Dan Hurley signs UCONN contract extension. Who are the top paid coaches in Men’s College Basketball?

Dan Hurley made news earlier this spring when he turned down a lucrative contract to become the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. He is back in the headlines today after penning a new contract extension with the team he was won back-to-back titles with.

Hurley and Huskies reach deal

The Los Angeles Lakers were prepared to break the bank for the UCONN head coach with basketball in his DNA during the NBA Finals. They came knocking on the most en vogue college coaches door ready to throw a $70 million dollar offer at him. After a couple days of contemplation, Hurley turned down the six year deal to stay with the Huskies and now it looks like that decision has paid off.

The University of Connecticut offered him a six-year $50 million extension to stay at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion until 2030. Hurley signed a six year, $32.1 million deal last year, but this is a substantial bump in salary which was well earned after becoming the first coach to win back-to-back titles since Billy Donovan in 2006-07.

Obviously, money wasn’t the only thing that came into the picture when he rejected the Lakers deal worth more than $10 million a year. Hurley wanted to remain at UCONN to go for a third straight title which would make the Huskies the first team to do so since UCLA in the late 1960s.

Hurley in top of college rich list

Hurley will have a base salary of $400,000 per year, and earn a $1 million retention bonus for each year of the contract. According to the theuconnblog.com Hurley will earn another $6.375 million dollars for speeches, consulting and media responsibilities. Next season Hurley is set to earn a total of $7.775 million before incentives come into play and that number will increase as the year’s go on.

While it’s still not as much as he would have been making in LA, it does make him among the top paid coaches in the game. Bill Self is the top paid coach in men’s college basketball after signing a contract extension last November. He pulled in $9.6 million last year, and will make $53 million over the next five years. John Calapari is right behind Hurley, with the third biggest contract in college basketball after signing with the University of Arkansas for $7 million a year.

“Dan Hurley is the best men’s basketball coach in the nation and we are delighted that he will continue to call UConn home,” said UConn President Radenka Maric in a statement on Monday afternoon. He closed by crediting Hurley for not just his coaching but his commitment to his players and the community off the court. “We are grateful both for his championship culture and for his leadership at our university and in our state.”