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Hurley to Lakers?

There's no way it doesn't normalize. Unless the guy is far and away the greatest coach of all time in what might be the most difficult era to build sustainable long term success at a program. UConn's titles are ridiculously lucky, even when considering they had some very great teams.

The greatest coaches of all time are lucky to win a title a third of the time they make the Final Four. The fact that UConn has done it six out of seven Final Fours just isn't sustainable and is the product of a lot of the tournament's random variance breaking in their favor.

You know.. it was really this past season where his team wow'ed me. But BOTH seasons saw Uconn play next to no one in the tournament aside from Purdue at the end.. and played in a Big East Conference whose 2nd best team, Marquette, really wasn't anything special. Big East basketball got better in recent years.. much better than what they became in the mid 2010's.. but I'm not sure HOW good they really are, with none of them having football money/draw.
 
I was selfishly hoping he’d leave UConn as a fan of a program that would probably indirectly benefit from that, but I can respect the decision. I don’t really understand why a lot of the posts are somehow implying that it’s a bad thing that he’s prioritizing his family’s comfort with their surroundings over his paycheck, especially since he makes enough right now at UConn that they should be set for a very long time as long as they aren’t reckless with money, which is something that making more probably couldn’t fix anyway.
 
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I think Hurley has seen his last Championship at UCONN, and will come back down to Earth over the next few years.

With that said, turning down back to back $10+ million per season offers from two of the greatest teams in their respective leagues, will go down as one of the biggest financial mistakes and legacy opportunities you will ever witness in sports.

Perhaps Hurley doesn’t understand that “Vegas” will likely give him the 2015 UK treatment going forward.
I think UConn has as good of a chance as anyone to win the 2025 NCAA. He has some key players back. He has a decent portal group and, good new recruits. I am guessing they will be ranked about 3 to 7 pre season. He did lose quite a bit after the first NCAA trophy and it didn't slow last years team down.
 
Dudes a Yankee. Probably gonna wait for the Knicks job. He will leave for that. In the meantime, listening equals leverage. 💰💰💰
 
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Best bajingo on earth or Danny not down with giving up half?
 
If Pitino had a stronger marriage maybe he is still the coach of UK and legend status like a Rupp or Wooden; instead of being a basketball vagabond that never accomplished what he was capable of in coaching. A good woman can give good advice.
 
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I don't. I feel like him and Pope will recruit similar players over the years. It's difficult to recruit against someone fresh off of 2 national titles with a solid chance of winning a 3rd. I'm not worried about Cal. He could find a way to lose if he had the Celtics roster.
Coaching. It's understandable that many UK fans undervalue its importance since we've seen none of it for the last 15 years, not to mention poor quality in the assistant coaches. Recruiting to a specific style of play should be fun to watch. Excited to see what Pope will be able to do going forward as the recruited talent will continue to improve under his watch. UK may very well become the beast of college basketball again under Pope. All in.
 
He will never be any hotter than right now unless he turns UConn into some kind of 60-70's UCLA. I don't buy the hype that they will be a top 3 team next year as they lose the majority of what got them the 2 championships. It may be back to his status quo and the reality he wasn't the main reason they have won 2 in a row.
His career coaching record was pretty meh until he got the team he had the past 2 seasons. He'll probably be forgotten about in a few years.
 
You know.. it was really this past season where his team wow'ed me. But BOTH seasons saw Uconn play next to no one in the tournament aside from Purdue at the end.. and played in a Big East Conference whose 2nd best team, Marquette, really wasn't anything special. Big East basketball got better in recent years.. much better than what they became in the mid 2010's.. but I'm not sure HOW good they really are, with none of them having football money/draw.
I mean they did smack everyone though. It's one thing to squeak by teams, but when you are kicking their asses, it's impressive. San Diego State only lost 2 NCAA Tournament games in 9 games the past 2 yrs--both to UConn, so we can't say they sucked.

Villanova and UConn have 4 of the last 8 National Championships. This year St. John's was the only team in March to play them to a game under 10 pts. Seton Hall won the NIT and was a team who along with St. John's should've been in the NCAA's IMO. Agree that Marquette is overrated but that's because I dont think much of Shaka Smart, but Creighton is proving to be a consistent contending team with an Elite 8 and Sweet 16 back to back.
 
If Pitino had a stronger marriage maybe he is still the coach of UK and legend status like a Rupp or Wooden; instead of being a basketball vagabond that never accomplished what he was capable of in coaching. A good woman can give good advice.
If Adidas had stayed away from McGrady, I think Pitino would have stayed at UK.

They'd obviously have won the 1998 title with T-Mac, and they'd probably have a good shot in 1999 with Byron Mouton and Vincent Yarbrough supplementing Magloire, Bradley, Padgett, Evans, and Turner.
 
If Adidas had stayed away from McGrady, I think Pitino would have stayed at UK.

They'd obviously have won the 1998 title with T-Mac, and they'd probably have a good shot in 1999 with Byron Mouton and Vincent Yarbrough supplementing Magloire, Bradley, Padgett, Evans, and Turner.
The entire reason he left is bc he thought he would get Tim Duncan as the Celtics only won 15 games the year before
 
If Adidas had stayed away from McGrady, I think Pitino would have stayed at UK.

They'd obviously have won the 1998 title with T-Mac, and they'd probably have a good shot in 1999 with Byron Mouton and Vincent Yarbrough supplementing Magloire, Bradley, Padgett, Evans, and Turner.
Wish the past could be rewritten.
 
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Wish the past could be rewritten.
Indeed. This is why I've always hated Adidas.

If Pitino stays, he lands Yarbrough in that class of 1998. Probably lands Stromile Swift as well, as Kentucky was heavily recruiting him when Pitino left. I'd imagine that Pitino would have also landed someone like Teddy Dupay to round out the class. I could have also seen a scenario where Pitino redshirts Mills if McGrady/Mouton had joined the 1998 team.

That gives you a 1999 look of something like this:

C - Jamaal Magloire
F - Scott Padgett
F - Heshimu Evans
G - Byron Mouton
G - Wayne Turner

----bench----
F/C Michael Bradley
F/C Stromile Swift
F/G Vincent Yarbrough
F Myron Anthony
G - Cameron Mills - redshirted from the year before
G - Ryan Hogan
G - Teddy Dupay

The one thing that the 1999 team lacked was three-point shooting. With Dupay, Mouton, and Mills, you shore that up dramatically.
 
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Indeed. This is why I've always hated Adidas.

If Pitino stays, he lands Yarbrough in that class of 1998. Probably lands Stromile Swift as well, as Kentucky was heavily recruiting him when Pitino left. I'd imagine that Pitino would have also landed someone like Teddy Dupay to round out the class. I could have also seen a scenario where Pitino redshirts Mills if McGrady/Mouton had joined the 1998 team.

That gives you a 1999 look of something like this:

C - Jamaal Magloire
F - Scott Padgett
F - Heshimu Evans
G - Byron Mouton
G - Wayne Turner

----bench----
F/C Michael Bradley
F/C Stromile Swift
F/G Vincent Yarbrough
F Myron Anthony
G - Cameron Mills - redshirted from the year before
G - Ryan Hogan
G - Teddy Dupay

The one thing that the 1999 team lacked was three-point shooting. With Dupay, Mouton, and Mills, you shore that up dramatically.
I love your research and your what ifs.
 
Coach K said no several times to the NBA, Petino should have said no.. maybe he’s learned a lesson from them. He could retire a legend at UCONN.. Lakers are old and the west is young and tough.
 
People calling what Hurley has done the last 2 seasons luck has to be one of the dumbest things I've read on here. He has won 12 straight ncaa tournament games by double digits. That isn't luck.

Of course he isnt gonna win the title next season most likely but if he's there until 2030 probably at least one more title IMO
No they dominated but the fact they have won 6-7 finals fours is ridiculous luck. It won’t continue and he will reach the mean here soon. He absolutely may win a couple more but they can’t keep winning titles every 4-5 years on average.
 
Pretty crazy the lakers offered him double and he turned it down. He’s making less than Mark Pope is 5.35mil vs 5.5 mil. Must be nice to have a coach who genuinely wants to be there and also not trying to rip the school for every cent they have (Cal, Stoops, and to a certain extent Pope).
 
Very simple here. He wants to be a pro coach. He wants to be in the northeast. He is waiting on that job. Until then he will stay at UCONN. If he gets a 3 peat he will be gone sooner rather than later. If he has a couple of down years (to the fans), he will be fine. Just ran it back to back.
 
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