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Biography
Daniel S. Hurley (born January 16, 1973) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the UConn Huskies men's team at the University of Connecticut. In 2023 and 2024, Hurley led UConn to back-to-back NCAA Division I national championships. He previously coached at Rhode Island and Wagner.
Early life and education
Hurley was born to Hall of Fame high school coach Bob Hurley Sr. and Christine Hurley on January 16, 1973, in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he was raised with his siblings Bobby and Melissa. His brother, Bobby, is a former Duke and Sacramento Kings guard and the current head coach at Arizona State University.
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 year, at Seton Hall. During his first three seasons, his head coach was P. J. Carlesimo.
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.
Career
Hurley was head coach of Saint Benedict's Preparatory School (2001–2010), where he is credited with building the New Jersey school into one of the top high school basketball programs in America.
He was the head coach at Wagner College 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 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.
From 2010 to 2013, his brother Bobby was one of his assistant coaches at both Rhode Island and Wagner.
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 championship with the Huskies in 2023. In June 2023, he agreed to a six-year contract extension with UConn worth $32.1M.
In the 2023–24 season, Hurley led the Huskies to a school-record 37 wins, a Big East 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 and received the Sporting News National Coach of the Year Award.
Personal life
Hurley married Andrea Sirikides 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 life-long athlete. He returned to work less than two weeks after surgery.
Hurley is a practicing Catholic.
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wagner Seahawks (Northeast Conference) | |||||||||
| 2010–11 | Wagner | 13–17 | 9–9 | 6th | |||||
| 2011–12 | Wagner | 25–6 | 15–3 | 2nd | |||||
| Wagner: | 38–23 (.623) | 24–12 (.667) | |||||||
| Rhode Island Rams (Atlantic 10 Conference) | |||||||||
| 2012–13 | Rhode Island | 8–21 | 3–13 | T–14th | |||||
| 2013–14 | Rhode Island | 14–18 | 5–11 | 10th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Rhode Island | 23–10 | 13–5 | T–2nd | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2015–16 | Rhode Island | 17–15 | 9–9 | 7th | |||||
| 2016–17 | Rhode Island | 25–10 | 13–5 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Rhode Island | 26–8 | 15–3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| Rhode Island: | 113–82 (.579) | 58–46 (.558) | |||||||
| UConn Huskies (American Athletic Conference) | |||||||||
| 2018–19 | UConn | 16–17 | 6–12 | T–9th | |||||
| 2019–20 | UConn | 19–12 | 10–8 | 5th | |||||
| UConn Huskies (Big East Conference) | |||||||||
| 2020–21 | UConn | 15–8 | 11–6 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2021–22 | UConn | 23–10 | 13–6 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2022–23 | UConn | 31–8 | 13–7 | T–4th | NCAA Division I Champion | ||||
| 2023–24 | UConn | 37–3 | 18–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Champion | ||||
| UConn: | 141–58 (.709) | 71–41 (.634) | |||||||
| Total: | 292–163 (.642) | ||||||||
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