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On Thursday, the basketball world was rocked when Adrian Wojnarowski reported UConn’s Dan Hurley had emerged as the top candidate for the Lakers in their search for a new head coach—a move Geno Auriemma threw his support behind while going scorched earth on the current state of college basketball.
It seemed like JJ Redick was the man to beat when it came to the candidates the Los Angeles Lakers were reportedly eyeing to fill the head coaching vacancy that formed after they parted ways with Darvin Ham following a one-and-done showing the playoffs this season.
However, things took a pretty unexpected turn on Thursday when we were treated to a Woj Bomb that asserted the franchise was preparing to poach Dan Hurley from UConn in the hopes the man who’s led the Huskies to back-to-back national championships will be able to replicate that success at the NBA level.
Based on what Geno Auriemma had to say when he appeared on The Dan Patrick Show shortly after the news broke, Hurley kept a tight lid on the conversations he’s reportedly had with the Lakers when you consider the head coach of UConn’s women’s team said his colleague didn’t tip him off after he suggested he should take his talents to the Lakers when they chatted at an event on Wednesday night.
Geno Aurriemma shares his reaction to the Danny Hurley reports and says he was actually with him last night and randomly said to him:
"I think you could win a lot of Championships with the #Lakers, more so than a guy who's never coached." pic.twitter.com/aX0h3cPepx
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 6, 2024
Auriemma also explained why the move makes sense while making it very clear he’s not a fan of the direction college basketball has gone in the wake of the NIL Era, saying:
“The state of college basketball is a mess. If anyone could manage it, it would be Danny…
But I do think that being at UConn and given the state of college basketball and the amount of money now that it’s gonna take to be able to put together a national championship team every single year—and without knowing where it’s going—it’s a charade…
They are professional athletes, just not called that, so you might as well go coach professional athletes where it’s real.”
We’re still going to have to wait and see how things play out, but based on how things are trending, it doesn’t sound like Hurley will be in Storrs for much longer.