Bjorn: No regrets about offer
Hurley spurns contract extension from URI, agrees to six-year deal to take over UConn
ccotter@ricentral.com
KINGSTON — Even before the URI men’s basketball team was making waves in the NCAA Tournament last weekend, there was ample speculation about the future of head coach Dan Hurley. Having turned around the Rams in a major way in his six years at the helm, Hurley was the purported target of both the University of Pittsburgh and UConn.
After four days of outside speculation and internal deliberation, Hurley made the choice early Thursday morning to become the next head coach of the Huskies. Jeff Goodman of ESPN initially broke the news, revealing that Hurley had agreed to a six-year contract.
“I am honored and excited to become the head coach of the UConn men’s basketball program and I would like to thank President Herbst and David Benedict for this tremendous opportunity,” Hurley said in an statement put out by his new school. “This program, which is part of one of the top public universities in the country, has a championship history and wonderful support from a passionate fan base. I look forward to continuing this proud tradition.”
“I wish him well,” URI athletic director Thorr Bjorn said at a press conference on Thursday. “I enjoyed his partnership and our friendship over the last six years. Very appreciative of what he’s been able to build, the quality of player he’s been able to bring here.”
The Rams lose their head coach despite some signs that they would potentially be able to retain the rising star. Following the season-ending loss to Duke, Hurley intimated that he ‘couldn’t care less’ about other openings and was solely focused on leading Rhody.
Goodman also reported that the offer by URI to keep Hurley included a standalone practice facility, a significant raise for him and his assistants and charter flights for every away game. Even with these extra incentives – never mind a top-25 recruiting class coming in next year – the lure of a UConn program that has won a national title as recently as 2014 was too much for Hurley to spurn.
“It was an aggressive offer,” Bjorn said. “One that we felt really good about. [We talked internally] that if we’re going to try to keep Dan at URI, we were going to have to be aggressive. I have zero regrets on the offer that we made.”
It’s unclear if the offer made to Hurley will carry over in full for the next head coach. Portions of the deal were tagged by Bjorn as independent of any coach or staff.
“Parts of it for sure,” he said. “We’ll look at every negotiation individually. In terms of things like renovating West Gym to become a practice facility, that hasn’t changed. We know that that’s the next step.”
Also on the table for Hurley was a $3 million a year offer from Pittsburgh. That contract came with the albatross of turning around a team that went winless in the ACC this season.
“The process for our search has already begun,” Bjorn said. “I’m very excited and thrilled about the quality of candidates that have already reached out and expressed interest in our program. That is a tribute to what we have been able to build here over the past six years.
The newly vacated seat in Kingston should draw plenty of interest from up-and-coming coaches. While assistant Tom Moore is likely to join Hurley in Storrs, associate head coach David Cox will surely stick around and attempt to succeed Hurley. Cox has strong recruiting ties in the Baltimore and D.C. areas, having already brought in top-level players like Jeff Dowtin and Stan Robinson.
“David Cox is the only candidate that I’ll mention by name, because I asked his permission to do so,” Bjorn said. “We are going to go through a full national search. David has reached out to all of our recruits to know what the process looks like.”
Cox has his fingerprints all over the incoming recruiting class. Two of the highly-touted freshman who have signed LOIs – Dana Tate and Tyrese Martin – took to Twiter on Thursday to reaffirm their commitment to Rhody. Bjorn also confirmed that Cox has a stipulation in his contract that would warrant extra compensation if he is not named as the next URI head coach.
If the Rams look outside of the program, there are some intriguing options as well. Buffalo head coach Nate Oats has ties to URI – he coached E.C. Matthews in high school and is friendly with the Hurley family – and is fresh off leading his team to an upset of No. 4 Arizona in the first round of this season’s Tournament.
Vermont head coach John Becker missed out on this year’s tournament, but the Catamounts have won at least 20 games in each of Becker’s seven seasons as head coach.
Outside of current head coaches at other schools, there are a handful of assistants with ties to URI that could potentially be on the shortlist. Preston Murphy both played and coached in Kingston, and is currently an assistant at Creighton. Luke Murray coached under Hurley for two seasons and is now coaching at Xavier.
Regardless of who ends up being the right man for the job, Bjorn believes that the foundation for future success is already in place.
“Our goals have not changed,” he said. “We want to be the best program in the Atlantic-10, and even more than that, we want to get to a Final Four someday. We think we have the facilities, the staff, the budget, the conference, and the players to help us get there.”