Hurley, UConn Come to Terms on 6-Year Deal

The coach who has thrived in the underdog role throughout his entire career is now the big man on campus.

The University of Connecticut has agreed to a brand-new contract with head men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley that links him to the program through the 2029-30 season. The six-year agreement comes in at $50 million and grants him the opportunity to earn additional compensation in the form of performance-based incentives.

Coming off back-to-back national titles, Hurley will receive a base salary of $400,000 per year and an additional compensation for speaking, consulting and media obligations of $6.375 million for the 2024-25 season, which increases each year through the duration of the contract. He will also receive a retention bonus of $1 million per year. Salary bumps in Coach Hurley’s new contract as well as other program investments will be taken care of through the generosity of donors to the Husky Athletic Fund and increased ticket sales revenue.

“Dan Hurley is the best men’s basketball coach in the nation and we are delighted that he will continue to call UConn home,” said UConn President Radenka Maric. “In addition to the exceptional program he has built over a period of years and the extraordinary back-to-back NCAA championships he and his teams won, Coach Hurley serves as a critical mentor to our student-athletes, pushing them to achieve both on the court and in the classroom, helping to lay the groundwork for their success in life long after they have left UConn. We are grateful both for his championship culture and for his leadership at our university and in our state.”

“On behalf of UConn Nation, we are thrilled that Coach Hurley will continue to lead the Men’s Basketball program for the foreseeable future,” said UConn Director of Athletics David Benedict. “Dan and Andrea have poured themselves into the rebuilding of this program that culminated in the last two National Championships. This contract is recognition for the immense amount of effort that went into producing those results and the dedication it will require to sustain a program that expects to compete for conference and national championships in the future.”

“It’s an honor to coach basketball at UConn and to represent this world class institution and the great state of Connecticut,” Hurley said. “We are extremely proud of the championship program that we have rebuilt for our supporters and fans. We will continue to obsessively pursue championships and historic success, while continuing to develop great young men. Bleed Blue!”

Hurley will be entering his seventh season at the helm for the Huskies in 2024-25 and his 15th as a collegiate head coach. He has posted a 292-163 (.642) as a Division I head coach at Wagner, Rhode Island and UConn and a 141-58 (.709) mark with the Huskies. He has dominated and taken care of business in the NCAA Tournament, going an impressive 14-4 in the Big Dance over his six tournament appearances.

Since arriving on the scene at UConn, Hurley has built the program, in his own way, back to prominence, similarly to Geno Auriemma on the women’s side and achieved new heights. He has improved his winning percentage each season in Storrs, finishing it off with the historic two-year run and consecutive national titles over the last two seasons. UConn has gone 67-11 over the last two campaigns, the best two-year stretch in Connecticut history that culminated in the fifth and sixth national titles in program history.

The 2023-24 season was arguably one of the finest for any team assembled in modern college basketball, as Hurley led a 37-3 campaign that included a BIG EAST record 14-game conference winning streak. UConn won the Empire Classic, the BIG EAST regular season, the BIG EAST Tournament and the NCAA Championship in the ‘Everything’ season. Connecticut wrapped up the year No. 1 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, leading the country in scoring margin, winning percentage and assist/turnover ratio. Following the season, Hurley took home 2024 BIG EAST Coach of the Year honors and 2024 Naismith College Coach of the Year.

Overall, during his tenure at Connecticut, Hurley has molded and developed a pair of All-Americans, eight NBA draft picks, four lottery selections, seven First Team All-BIG EAST honorees, five BIG EAST All-Freshmen picks and a BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. It is a basketball factory to say the least. He is currently riding a wave of excellence and has the Huskies in the heart of a 12-game NCAA Tournament winning streak, all in blowout fashion, which sets a tournament record.

No team has accomplished three straight championships since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams back in 1985. The past two teams to win back-to-back titles, the Florida Gators under Billy Donovan and Duke Blue Devils, led by Mike Krzyzewski, did not advance to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament the third time around, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The only team to three-peat is the UCLA Bruins under the great John Wooden, which won seven straight titles from 1967 to 1973.