In winning back-to-back NCAA National Championships, Dan Hurley helped to bring the UConn men’s basketball program back to the level the UConn women’s program has long been at under Geno Auriemma. And while Auriemma is sure to be a lifetime Husky, Hurley has a big decision to make as the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to make him the team’s next head coach.
The news of the Lakers’ pursuit of Hurley came as a surprise to most as his name had never been mentioned as a candidate. Auriemma was amongst those surprised at the news as well, but apparently his intuition knew something that he didn’t.
Auriemma appeared on the Dan Patrick Show and revealed that he was actually at an event with Hurley the prior night and joked to him that he would win a lot of championships if he were the coach of the Lakers:
“You know this is really funny because I happened to be at a thing with him last night. And I have no idea what’s going on, I have no idea where this is going and what’s happening. But I just leaned over and I said, ‘Hey I think you can win a lot of championships with the Lakers, more so than a guy who’s never coached.’ And he just looked at me and nodded, we had a good laugh. And then this morning I wake up and voila, so I don’t know what’s going on. It would be a bad day for UConn for sure if this happens and it would be a great day for Dan Hurley and I’m sure a bittersweet day for Dan Hurley.”
While the story seems pretty unbelievable, Auriemma insisted that he had no idea Hurley was considering leaving UConn:
“Out of nowhere I just leaned over… I don’t know why it came to me, I don’t know why, but I said it. And if you ask him he’ll tell you, and I had no idea. And I woke up this morning and somebody sent it to me and I went, ‘You gotta be kidding me.'”
It is pretty insane that Auriemma would make a joke like that and to be fair, he said that Hurley just nodded and laughed, clearly knowing that it was an actual possibility he could leave UConn to become the next head coach of the Lakers.
Hurley has yet to make his final decision, but one is expected in the near future.
Dan Hurley met with UConn players about potentially taking Lakers job
As it currently stands, Dan Hurley is still the head coach at UConn, but with the report coming out about the Lakers, he felt it was necessary to talk to his Husky players.
Hurley reportedly met with the UConn team and informed that he is indeed considering taking the Lakers job, not wanting to hid the possibility of this from his players.
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