After Scott Drew turned down Kentucky on Thursday to remain at Baylor, many figured the Wildcats would turn their attention back to UConn’s Dan Hurley.
Hurley is coming off back-to-back national titles with the Huskies and has coached in the Northeast his entire career, so it always seemed unlikely he’d make the jump to Lexington.
Now, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander has definitively shut down any possibility of Hurley leaving, reporting this afternoon that there is a “0 percent chance” he goes to Kentucky and adding that “it’s not happening.”
“Hurley staying in Storrs, with a deserved big pay bump coming for him + his staff. UK’s search continues,” Norlander tweeted. “Said one source on Hurley to Kentucky: ‘They could offer $20 million a year and he wouldn’t go.’ Hurley, the national coach of the year, has the perfect job for him, has the top staff in the country and is running the best program in the sport. Always seemed far-fetched as is.”
Said one source on Hurley to Kentucky: “They could offer $20 million a year and he wouldn’t go.”
Hurley, the national coach of the year, has the perfect job for him, has the top staff in the country and is running the best program in the sport.
Always seemed far-fetched as is.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) April 11, 2024
Kentucky was reportedly willing to offer Hurley between $11-12 million dollars yearly to coach the Wildcats, which is nothing to shrug one’s shoulders at.
However, as Norlander noted, the 51-year-old Hurley is on top of the college basketball world and is about to receive a nice salary increase from his current employer as a result of Kentucky’s interest.
Why mess with a good thing and leave the place where he has already won two national titles and has hung six banners in the last 25 years?