Mayor Steven M. Fulop celebrates Jersey City native Dan Hurley’s success as the UConn Huskies Men’s Basketball Head Coach by presenting him with a Key to the City during a ceremony inside City Hall on April 25. Before leading the UConn team in the 2023 NCAA Division I Championship, Hurley was born and raised in Jersey City where he launched his historic basketball career as an outstanding player at St. Anthony’s High School. During his high school basketball career, he led the team to a 31-1 record. Photo by Jennifer Brown/City of Jersey City Hurley family
Jennifer Brown

Men's Basketball

Coach Hurley Receives The Key To Jersey City

UConn Athletic Communications / April 27, 2023

During the UConn men's basketball team's glory-filled run to the 2023 NCAA National Championship, Coach Dan Hurley never forgot where he came from – and hardly ever missed a chance to tell all who were listening about it.

This week, Coach Hurley's hometown of Jersey City (N.J.) said, "Thank You."

Coach Hurley, in front of family and longtime friends, was presented the Key to the City during a ceremony at City Hall.

"We don't do this thing often," said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. "In the 10 years that I've been mayor, maybe four or five times. It's not something we do regularly because we really, really want to make sure we do it for people who represent what Jersey City represents.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find somebody who waves the Jersey City flag like Coach Hurley."

With wife Andrea, sons Danny and Andrew, and his parents, Chris and Hall of Fame Coach Bob Hurley Sr., and other extended family members in the front row, Dan Hurley was presented with a proclamation as well as a plaque that read: "The Key to the City of Jersey City presented to Dan Hurley, An Ambassador from Jersey City who represents everything great about this city."

"I try to exemplify what it means to be from Jersey City as a leader, a coach, and as a husband and a father," Coach Hurley said. "So much of this place just means everything to me. I reflect on it all the time and I feel I'm just incredibly blessed."

Coach Hurley grew up in the Greenville section of Jersey City, attended high school at St. Anthony, where he played for his father, and matriculated at Seton Hall, just six miles from Jersey City.

He attributes growing up in Jersey City as helping he and the Huskies get through some rough times this season.

"We went through a terrible month in January," he said. "We were just playing horribly. And that's where the toughness of coming from Jersey City really kicks in.

"For me, just growing up in the city, I said it on TV, it's one of the most diverse cities in the country, so I think as a coach, as a leader, your ability to build relationship and to lead all different types of people from all different types of backgrounds, being from here … you develop a skillset that way."

"I love being from this place," he added. "It's like the best place to be from."

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