After back-to-back National Championship victories for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball program, head coach Dan Hurley has quickly risen to prominence around the sports world. But this week, a depiction of Hurley on the hit NBC show Law and Order brought his story this offseason to an entirely different audience.
The newest episode of Law and Order on Thursday night named “Big Brother” featured a scene where a coroner and the Law and Order regular cast examined the dead body of a man named Nick Walsh.
In addition to having an entirely different name, the man didn’t look anything like Hurley. But as far as the storyline goes, it couldn’t have been a more clear depiction of the real-life Hurley.
While looking at the body, Walsh is described as a college basketball coach who had won back-to-back National Championships and was offered $100 million for five years by the University of Kentucky.
“Wallet and phone weren’t found on his person. But it’s Nick Walsh,” said the coroner in the scene.
“The coach?” replied Detective Jalen Shaw, played by actor Mehcad Brooks.
“That’s him, big fan. Not easy to go back-to-back in college basketball,” said the coroner.
“Kentucky just offered this guy $100 mil for five years,” said Shaw.
Law & Order most recent episode featured a character based on Dan Hurley that was killed for his watch.
So who murdered @dhurley15? Wrong answers only. pic.twitter.com/ZG0556aQjN
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) October 18, 2024
The exact details of the contract the real Hurley received from Kentucky this offseason are slightly off in the Law and Order scene. However, Hurley did reportedly receive an $11 million annual contract offer from Kentucky.
Regardless, given the description, it is clear that the show was attempting to depict Hurley as the deceased coach character without outright telling you it was supposed to be Hurley.
Hurley of course was also offered a slightly bigger deal to coach the Los Angeles Lakers, but would turn both down to remain at UConn.
Unlike the Nick Walsh character, Dan Hurley’s chances of winning a third-straight National Championship are seemingly very much alive, as UConn enters the 2024-25 college basketball season as the No. 3 ranked team in Preseason AP Top 25.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.