URI’s Hurley to Take UConn Coaching Job

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

GoLocalProv Sports Team

Dan Hurley

University of Rhode Island men's basketball coach Dan Hurley is Ieaving to take the head coaching job at the University of Connecticut, according to GoLocal's sources close to the situation

According to sources, Hurley already has the job and the terms of the contract are completed.

"UConn is zeroing in on Dan Hurley to be its next men’s basketball coach, multiple sources told The Courant. Hurley, who coached Rhode Island to a 25-7 record, met with UConn officials on Monday, though it is not clear whether it was on campus, or somewhere else," reported the Hartford Courant on Monday. Hurley will tell URI Thorr Bjorn of his decision at a now scheduled meeting to be held on Tuesday.

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Hurley's departure comes one offseason after he signed his fourth contract extension with Rhode Island that was set to keep him at the school through the 2023-24 season.

With that extension, Hurley's total compensation was jumped to $1.1 million annually.

SEE THE CONTRACT BELOW

Earlier this month, GoLocaProv reported that Hurley was among the top candidates for the Pittsburgh job.

UConn fired head coach Kevin Ollie back in March for ‘just cause,’ though the cause is unknown.

Hurley at URI This Season

This season, Hurley led URI to an overall record of 26-8, the programs first ever regular-season A-10 championship and a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, where URI beat Oklahoma in the first round before losing to Duke in the second.

Hurley tied program records for most home wins (15), most road conference wins (7) and had a 16-game winning streak, the second longest in program history.

The Rams also were ranked in the top 25 in both national polls for the final seven weeks of the regular season, the longest streak in team history.

They ranked as low as 16th in the country, and currently rank 25th heading into the A-10 Tournament.

Hurley also became the second-fastest coach to 100 career wins at Rhode Island, doing it in his 177th game.

Only Frank Keaney reached the milestone faster, doing it in 149 games.

Issues at UConn

The Huskies won a national championship back in 2014 under Ollie, but have failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons.

Now the program is in turmoil as the NCAA is investigating whether or not recruiting violations were committed.

The Huskies went 14-18 this season, including 7-11 in the American Athletic Conference leading to the firing of Ollie.

Replacements for Hurley

Leading candidates to replace Hurley are URI great Preston Murphy, now an assistant at Creighton and Associate URI head coach David Cox who is responsible for the recruitment of Indiana transfer Stanford Robinson, and Jeff Dowtin and Michael Tertsea (incoming recruit). GoLocal has also learned that a high level NBA assistant coach is interested in the position.

URI’s Hurley to Take UConn Coaching Job

SEE THE CONTRACT BELOW

Related Slideshow: Dan Hurley 2017 Contract Extension - May 2017

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URI’s Hurley to Take UConn Coaching Job

SEE THE CONTRACT BELOW

Related Slideshow: Dan Hurley 2017 Contract Extension - May 2017

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