Daniel S. Hurley (born January 16, 1973) is an American men's

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of ...

. In 2023 and 2024, Hurley led UConn to back-to-back NCAA Division I national championships. He previously coached at

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

and

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

. Throughout his career, Hurley has been known for his intensity and enthusiasm. His high level of passion on the sidelines and heated interactions with referees became defining aspects of his coaching style.

Early life and education

Hurley was born to

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

high school coach Bob Hurley Sr. and Christine Hurley on January 16, 1973, in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, where he was raised with his siblings

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People *Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (surname), a list of surnames * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwrit ...

and Melissa. Bobby is a former

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

guard and the current head coach at Arizona State. Hurley was a basketball star at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, where his father was the longtime coach. He led the team to a 31–1 record and a No.2 national ranking as a senior. He played five years of college basketball, including a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

year, at

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

. He played under head coach

P. J. Carlesimo Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) is an American former basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster and has worked with ESP ...

during his first three seasons.A Little Brother Grows Up
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Ira Berkow, June 20, 1997. Retrieved April 4, 2023.

Career

Hurley was head coach of

Saint Benedict's Preparatory School St. Benedict's Preparatory School is a Catholic college preparatory school in Newark, New Jersey run by the Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey. The school serves boys and girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade on a urban campus. The s ...

(2001–2010), where he is credited with building the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

school into one of the top high school basketball programs in America. He was the head coach at

Wagner College Wagner College is a private university in Staten Island, New York. It was established in 1883 and, as of the 2023–2024 academic year, it enrolled approximately 1,932 students, including 1,592 undergraduates and 340 graduates. Its theatre prog ...

for two years (2010–2012), where he set the school single-season win-loss record at 25–6 during the 2011–2012 season. He was then head coach at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

for six years (2012–2018), bringing the team to the 2017 and 2018 NCAA tournaments, the first times since 1999. Hurley turned down a long-term offer from Rhode Island in order to lead the University of Connecticut

Huskies Husky is a general term for a type of dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies ...

. From 2010 to 2013, his brother Bobby was one of his assistant coaches at both Rhode Island and Wagner.

University of Connecticut

He was named head coach of UConn on March 22, 2018. In 2021, he returned the Huskies to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016, then again in 2022, losing in the first round both times. He won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championship with the Huskies in 2023. In June 2023, he agreed to a six-year contract extension with UConn worth $32.1M. In July 2024, he signed an extension worth $50M over six years. In the 2023–24 season, Hurley led the Huskies to a school-record 37 wins, a

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

regular season title, a Big East tournament championship, a #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, and a second-straight NCAA national championship. He was named the

Naismith College Coach of the Year The Naismith College Coach of the Year Award (officially known for sponsorship reasons as the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year) is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate c ...

and received the ''Sporting News'' National Coach of the Year Award. In the days after winning the 2024 Final Four, Hurley received and declined a lucrative head coaching offer from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. In June 2024 he interviewed with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

, but declined their offer as well, choosing to return to UConn to attempt to win a third straight championship.

Personal life

Hurley married Andrea Sirakides in 1997. They met while they were both students at Seton Hall. They have two sons: Danny (born July, 1999) and Andrew (born January 30, 2002). Danny graduated from Seton Hall in 2021. Andrew attends the University of Connecticut, where he was on his father's 2023 and 2024 NCAA championship teams. On September 6, 2019, Hurley had surgery to replace two disks in his neck with artificial ones. Doctors told Hurley the condition was part hereditary and part the result of years of wear and tear associated with being a lifelong athlete. He returned to work less than two weeks after surgery. Hurley is a practicing Catholic. During his years at Seton Hall, Hurley met psychologist Sister Catherine Waters, who changed his life. He often talks with and thanks Sr. Catherine, even after his NCAA championship in 2023. He is an avid fan of the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

Connecticut profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurley, Dan 1973 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New Jersey Basketball players from Jersey City, New Jersey College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in New Jersey Point guards Rhode Island Rams men's basketball coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball coaches Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball players St. Anthony High School (New Jersey) alumni UConn Huskies men's basketball coaches Wagner Seahawks men's basketball coaches