[Cactus Jack]

For everyone suggesting that UK should "make Hurley an offer he can't refuse":

If Dan Hurley wins tonight, how much is he crazy to turn down from Kentucky?

If Dan Hurley loses tonight, how much is he crazy to turn down from Kentucky?

My understanding of Hurley's contract situation has always been that his deal would be re-negotiated at season's end. I suspect that UConn will make him an offer that makes it hard to leave for another school, whether that is Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, UCLA, or any other program that you could come up with.

We don't know what they'll ultimately offer him, but unless it's being able to offer a package that: is more rooted in base salary than bonuses, has more concessions for control of the program and pay for his staffers, and/or a guarantees more NIL money, then I'm unsure that the financials alone will be the difference.

This is probably oversimplified, but from what I've gathered, he's about to get more from renegotiating a contract that already pays his $32 million over 6 seasons. His current deal includes only $400K in base salary and "supplemental" salary of $4.1 million per; I'm guessing that this is how his contract needed to be structured per his State's guidelines on public employees, but again, that's just a guess. He also has a $500K per year "retention bonus" and other incentives. He's reportedly earning $1.25 million in incentives this season going into the day, and that figure would only increase should he win.

At a $5 million per base and with incentives of at least $1.25 million on a contract that's about to be renegotiated, then unless there's something I'm missing, Kentucky would probably have to pay him an NBA-level salary to walk away from his current situation.

Hurley would be crazy to turn down $12 million per year, but can Kentucky pay his buyout from UConn (which should jump) and the type of salary that is more on par with the $13.6 million that the fourth-highest paid coach in the NBA (Monty Williams) is currently getting? As much as I would love to see Hurley on the sidelines in Lexington, I think the answer is no.