Staten Island, NY – Dan Hurley, who built St. Benedict's Prep of Newark, NJ into one of the nation's top high school programs, was formally introuduced as head men's basketball coach at Wagner College at a press conference held in the VIP Room on the second floor of the Spiro Sports Center.
More than 50 people attended the press conference, including Hurley's wife Andrea and their two sons, Danny (10) and Andrew (8).
During his nine-year tenure at St. Benedict's, Hurley led the Gray Bees to a 223-21 record, coached four McDonald's All-Americans and developed four teams that were ranked in the top five in the nation.
"Realistically there may have been one or two situations that I could have envisioned myself at and this is one of them. When the position became open, it was something that I was excited about pursuing," Hurley said. "The more I got to know Walt (Hameline) and the more people I met on campus, the more I excited I became about this opportunity. I came up and walked around campus by myself and it reminded me of Seton Hall … and Staten Island reminded me a little bit of Jersey City where I grew up. It felt like home.”
Hurley is a 1991 graduate of St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, NJ, where he played for his father
Bob Hurley, a legendary coach who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this summer. At St. Anthony, Hurley was a member of a National Championship team in 1989 and a member of a team ranked No. 2 in the nation in 1991.
A 1996 graduate of Seton Hall, where he played for former Wagner head coach
P.J. Carlesimo, Hurley played on three NCAA teams and one NIT team. Hurley scored 1,070 career points which ranks 30th in Pirate basketball history.
After spending the 1996-97 season as an assistant coach at St. Anthony, he spent four seasons (1997-2001) as an assistant coach at Rutgers University, helping to lead the Scarlet Knights to a pair of NIT appearances.
Hurley is the younger brother of former Duke All-American guard
Bobby Hurley, Jr. whose 1,076 assists rank him as the all-time assist leader in the history of college basketball.
In becoming the 17th head coach in Wagner history, Hurley replaces
Mike Deane, who served as head coach of the Seahawks from 2003-2010.
“We are excited to welcome
Dan Hurley into the Wagner athletics family,” said Hameline. “Dan has been a winner at every level that he has played or coached and is someone who has thrived at schools that have excellent academic reputations.”
