Dan Hurley speaks out on the possibility of leaving for the NBA

Dan Hurley appears to be keeping his options open when it comes to the pros.

The UConn head coach Hurley was interviewed this week by Adam Zagoria of Forbes. During the interview, Hurley suggested that he could still make the leap to the NBA at some point.

“I’m the UConn coach until the end, and maybe the NBA someday down the line,” said Hurley. “But yeah, I’m the UConn coach.”

The 53-year-old Hurley has been the coach at UConn since 2018 and has experienced immense success. He led the team to two consecutive NCAA titles in 2023 and 2024 and now has the Huskies back in the national championship game this year, where they are playing Michigan on Monday.

That said, Hurley had a major flirtation with the NBA just two summers ago. In June 2024, Hurley turned down a monster contract offer to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. He then ended up signing a new extension with UConn, which now runs through 2029-30.

If Hurley manages to lead the Huskies to another national title, the lure of a new challenge elsewhere might become even stronger. Interestingly enough too, Hurley’s contract with UConn features no buyout if he leaves for an NBA job after March 31, 2027 (with a buyout of just $1 million if he leaves for the NBA any earlier than that).