Dan Hurley and the No. 2 seed UConn Huskies have returned to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, where they will take on Tom Izzo and the No. 3 seed Michigan State Spartans on Friday. UConn got to the regional semifinals after taking down the No. 15 seed Furman Paladins 82-71 in the opening round, before defeating the No. 7 seed UCLA Bruins in the round of 32.
Hurley has led the Huskies to their sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. He helped guide them to back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024 before falling in the second round of last year’s tournament. This time around, Hurley will look to return to the title game for the third time in four years, but ahead of the Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan State, UConn was dealt some coaching news.
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Luke Murray, the son of famous actor Bill Murray, began his college basketball coaching career in 2008, becoming an assistant coach of the Post University men's basketball team. The next season, he joined the Arizona Wildcats as a graduate assistant, where he spent just one year. Since then, Luke Murray has jumped around six different schools as an assistant coach, including stints with the Xavier Musketeers (2015-2018) and the Louisville Cardinals (2018-2021).
Luke Murray joined Hurley’s UConn staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2021-22 season. Since his arrival, the Huskies have not missed the NCAA Tournament, compiling an overall record of 146-37 as of Thursday. However, despite UConn’s recent March Madness success, they have secured just one Big East title with Murray on the staff.
But on Thursday, just one day before UConn's Sweet 16 matchup with Michigan State, Luke Murray received a big promotion, accepting the head coaching job for the Boston College Golden Eagles, leaving Hurley without one of his top assistants for next season and beyond.
"BREAKING: Boston College is finalizing a deal to hire UConn assistant Luke Murray as its next head coach, sources told me and @PeteThamel," ESPN's Jeff Borzello wrote on X. "Murray helped build back-to-back national champions at UConn and has established himself as an elite offensive tactician."
Hurley and UConn will take on Michigan State on Friday at 9:45 p.m. ET, with a spot in the Elite 8 on the line.
