Dan Hurley 'Extremely Proud' of UConn's Championship Culture After Rejecting Lakers

Dan Hurley turned down the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, instead choosing to return to UConn and chase a third straight title with the men's basketball team.

"I am humbled by this entire experience," he said in a statement. "At the end of the day, I am extremely proud of the championship culture we have built at Connecticut. We met as a team before today's workout and our focus right now is on getting better this summer."

The Lakers reportedly offered Hurley a six-year, $70 million deal, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, which would have made him one of the sixth-highest-paid coaches in the NBA.

Still, given how the market has shifted, some folks believed it was actually a lower offer than realistically would have ever pried Hurley away from Storrs:

Money likely won't be an issue for Hurley at UConn, however, with Woj reporting that "even before [the] Lakers talks, Hurley already had a UConn offer to become one of highest paid NCAA coaches and those talks will continue, per sources."

Wojnarowski added that the Lakers will now "regroup and resume bringing in candidates for interviews with the hope of hiring a coach by [the] draft, sources said. James Borrego is expected to remain [a] part of [the] group and [the] Lakers could do their first formal interview with JJ Redick."

Hurley, 51, has gone 141-58 in his six seasons with the Huskies, leading the team to four straight NCAA tournaments and two straight national championships.

UConn's run to the 2023-24 title was one of the most dominant in NCAA men's basketball history, as the team finished 37-3 on the season and won every tournament game by at least 14 points.

Hurley chose to continue building his dynasty overtaking one of the highest-profile coaching gigs in all of sports. It's a setback for the Lakers, but an excellent day for UConn.