Hurley Hired as URI Men’s Basketball Coach

According to the URI Athletic Department, Dan Hurley has accepted the position of head men's basketball coach at the University of Rhode Island, it was announced today by Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn. 

Hurley, who spent the last two seasons as head coach at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y., becomes the 19th head coach in URI history.

"We are thrilled to name Dan Hurley as our new head men's basketball coach," Bjorn said.  "Dan is a proven winner at every level and I am looking forward to partnering with him to build on the solid foundation we have in place.  Our goals are to compete for  - and win  - Atlantic 10 Championships and advance to play in NCAA Tournaments."

While at Wagner, Hurley orchestrated a complete turnaround of the Seahawks program.  Inheriting a program that had won just five games in 2009-10, he guided Wagner to 13 victories in his first season at the helm.  The eight-win improvement was the nation's best among first-year head coaches in 2010-11.

This past season, Hurley guided Wagner to a 25-6 overall record and a 15-3 mark in Northeast Conference play.  The Seahawks tied for the second in the country with 12 road victories and an .800 road winning percentage (12-3). 

For more background information on Hurley and comments from URI President David Dooley, click the above link. A public press conference will be held 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Keaney Gym.

The Rams job became open after the university a day after the season ended on March 4. The buyout for Baron’s contract came from private sources, according to URI officials.

Release courtesy of URI Athletics. We will be covering the press conference tomorrow (and hopefully recording it), so check back tomorrow evening for more.

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