Smolar: Hurley contract good for college basketball, bad for NC blue bloods

Dan Hurley signing a new contract to stay at UConn as the men’s basketball coach for the foreseeable future is a good thing for a lot of people. It’s of course terrific news for the Huskies, who have a great shot at becoming the first program to win three consecutive national titles since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. It’s also great news for Hurley, who is quickly making a case as one of the greatest college coaches in history and now gets a nice pay raise while staying in the Northeast. The sport of college basketball benefits too. Whether you’re a fan of UConn, one of their biggest rivals or just a fan of basketball in general, it’s hard to deny that his energy, passion and enthusiasm makes the game more entertaining and raises the quality of competition.

It is however not good news for the Duke Blue Devils or UNC Tar Heels, two of the premier college programs in all of sports. These two rivals both have a storied history and are widely accepted as blue blood schools. With UConn easily winning back-to-back championships, they have passed Duke (5) and tied UNC (6) in all-time titles. If there was any debate about whether UConn qualified as a blue blood program, it ended when they won 12 consecutive tournament games by double digits over the past two years. With Hurley staying in Storrs, the path to Duke, UNC or any other North Carolina program getting a championship in the near future is unquestionably much harder.

This past March was a good one for North Carolina basketball. UNC was the top seed in the West region before narrowly falling to Alabama, a team that made it to the Final Four, in the Sweet 16. Duke meanwhile was seeded fourth in the south and made it to the Elight Eight, taking down top seeded Houston along the way. NC State also had a run in them that nobody saw coming, making it all the way to Final Four before losing to Purdue. If you were a fan of a school in North Carolina, you were invested deep into the tournament.

As for UConn, their fanbase has had a rollercoaster of emotions since the tournament ended. From the highs of winning back-to-back titles to the rumors of Hurley leaving for Kentucky and the Lakers to knowing he was staying and now having him under contract until 2030, fans of the Huskies never quite knew what to expect heading into their quest for a three-peat. Hurley reportedly turned down an extra $20 million from the Lakers to stay in Connecticut, showing just how much he values the life he’s built for himself in the Northeast and the championship culture he’s created in Storrs.

Had Hurley left UConn, they would’ve been in a very vulnerable position as they look to win their third straight championship. The Huskies lost four starters from last season to the NBA, meaning they will have to rely on a lot of new faces to contribute right away. While that might seem tough to overcome, UConn lost three starters from 2023’s national title team to the NBA and still managed to put together one of the most dominant teams in recent memory. Hurley knows how to recruit and get the most out of his players; roster turnover should not worry Huskies fans as long as Hurley is in charge. If Hurley left, they would’ve likely been stuck with a first-time head coach this season and lost a major selling point to recruits in the future, which would be a lot for any program to overcome.

UNC, Duke and UConn are all at or near the top of most odds to win next season’s national title. With Hurley staying at UConn, UNC and Duke will almost certainly have to go through the Huskies at some point if they want to become national champions anytime soon. Hurley will keep UConn in contention every year similar to how Coach K did at Duke and how Nick Saban did at Alabama. Him signing a new deal to stay in Storrs for the long haul is good for college basketball but is definitely not good news for a few blue blood schools in the Tar Heel State that saw their path to another national title within the next several years get significantly tougher.