“The impact you can have on the success you have” - Dan Hurley states what is the best part about coaching college basketball
One of the biggest reasons why current UConn head coach Dan Hurley decided to stay put, and coach college basketball instead of the Los Angeles Lakers is because he’s satisfied with the position he is in at the moment.
According to Hurley, what makes coaching in the NCAA so nice is that, unlike the NBA, he has control over the factors that impact the team’s success.
“Here, you get to evaluate the talent and make all the decisions in every way possible relative to your program so the best thing about being a college coach is the impact that you have on the success you have is critical. The staff that you’re able to hire when you have one like mine here. You position yourself well to be successful, and I didn’t want to lose that type of control,” Hurley said in a one-on-one interview with Fox’s John Fanta.
A monumental decision
Hurley’s quote perfectly sums up what he could’ve lost had he decided to coach the Lakers. Perhaps the biggest difference in calling the shots in the NCAA compared to the NBA is that in college basketball, the head coach runs the whole program, from recruiting to forming the team, the staff, and everything else in between. In the NBA, it’s normally the general managers, alongside the coach, that handles all the logistics.
Hurley's mention of this shows that he wasn’t ready to let go of that control at UConn. Nevertheless, the two-time NCAA champion coach added that he’s grateful for being considered by the Lakers for their current vacancy.
“For me this was a great exercise to develop your mind to have a greater appreciation of where you are and the opportunity you have here. This was a great test and exercise for me. How I feel about UConn and being a college coach and the little things that I value, it’s situations like this that come up for you to test your value system and the things that are important to you. So, in a way, this was a great opportunity for self-reflection, which is important in my coaching career,” Hurley said.
All eyes on the three-peat for UConn
Coming off back-to-back NCAA titles, Hurley has the opportunity to lead the Huskies to a three-peat this upcoming season, which is an extremely rare feat. Only the UCLA Bruins have done this in NCAA history (1967-73), and this challenge also convinced Hurley to stay in Connecticut.
Currently, the UConn Huskies have six NCAA championships, which ranks third most alongside North Carolina. Another title will not only inch them closer to Kentucky (eight titles) but also be considered one of the best runs by any collegiate program in recent memory.
