Chris and Bob Hurley say there are some things in life more important than money and they think their son Danny made the right move in spurning Rutgers and the school’s offer of appoximately $2 million annually.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Chris and Bob Hurley say there are some things in life more important than money and they think their son Danny made the right move in spurning Rutgers and the school’s offer of appoximately $2 million annually.
“I’m happy that Danny’s happy,” Chris Hurley told me Wednesday by phone of her son’s decision to stay at Rhode Island instead of coming home to Rutgers.
Said Bob: “He loves those kids [at Rhode Island] and the kids coming in, like the kid Cyril [Langevine] from The Patrick School. In places away from the high-flying Big Ten, Big 12, places like that, they actually build up relationships with the kids. Thanksgiving dinner and stuff like that, you do at places like Rhode Island.
“And how much money do you need in life? Would you need the extra million right now?”
(I said yes, by the way)
Bob Hurley, whose St. Anthony team is undefeated and seeking it’s 13th New Jersey Tournament of Champions title, said Rutgers AD Pat Hobbs hasn’t consulted him during the search for a new coach.
“It’s a little bit awkward for Pat to call me when my son just turned them down so I don’t know that we will have a conversation,” he said. “You’re talking to the son, I don’t know if you call the father for advice.”
Asked what advice he has for Rutgers, the elder Hurley added: “It’s the same formula. You gotta get a guy who’s young with energy on the way up. They can’t be at the peak of their career because the peak means they’re not going any further. This is a tough job. There’s a lot of variables right now.
“I just sat down today and wrote a note to Kevin Willard about the great job he did. In one year he was able to take some confusion and turn it into a tremendously dangerous team. Rutgers can’t do that right now because Seton Hall’s hot but they have to start working on being competitive here with the Seton Hall persona right now even though they’re in different leagues.”
Asked if he had a specific candidate in mind at Rutgers, Hurley added: “I’m not sure who they’re going after right now but I do beleive it’s gotta be a guy who’s had some success at the mid-major level and hopefully some roots or an understanding of Jersey and hopefully go from there.”
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