Dan Hurley rejects Lakers' offer, stays at UConn - ESPN

Dan Hurley has turned down a six-year, $70 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and will return to chase a third straight national title at UConn.

«I am humbled by this entire experience,» Hurley said in a statement released by the school. «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 getting better this summer and connecting as a team as we continue to pursue championships.»

The Lakers would have made Hurley one of the NBA's six highest-paid coaches. But before opening talks with the Lakers, Hurley already had an offer from UConn to become one of the highest-paid NCAA coaches, and those talks will continue, sources told Wojnarowski.

Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million deal with UConn after the 2022-23 season. He had the option of taking over one of the most famed franchises in pro sports and a potential chance to coach NBA all-time scoring leader LeBron James.

But Hurley ultimately chose to stay at UConn, which has gone 68-11 over the past two title-winning seasons and will try to become the second program to win three straight men's national titles. UCLA, the only men's program to do better than going back-to-back, won seven NCAA championships in a row from 1967 through 1973.

UConn had not officially announced Hurley's decision as of Monday afternoon, but the university posted an image to social media of Hurley with his hands in the air, and another post saying the Huskies' 2 p.m. ET practice was underway.

Assistant coach Luke Murray, who has worked with Hurley at Wagner, Rhode Island and UConn, also posted a video of Hurley lifting his arms in the