Two years ago, Dan Hurley was coaching in high school at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark.
Now he’s coaching a 25-win college team that is one victory from playing for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“Now it’s just let it rip, man, go for it,” Hurley told SNY.tv after the No. 2-seeded Seahawks beat No. 7 Central Connecticut, 87-77, to move into the Northeast Conference semifinals against Robert Morris on Sunday at noon. “We’ve had an unbelievable year. We’re one game away from playing to be a part of March Madness so go out and let it rip.”
Five Seahawks scored in double-figures, led by Kenneth Ortiz’s 16 points. Tyler Murray and Latif Rivers tallied 15 apiece.
In their only meeting this year, Wagner (25-5) beat Robert Morris, 80-69, on Feb. 2.
If the Seahawks win again, they could face a third encounter at top-seeded LIU Brooklyn, which beat Wagner twice this season.
LIU advanced into the semis with an 80-68 win over Sacred Heart that was fueled by Julian Boyd’s 26 points, Jamal Olasewere’s 20 points and eight rebounds and Jason Brickman’s 12 points and 13 assists.
LIU has now won 25 straight home games, second only to Kentucky, which won its 52nd straight Thursday with a 79-49 rout of Georgia.
After leaving St. Benedict’s, where he coached current NBA players J.R. Smith, Lance Thomas, Samardo Samuels and Tristan Thompson, Hurley took over a Wagner team that went 5-26 two years ago. (Three of Hurley’s former players competed in Wednesday’s Cavaliers-Knicks game. Read about it here.)
He now has the Seahawks so far ahead of schedule it exceeds even his wildest expectations.
“This is Division I basketball,” he said. “This isn’t St. Benedict’s where you’re able to turn it around quickly by bringing in McDonald’s All-Americans. It doesn’t happen this quickly, where you take over a 5-26. We’re doing this with a very young team and only two seniors out of the 10 players that play for us.”
Wagner has a bright future ahead, too, with a strong recruiting class coming in plus the addition of Michigan State transfer Dwaun Anderson.
“He has a chance to be a pro,” Hurley said.”I think we’re establishing that winning tradition, that winning DNA and we’re where we want to be.”
Hurley is confident about his team’s chances against Robert Morris, and then would have to win at LIU to get the NEC’s automatic bid.
Even if they fall short, the Seahawks could well be headed to the NIT.
“I think that we’re solidly in the NIT, which for a MAAC or an NEC school that didn’t win their conference regular season, that’s a major accomplishment in and of itself,” Hurley said.
For now, the attitude is simple.
Just let ‘er rip.
Photo: Daily News
