Dan Hurley and the UConn men’s basketball team came up short last night of winning a third national championship in four years, but the Huskies’ run through this year’s tournament cemented his status as one of the greatest coaches in the history of modern college hoops.

But around this time eight years ago, all he could think about was Rhode Island.

In 2018, Hurley agreed to leave Kingston to become UConn’s coach in what seemed like a no-brainer move to take over a college basketball blueblood in Storrs, Conn. Except that he almost backed out of the deal after signing his contract.

“In a matter of days, it hit me that I had just made a terrible mistake,” Hurley wrote in his memoir, “Never Stop.” 

Hurley, who led URI to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018, wrote that the Rams were “functioning at a very high level” when he accepted the UConn job, and the Huskies’ program appeared to be in shambles.

He wrote that he called his agent and asked what it might cost to buy out of his contract, and even whether it was possible to return to Rhode Island. He noted that former Providence College star Billy Donovan accepted the Orlando Magic job in 2007 but quickly went back on the deal and returned to coach at the University of Florida.

“Rhode Island was humming when I left,” Hurley wrote. “UConn was not humming.”

Eventually, Hurley was set straight by Jim Calhoun, the legendary former UConn coach and longtime Point Judith Country Club member. Hurley wrote that Calhoun told him, “You’re being a punk. You sound whiny.”

The rest is history. 

URI has only had one winning season in the Atlantic 10 since Hurley left, and Hurley has won two national championships. He almost left UConn for the top job with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024, but eventually signed a new contract to stay in Storrs.

Two other quick basketball notes:

🏀 Congrats to msalz10, who easily won the Rhode Map Roundball NCAA Tournament contest, successfully picking Michigan to defeat UConn in the championship game.

🏀 Congrats to former Bishop Hendricken basketball player Mike Malone, who was named the head coach at the University of North Carolina on Monday. Malone previously won an NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets.