UConn coach Dan Hurley met with the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday and said they made a “compelling case” for him to fill their coaching vacancy, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Hurley, 51, told Wojnarowski he will contemplate the Lakers’ offer and decide whether to take it — or remain at UConn — on Monday.
The Lakers reportedly are offering Hurley an eight-year deal worth $100 million.
“In a phone interview Sunday, Hurley told ESPN that he left ‘extremely impressed’ with Lakers VP and GM Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss and had been spending Sunday weighing what sources tell ESPN is a massive, long-term offer to move to the NBA,” Wojnarowski wrote.
This follows a report from veteran college basketball insider Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68. who wrote that Hurley approached the meeting “completely open-minded.” Goodman first reported that Hurley would use the weekend to mull over the decision.
As an aside, he was spotted at the Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
Hurley has coached the Huskies to back-to-back NCAA championships and reportedly met with his players to at least let them know he was speaking with the Lakers. A lot of insiders feel as if he will remain at UConn. So does St. John’s coach Rick Pitino.
“What I’m hearing — and I have no [inside information] — is that his father [Bob Hurley Sr.] and his wife [Andrea] are very strong in his life and they don’t want to go,” Pitino told Dave Blezow of The New York Post. “I think he’s going to try it, no different than [John] Calipari tried it or I tried it. I don’t think he’s going to take the job, but I think he’s going to try the pros someday.”
Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million deal with UConn after the 2023 championship season. His buyout to join the NBA would be roughly $1.9 million.
Along with Hurley and former NBA shooting guard JJ Redick, the Lakers reportedly have met with New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Boston Celtics assistant and former NBA point guard Sam Cassell and Denver Nuggets assistant David Adelman.
Multiple reports suggest the Lakers will turn to Redick if Hurley turns them down.
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