Sport: Basketball
Born: January 16, 1973
Town: Jersey City: New Jersey
Daniel S. Hurley was born January 16, 1973 in Jersey City. The son of St. Anthony’s basketball coach Bob Hurley and the younger brother of Duke All-American Bobby Hurley, Dan (or Danny, to his friends) developed the hardcourt skills and IQ that made him an exceptional prep player for his father’s team.
In his senior year, St. Anthony’s lost only one game and earned the #2 overall national prep ranking. Dan was recruited by Seton Hall coach PJ Carlesimo of Seton Hall and, following one red-shirt year, became a productive point guard for the Pirates’ varsity. In four varsity seasons—three under Carlesimo and one under George Blaney—Dan helped the Pirates earn three NCAA Tournament bids and on trip to the NITs. He graduated with more than 1,000 points and 400 assists.
After graduation, Dan decided to get into the family business and began his coaching career beside his dad at St. Anthony’s. After one season back in his old stomping ground, Dan took an assistant coaching job at Rutgers for the 1997–98 season. He worked under Kevin Bannon for four years until Bannon was fired for abusive behavior of his players. In 2001, Dan left Rutgers to become head coach at St. Benedict’s Prep—arch-rival of his father’s school—and fashioned a stunning record for the Newark school. The Gray Bees lost 21 games in nine seasons with Dan working the sidelines and he notched his 200thwin faster than any coach in New Jersey hoops history—including the legendary Ernest Blood. His top player was JR Smith, one of four McDonald’s All-Americans produced by the program in the early 2000s. Roshown McLeod, an old St. Anthony’s teammate, took over the program after Dan left.
Dan’s first Division-I coaching opportunity came in 2010, when he assumed the helm at Wagner College in Staten Island, which had logged a mere five victories in 2009–10. He led the Seahawks to 13 wins in his first year and 25 in his second. Following his turnaround effort at Wagner, Dan left for another reclamation job at the University of Rhode Island in 2012. His brother, Bobby, who was beginning his own coaching career as an assistant to Dan, also went from Wagner to URI.
The Rams were a 7-win team when Dan arrived. Dan preached perimeter defense and, in 2014–15, URI led the nation in three-point defense, holding opponents to just 26.5% shooting. In six seasons, he turned the program around and fashioned a 51–18 record in his final two years. URI earned NCAA Tournament berths in 2017 and 2018, and won their opening-round games both times—including a defeat at the hands of Duke. That 2017–18 club put together a 16-game winning streak, the second longest in school history, and Dan was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year.
Following that 2017–18 season, Dan left Rhode Island to take the head coaching job ay UConn. It was his third stint at a sub-.500 program and, within two years, they were back on the winning track with a 19–12 record. In 2021–22, the Huskies went 23–10, including 13 conference victories—the most for the team in 8 years—and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. Unfortunately, the team made first-round exits both times.
That changed dramatically in 2022–23, when Dan led the club to a 14–0 record to start the year and a 24–7 regular-season mark. The Huskies were paced by forward Adama Sonoga and guard Jordan Hawkins. In the NCAA Tournament, UConn nabbed a #4 seed and played near-perfect ball, cruising to easy wins over Iona, St. Mary’s, Arkansas and Gonzaga to earn a trip to the Final Four. UConn crushed a red-hot Miami, 72–59 to advance to the championship against San Diego State.