<\/p>\n
Dan Hurley has a story to tell, and this fall, the whole basketball world will likely read about it. The UConn men\u2019s basketball coach, already a two-time NCAA champion, announced in February\u00a0that his new book, Never Stop: Life, Leadership, and What It Takes to Be Great, is out now.<\/p>\n
Hurley plans to take it on the road, promoting it hard in the weeks before the 2025 season. The book addresses perhaps one of the biggest decisions of Hurley\u2019s life: turning down the NBA for UConn. He rejected the offer despite ignoring his dad\u2019s advice to take it. But why? Why\u2019d he turn down one of the league\u2019s most storied franchises to stay with the Huskies?<\/p>\n
Why Did Dan Hurley Ignore His Father Bob Hurley\u2019s Advice and Pass on the NBA for Loyalty?<\/p>\n
When Hurley sat down with CBS Sports College Basketball, the conversation turned to one of the book\u2019s standout stories. Analyst Jon Rothstein asked Hurley about the offer he received in the summer of 2024, when the Lakers came calling with a six-year, $70 million offer.<\/p>\n
In the book, the UConn coach reveals an interesting conversation he had with his father, Rothstein reveals<\/a>. Hurley\u2019s dad, Robert Hurley, the Naismith Hall of Famer who built St. Anthony High School into one of the greatest dynasties in basketball history, wanted his son to take the offer. \u201cYou have to go,\u201d Robert told Hurley.<\/p>\n However, Hurley knows his dad\u2019s track record, and he took a moment to think. As Hurley explained in the interview, \u201cThe thing with my dad is, at different points in my career, and I think with Bob [Dan\u2019s brother] too, in coaching, he\u2019s advised us to make the move or to take the bigger job. And he never did.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Robert coached at St. Anthony from 1967 to 2017, the school\u2019s last season. Despite being considered one of the top 10 high school basketball coaches in the United States and having received multiple offers, Robert never left.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one thing I don\u2019t listen to Rob Hurley Sr. about is how to advance my career\u2026 I always took any of my dad\u2019s advice on career advancement with a heavy grain of salt, because he never left,\u201d Hurley added.<\/p>\n Loyalty is more than a buzzword in the Hurley clan. It\u2019s a foundation of their approach to coaching. Hurley\u2019s brother Bob also seems to live by it. Bob has been coaching at Arizona State since 2015 and has a record of 168\u2013151.<\/p>\n In fact, Hurley has been preaching loyalty to his roster in an era when the transfer portal and NIL deals tempt players to jump ship. UConn guard Solo Ball\u00a0summed it up perfectly when he said<\/a>, \u201cOur loyalty to him is definitely unmatched. Championship culture is much more than basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n What Made Staying at UConn Worth More Than $70 Million?<\/p>\n Of course, this wasn\u2019t just about sentiment. UConn was already negotiating to make him one of the NCAA\u2019s highest-paid coaches, with Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont vowing to keep him at the top.<\/p>\n Soon after the rejection, Hurley signed a six-year, $50 million deal with UConn. Hurley could have taken over one of the most coveted franchises in pro sports and even coached LeBron James, but he simply would not leave his team behind.<\/p>\n