Dan Hurley gets warning from former coach on NCAA-NBA jump amid Lakers rumblings

The Lakers are set to offer a job to UConn basketball’s coach Dan Hurley, whose team has won back-to-back NCAA championships. PJ Carlesimo believes college coaches can succeed in the NBA and endorses Hurley as a potential Los Angeles Lakers hire despite Hurley lacking NBA playing or coaching experience.

Appearing in the Rich Eisen show, Carlesimo emphasized how Hurley might fit the Lakers, but also warned about the differences between the NBA and college basketball.

PJ Carlesimo’s warning to Dan Hurley

“The one thing is you got to be on the same page with your front office and that’s you know Jeanie Buss, Rob Pelinka, Kurt Rambis the people that are running the Lakers they absolutely have to be on the same page with Danny,” PJ Carlesimo stressed.

“The biggest difference in college and the NBA is in college once you’ve been there for a few years and you’re established, which Danny certainly is, you are the front office, you’re the general manager, you control the program. You go out you identify the players you want, you get them to come, they come to, in this case Connecticut, to play for you.”

“It’s not that way in the NBA because of the salary cap, because of free agency, you’re not going to be able to control the roster,” continued the former NBA coach and analyst for ESPN.

Varying success from college to NBA

Traditionally, it was believed that college coaches couldn’t succeed in the pros. Brad Stevens seemed to challenge that belief with his success at the Celtics, while John Beilein struggled to achieve the same with the Cavaliers.

PJ Carlesimo also transitioned from college to the NBA, moving from Seton Hall to the Portland Trail Blazers in 1994. He had a decent run in the league, although he’s perhaps best remembered for an incident with the Warriors when player Latrell Sprewell choked him during a practice.

Regarding Hurley, 51, PJ Carlesimo is confident in his potential to coach in the NBA. In a separate discussion with Howard Beck of The Ringer, Carlesimo remarked, “He’s a great coach, he really is.”

“The fact that he can be demanding and push the guys, but do it in a good way, where he uses humor. He’ll jump all over them, too. But they’re extremely well prepared. They’re so good coming out of timeouts. They’re so good coming out of the locker room at halftime. They’re so good in situations like underneath out of bounds and side out of bounds. He’d call a timeout in the NCAA tournament, and you knew they were going to score (on) the next possession.”

Despite Carlesimo’s confidence, Hurley would need to make significant adjustments with the Lakers. While it’s possible for him to succeed, only time will tell if it will work out amazingly

The decision to hire Dan Hurley could shed light on the feasibility of college coaches transitioning successfully to the NBA, and Carlesimo’s endorsement of Dan Hurley for the Lakers position highlights a changing sentiment regarding college coaches in the NBA, signaling a potential trend towards more moves from college to professional coaching.