Dan Hurley quit coaching basketball in 2001, stating, "things weren’t going right at Rutgers."
He dropped down to the high school level, promptly turning St. Benedict's in Newark into a national powerhouse. Then, Dan returned to the college level at Wagner. Dan inherited a 5-26 team, going 13-17 in year one and 25-6 team.
Dan jumped to Rhode Island, not even the biggest basketball program in a tiny state. At Rhode Island, Dan got a 7-24 team and in his final two years there, went 25-10 and 26-8, winning NCAA games in both years. In fact, in a 365 day period, Dan won more NCAA games at Rhode Island than Steve Pikiell has won in 17 years as a Division I head coach.
At Connecticut, Dan inherited not only a losing team (14-18) but a program on probation. As of tonight, Dan-led UConn is 14-0.
To be sure, I am a big Steve Pikiell fan. He runs a super program. Everything is going right. Progression on the court, super program culture, great atmosphere in the RAC. And Steve snagged a 4* recruit from Connecticut to headline the 2023 class. Even got me to come out for a game at the RAC for the first time in years - and I travelled from out of state during a bomb cyclone.
But one cannot keep from wondering what could've been if Dan had stuck around Rutgers in 2001.