Dan Hurley has proved himself to be one of the best modern day college basketball coaches. Winning 2 back to back national championships in a row and a total of 3 NCAA finals in the last four years, Hurley has surely solidified his position at the top of ladder.
Hurley is also only one of the few successful coaches in the NIL era. He has very smartly navigated the transfer portal and NIL. UConn has had $8-$10 million NIL budget for the past two years. Hurley has used that money efficiently.
There is another big change apart from NIL and transfer portal that has bothered many people. That change is the expansion of NCAA tournament. While many coaches have opposed it, Dan Hurley has little bit of a different opinion.
“I’m about 80-85% coming around to it. As long as it doesn’t make it tougher for the teams that earned higher seeds, where a four or five seed suddenly has to win seven games,” Dan Hurley shared his view at 12:15. “Winning six games is hard enough without something going wrong. I love the exclusivity of the tournament; the best sporting events have a high bar for qualification.”
“You don’t want to take away the importance of the regular season. However, from the perspective of “more games,” we have the second biggest sporting event in America. Our games alone this year pulled massive numbers close to 15, 19, and 20 million viewers. Besides the Super Bowl, it’s the best event we have. So, more March Madness? I think everyone can sign on for that. I’m trying to be positive,” Hurley concluded.
UConn Huskies’ NIL budget for next season
After $8-$10 million NIL budget for the last two seasons back to back, UConn has a budget increase for this season. They have a north of $15 million in NIL money.
This is around the mark when Dan Hurley made it clear that the minimum budget for college basketball teams to compete at the highest level has to be over $14 million.
Read more:
Dan Hurley Makes Honest Admission About ‘Minimum’ NIL Budget Needed
Dan Hurley Recalls Making His Wife Cry With Her Birthday Gift After UConn’s “Devastating Loss”
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