Robert Matthew Hurley (born June 28, 1971) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

. He was previously the head coach at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

. As a college player, he was a consensus first-team All-American for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

, with whom he won consecutive national championships. He is the all-time leader in assists in NCAA basketball. He played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) for the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

and

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

from 1993 to 1998.

Playing career

Born in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, where his father, Bob Hurley Sr., was the longtime coach. While at St. Anthony from 1985 to 1989, Hurley led the team to four consecutive Parochial B state titles. In his senior year he averaged 20 points, 8 assists and 3 steals, as St. Anthony racked up a 32–0 record, the school's first Tournament of champions crown, and the No. 1 ranking in the United States. In his high school career the team's overall record with Hurley as

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

was 115–5. Hurley was a point guard for coach

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five natio ...

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

team from 1989 to 1993. He was a first-team All-American in 1993, went to the Final Four three times, and helped lead the Blue Devils to back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992 with All American teammates

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) his ...

and

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player who is a co-owner and executive of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He attended Duke University and is widely considere ...

, earning

Final Four Most Outstanding Player At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships (the "Final Four" tournaments), a media panel selects a Most Outstanding Player (MOP). It is usually awarded to a member of the championship team. There have been ...

honors in 1992. Hurley remains the NCAA all-time assists leader with 1076 assists, and Duke's single game assist leader with 16 (against Florida State on February 24, 1993). His Duke

jersey number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

11 was

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1993. In 2002, Hurley was named to the

ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team During the 2002–03 school year, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) celebrated its 50th anniversary by selecting the top players in its respective sports. Fifty players were selected for the men's basketball team, which was voted on by a 120-mem ...

as one of the fifty greatest players in

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

history. In 2006, Hurley, who is of Polish descent through his mother, was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame. At Duke, Hurley was a member of the

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

fraternity. Coincidentally, Bobby Hurley played against his younger brother

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

in an NCAA Tournament game, when Duke squared off against Seton Hall. Hurley was selected by the

as the seventh pick in the

1993 NBA draft The 1993 NBA draft took place on June 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The draft had some talented players at the top, but injuries and personal problems hurt many of them. Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Allan Ho ...

. He signed a shoe contract with a new shoe company ITZ (In The Zone), which was sold at

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an Americans, American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in ...

exclusively. On December 12, 1993 while Hurley was returning home following a game in his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season, he was involved in a car accident. His SUV was broadsided by a station wagon. Hurley was not wearing a

seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduc ...

, was thrown from his vehicle, and suffered severe life-threatening injuries. Kings teammate Mike Peplowski was driving five minutes behind Hurley and was among the first on the scene to render immediate aid. Hurley returned to the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

for the 1994–95 season and played four more years beyond that. He was traded to the

on February 18, 1998, and played in 27 games for the Grizzlies. Hurley was waived by the Grizzlies on January 25, 1999.

Retirement

After retiring, Hurley went on to become a

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse owner and breeder. He was also hired as a scout by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

in 2003. Hurley appeared in the 1994 feature film ''

Blue Chips ''Blue Chips'' is a 1994 American sports drama film, directed by William Friedkin, written by Ron Shelton and starring Nick Nolte as a college coach trying to recruit a winning team. His players were portrayed by actors as well as real-life baske ...

'', where he played for the Indiana team under coach

Bobby Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

. A fan of

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

, Hurley owned Songandaprayer who won the 2001 Fountain of Youth Stakes. He currently owns Devil Eleven Stables. In December 2009 he was sued by

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of ...

for defaulting on a $1 million loan that was used to purchase Songandaprayer, who was trained by Eddie Plesa Jr.

Coaching

On April 13, 2010,

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

announced that Hurley was hired as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team. Hurley joined his younger brother

Dan Hurley Daniel S. Hurley (born January 16, 1973) is an American basketball coach who currently coaches the University of Connecticut men's basketball team. Hurley was named head coach of the Huskies on March 22, 2018, after two years at Wagner College an ...

's coaching staff. Dan Hurley had been hired as Wagner's head coach on April 6, 2010. In 2012, the Hurleys took coaching positions at

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. On March 26, 2013, Hurley was named the head coach of the

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Am ...

, replacing Reggie Witherspoon. Hurley coached the 2014–15 Bulls team to their first NCAA tournament appearance. On April 9, 2015, Hurley was hired as head coach at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. In his first conference game with the Sun Devils, he gained notoriety when he got ejected for 2 technical fouls in 15 seconds for arguing with the officials against the rival

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

. After he got ejected, he encouraged the crowd to continue to taunt the officials. Following a 15–17 first season at Arizona State, Hurley's contract was extended through 2021. A second season showed improvements and ASU improved its roster with transfers and a few recruits. During his third year as head coach, Hurley would lead Arizona State to their first 12–0 start and sweep their non-conference schedule. Along the way, ASU beat Top-10 teams Kansas and Xavier and were ranked #3 by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. With three senior guards leading the way during that time, they began to market themselves as 'Guard U' to start the 2017–18 Pac-12 Conference schedule against their rivals

. Following the 77–70 loss Feb 15, he fell 0–6 against his biggest rival

. Despite their early season success, the Sun Devils struggled mightily in conference play, going only 8–10 and earning the 9th seed in the Pac-12 tournament, where they were defeated in the first round by the 8th seeded

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

. Nevertheless, ASU still earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament and faced Syracuse in a First Four matchup in Dayton. The Orange then beat the Sun Devils 60–56, thus ending their season. Hurley's squad finished 20–12, 8–10 in the Pac-12, his best season so far as the Sun Devils' coach. On December 22, 2018, Hurley led the Sun Devils to its first home win (and second win ever) against a #1 NCAA ranked team (Kansas).

Head coaching record

References

External links