Bobby Hurley: Arizona State Lands One Of College Basketball’s Most Up-And-Coming Coaches

Bobby Hurley has apparently changed his mind about staying in Buffalo.

The college basketball coach just announced that he will be taking over as the new head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils, just weeks after the University of Buffalo gave Hurley a contract extension and made him the highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference.

The hiring was announced Thursday on Arizona State’s athletics site.

“I am thrilled to announce Bobby Hurley as the new head men’s basketball coach at Arizona State University,” Ray Anderson, ASU vice president for university athletics, said in a statement. “We conducted an exhaustive search and after numerous discussions with many of basketball’s most knowledgeable and respected individuals, one thing became clear: Bobby is the right person to lead this program to new heights.”

The timing of the move seemed a bit strange. Though he was in high demand after taking UB to its best season ever and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament, Bobby Hurley appeared to be committed to staying in Buffalo. A source told the Buffalo News this week that Hurley had agreed to a new contract extension, though other reports indicated that Hurley wasn’t quite happy with the offer and hadn’t signed yet.

The deal on the table was reportedly for $551,000, but Bobby Hurley will likely get a much more substantial raise at Arizona State. He is moving to one of the major college basketball conferences and is replacing a coach — Herb Sendek — who made $1.8 million a season.

Arizona State will be landing one of the rising stars of the college basketball world. Hurley just led Buffalo to a 23-10 record and a Mid-American Conference Championship. In his two years in Buffalo he collected a 42-20 record, winning the East Division championship both years.

Hurley had quite a successful college basketball career himself, leading Duke to consecutive NCAA titles in 1991 and 1992, earning Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors in 1992.

He got a bit of a late start to coaching, joining his brother Danny Hurley’s staff at Wagner in 2010 and then becoming associate head coach at Rhode Island in 2012-13.

Bobby Hurley comes from a strong basketball pedigree as well. His father Bob Hurley, Sr., is a legendary New Jersey high school basketball coach who has won 27 state titles and won more than 1,000 games as coach of the elite St. Anthony’s.

[Image via Getty Images/Jamie Sabau]