The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Hurley to Huskies could be all about the money
Whether or not Dan Hurley becomes UConn’s next men’s basketball head coach might be all about the money.
UConn may not have a whole lot of it, while Pittsburgh likely does.
Hurley, who recently led Rhode Island to its second straight NCAA tournament appearance, is the leading candidate for both the UConn and Pitt jobs. According to a source close to the situation, Hurley would prefer UConn. However, there is concern that UConn may not have much money to throw around, particularly if it has to pay all or much of the roughly $11 million left on Kevin Ollie’s contract.
Finances are not likely to be a concern at Pittsburgh, which plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference and benefits from lucrative TV contracts and football bowl money.
Hurley didn’t respond to questions about job openings after URI’s loss to Duke on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA tourney.
“I haven’t thought about it for a second,” he told reporters at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena. “I could care less about any other school in the country that’s looking for a coach or talks about me on social media.”
Hurley and his agent, Jordan Bazant, will likely kick the interview process into full gear over the next few days, with a decision possibly coming by the end of the week. It would seem unlikely — but not impossible — that Hurley would remain at URI, where he’s advocated for current associate head coach David Cox to take over the reins if he leaves.
Last week, UConn began the process of severing ties with Ollie after six seasons, citing “just cause.” The school is trying to get out of paying the money left on Ollie’s contract, since the program is currently under NCAA investigation and may have violated numer-
ous NCAA rules. Ollie is fighting the decision and is slated to present his case to athletic director David Benedict sometime over the next week.
If Benedict upholds the decision, Ollie can appeal to school president Susan Herbst, and finally to an independent arbitrator. That process could take weeks, thought it’s certainly possible Ollie and the school could negotiate a settlement before then.
Ollie is currently suspended with pay by the university, but it is believed that UConn could still hire a new coach before Ollie’s situation is resolved. The question, of course, is whether the school has enough money to do so.