"Why would I leave the best program in the country?": UConn HC Dan Hurley shares insights from his talks with Kentucky to replace John Calipari

Back-to-back national champion head coach Dan Hurley opened up about whether he had any interest in a vacant coaching position at Kentucky. The vacancy left by John Calipari's departure to Arkansas has already been filled by Mark Pope, who left BYU over in Utah to join the Wildcats.

However, there were some wild rumors regarding the possibility of Hurley leaving UConn for Kentucky.

There was no real interest from Hurley to leave what is a highly successful program over in Storrs, Connecticut. He admitted as much in a recent edition of the Dan Patrick show.

"My answer was no, I'm the head coach at the best program in the country," said Hurley. "Why would I leave the best program in the country?... but your agent wants you to try to deflect because you're at UConn, you want to reward your staff, you want to increase the resources."

Dan Hurley's presidential mishap

Dan Hurley had an embarrassing moment last year in the aftermath of winning his first national title with the Huskies. Soon after the game, he ignored a call from an unknown number.

It turned out that the call came from none other than the President of the United States, Joe Biden. President Biden was forced to leave only a voice message, which the head coach says he will forever treasure.

This year, White House officials made sure that the episode didn't repeat itself, with staffers for the president advising UConn officials that the coach could expect the call in the next 15 minutes.

“We even held the plane up in Phoenix, so I didn’t screw it up this year... On the airplane, I was able to get the call from President Biden, unlike last year [when he left a voicemail. I saved it, though. I’ll have that forever," Hurley told New Jersey Advanced Media.

"He talked about the team and some of the games that he watched, and he told me the secret to my success and his success was that we both married Jersey girls ... He obviously remembered our visit last year and now we get to go see him again,” he added.

“He was cool last year when we talked to him, he kind of puts you at ease, so he’s easy to talk to, kind of a regular guy.”

The Huskies can expect a second invite after their successful 2023–24 season.

The White House usually hosts the champions from major professional and college competitions every year.