and all I did was cry, of course. And actually why I was there — I just — as I was looking — every time I looked at the owner’s face, I saw another one of our players.

“And I was just like, ‘No, this is amazing, but we have our kids at home. How do we leave kids that just won back-to-back championships? How about all these new babies that are coming in that could have went anywhere, and they chose to come here to play for Danny?’”

Dan Hurley is one of the most decorated college coaches in history, and had he joined the Lakers, he would’ve given them an instant boost of credibility and respect. Instead, the organization has once again looked weak and even incompetent, even if Dan Hurley’s rejection had nothing to do with the organization itself.

Los Angeles is back to sifting through a less-than-impressive group of head coaching candidates. Former sharpshooter and current podcaster JJ Redick could still be its top candidate, and he is reportedly set to interview with the team this weekend.

Dan Hurley: It would’ve been a thrill to coach LeBron James

Even though Dan Hurley said no to the Lakers, it sounds like he would’ve loved to coach LeBron James.

It has now been several days since Dan Hurley turned down a generous offer by the Los Angeles Lakers to be their head coach and decided to stay at the University of Connecticut. Many are still talking about and analyzing why he said no to them, and there are plenty of theories.

Plenty think the Lakers simply didn’t offer him enough money, and that their reported offer of $70 million over six years just wasn’t a competitive one. A few think Hurley was simply using the Purple and Gold as leverage to get more money from UConn in order to remain put.

But on an episode of the “Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” he said he was intrigued by the opportunity to coach the Lakers and work with LeBron James. He said it would’ve been a “thrill” to coach the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and he talked about coaching against James’ high school team (h/t Lakers Daily).

“I did not,” Hurley said when asked if he talked to James during the process of being courted by the Lakers. “We had some communication. One of my first games I ever coached in as a high school coach was against LeBron in Delaware when he was at St. Mary-St. Vincent. His team came into that game with a 66-game winning streak. And we were – it was my first year as a head coach. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. When the game ended, he had a 67-game winning streak. And so, I shared the court with him once. And it was, it would’ve been a thrill to coach him.”

Hurley started his head coaching career in 2001 at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in his native New Jersey. One consideration for him, and a possible factor in him rejecting the Lakers, was the prospect of having to relocate from the Northeast, where he has spent his whole life, to Southern California.

Plenty of New York/New Jersey natives do eventually move out to the Southland, but it is a major adjustment to make, especially once someone has reached his or her 50s. When one also has something amazing going, as Hurley does with the Huskies, one could ultimately say no to an even greater opportunity out West, even one that involves working with the seemingly ageless James.

Dan Hurley says he didn’t use the Lakers’ offer as leverage

Some feel Dan Hurley merely used the Lakers’ head coaching offer as leverage to stay at the University of Connecticut, but he denies that.

After University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley turned down the Los Angeles Lakers’ reported offer of $70 million over six years, many have been trying to dissect what happened between him and the Lakers.

There has been a strong sentiment that L.A. got rejected because it didn’t offer Hurley enough money, something Hurley seemed to imply.

But others feel the team never had a chance to hire him because he simply wanted to use it as leverage to secure a bigger and better deal to remain at Connecticut. Some have even accused ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who is originally from Connecticut, of leaking the news in order to help Hurley and UConn.

While on the “Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” the New Jersey native shut down the notion that he was merely taking advantage of the Lakers.

Assuming a bigger offer from Lakers owner Jeanie Buss would’ve gotten Hurley to leave the Northeast, one has to wonder how high that offer had to have been. There are realistic limits to everything, especially finances, and despite their reputation as a glitz and glamour franchise, the Lakers simply aren’t a cash-rich operation, at least relative to other NBA teams.