The wait for a decision from Dan Hurley is over, but Pitt’s search for a next men’s basketball coach is far from it.
Hurley, the coach at Rhode Island for the past six seasons, has opted to take the vacant job at Connecticut, the school confirmed Thursday. The news was first reported by A Dime Back, a website that covers the Huskies, and was confirmed Thursday morning by ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.
Prior to his final choice, Hurley had been atop Pitt’s list of coaching candidates as it seeks to replace Kevin Stallings, who was fired March 8 after two seasons. The two sides spoke Monday about the Panthers’ job and the school later offered him a contract worth more than $3 million annually.
Between that hefty salary and the prestige of the ACC, Pitt presented itself as an attractive option. According to Goodman’s report, however, the 45-year-old Hurley was ultimately swayed by the Huskies’ championship-winning pedigree. Despite a relative lack of television money and some of the uncertainty that comes with being a member of the American Athletic Conference, Connecticut is the only program in college basketball to win four titles the past two decades.
Hurley had also mulled staying at Rhode Island, which reportedly offered him a seven-year deal worth $2 million annually, along with staff salary increases, chartered flights to all away games and a pledge to build a basketball-only practice facility.
Where Pitt turns at this point, having just been spurned, is uncertain. The university has previously interviewed former Indiana coach Tom Crean and former Ohio State coach Thad Matta. The former was named the head coach at Georgia on March 16. Athletic director Heather Lyke and Arizona coach Sean Miller had discussed the Panthers’ job, but Miller released a statement Wednesday saying he is not a candidate for the position.
Though there isn’t a particular timetable for a hire, Pitt’s coaching search has now lasted two weeks, a stretch in which nine players requested their release following Stallings’ ouster (such requests don’t mean a player will ultimately transfer). The Panthers went 8-24 last season and 0-19 in ACC play with a roster featuring seven freshmen and nine first-year Division I players.
The persistent effort to try to lure Hurley was understandable.
The New Jersey native led Rhode Island to a 91-43 record the past four seasons, three of which saw it win at least 23 games, and became perhaps the sport’s most sought-after coach outside the six major conferences. This past season, the Rams went 26-8 and peaked at No. 16 in the Associated Press poll before bowing out to Duke in the second round of the NCAA tournament. It marked the second-consecutive year they won at least one NCAA tournament game, something the program had never previously accomplished.
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG
First Published: March 22, 2018, 12:10 p.m.
Updated: March 22, 2018, 12:11 p.m.