The Los Angeles Lakers have taken their time with their head coaching search. It has been over a month since the storied franchise fired Darvin Ham on May 3 after just two seasons. While JJ Redick and James Borrego appeared to be the leading candidates, a new target has emerged.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN has reported that the organization is targeting UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley. The NBA insider noted that the two-time national champion has been at the forefront of the search since the onset in a series of tweets.
Hurley has established himself as one of the best coaches in college basketball in short time. He made the jump from the high school level in 2010-11, taking over as coach of the Wagner Seahawks. After just two seasons, he joined the Rhode Island Rams. He led them to their first NCAA Tournament appearances in nearly two decades, reaching the Round of 32 in both 2017 and 2018.
Ahead of the 2018-19 season, Hurley joined the UConn Huskies, where he has spent the last six seasons. He is coming off of winning back-to-back national championships, becoming the first college basketball coach to do so since Billy Donovan in 2007. Hurley is just the eighth coach in NCAA history to win consecutive titles.
Dan Hurley previously denied interest in leaving the UConn Huskies
The Los Angeles Lakers are not the first team to show interest in Dan Hurley this offseason. The Kentucky Wildcats were reportedly interested in hiring the UConn Huskies coach following John Calipari’s departure. The two-time national champion shared that he had no interest in leaving his current role.
Speaking to Colin Cowherd during an appearance on The Herd, the Huskies coach stated:
It’s certainly flattering, but I’ve got a long career of turning down jobs or more money to stay in places that I was happy and that fit me and that provide me the resources to, at that level, achieve the things you want to achieve.
Right now, at UConn, my relationship with [UConn athletic director David] Benedict and what the place means to us, the opportunity to go for a three-peat right now is the only thing that is obviously on anyone’s mind here so I just can’t see that being a thing.
Hurley has the opportunity to look to become just the second college coach to three-peat. John Wooden remains the only coach in NCAA history to win at least three consecutive titles, having won seven in a row. It remains to be seen if interest from the Lakers will be enough to sway the Huskies coach from that opportunity.
