The coaching search for the Los Angeles Lakers will continue as presumed front-runner Dan Hurley has turned down a massive job offer according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

Hurley will remain with the University of Connecticut to pursue a three-peat after saying no to a reported six-year, 70-million-dollar deal with the Lakers. The deal would have put Hurley in rare air as one of the six highest-paid coaches in the league.

A Monday deadline for announcement was put into place by Hurley, obviously looking to stay with the Huskies and his six-year, 32.1-million-dollar deal.

Contract talks will continue according to Wojnarowski between Hurley and the school to put the 51-year-old in the highest of echelons of coaching compensation in all of college basketball.

The Lakers had made a “compelling case” to Hurley prior to the reported turning down of the job. Los Angeles now will need to keep looking for a replacement to Darvin Ham, who was let go after two seasons. Ham would go 94-70 in his time with the Lakers but a first-round exit in the playoffs could not save him despite a trip to the Western Conference Finals just a year prior.

Hurley’s reported decision of staying at UConn is a big one for the program, especially taking into consideration that a 30-day transfer window would have opened for players to opt out and look elsewhere if their head coach were to leave. The timing of the decision also couldn’t have been worse in terms of trying to find a replacement with the college basketball season closing in, close to five months out, and teams getting ready to start summer workouts.

UConn defeated Purdue in the national championship game in 2024 for the second straight title for UConn, the sixth in program history and the 5th in the 2000s.

As for the Lakers, JJ Redick appears to still be attached to the coaching search along with New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego.