Any hope of Kentucky stealing away national championship-winning coach Dan Hurley from UConn seems all but over.
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported that there was a “0 percent chance” that Hurley would leave for Kentucky and KSR’s Matt Jones posted that the UConn coach turned down a “massive offer.”
Amid all this, Hurley himself put down the idea he would bolt for Lexington on Thursday during an interview on “The Jim Rome Show.”
“No,” Hurley told Rome when he was asked if there was any sort of offer that could draw him to the Kentucky coaching job.
“I think being who you say you are at your core — I know how much UConn and the state of Connecticut and the university, how much they value me and my staff and the program staying where they are. I know all those things are in place for us to press for the three-peat and show people who you are,” Hurley continued.
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“Once you make a certain amount of money, it doesn’t make that much of a difference in your life. I couldn’t be happier than I am here and knowing that the people that are — with the portal, we’re going to have to be strategic there. We’ve got some outstanding recruits coming in, we’re going to return some guys that are going to help us keep it where we are. I’m going to be here going for a three-peat.”
Hurley added: “If I had designs on listening to any other schools, I’d be in hiding right now, not doing media.”
The Wildcats coaching job became one of the biggest openings in the country after John Calipari officially resigned Tuesday to take over as the head coach at Arkansas — which first came to light late Sunday night.
Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley cuts the basketball net winning the Men’s NCAA national championship game against the Purdue Boilermakers at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on April 8, 2024. Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK Since then, one of the big questions in the college basketball world has been, who will take over with Calipari gone?
The focus on the vacancy grew larger after Baylor’s Scott Drew pulled himself out of the running for the Kentucky job on Thursday morning.
Hurley has remained steadfast with his intentions to remain at UConn after leading the program to back-to-back national titles, and a source had told Norlander that Kentucky “could offer $20 million a year and he wouldn’t go.”
Dan Hurley shot down any notion that he would take the Kentucky head coaching job. Patrick Breen / USA TODAY NETWORK Norlander also categorized the idea that Hurley would leave Storrs, Connecticut “far-fetched as is.”
A short while after Norlander’s report, Jones reported Huley had given Kentucky “their official no a bit ago,” and he turned down a large deal.
With Drew and now Hurley out of the picture, the spotlight will move to former Florida head coach and current Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported that Mark Pope of BYU is also in the mix.
