Sports are all about tough choices. And they get even tougher when divided loyalties are at play. Think of dad Richard Williams watching Serena Williams play her sister Venus Williams — that’s gotta be tough. Well Arizona State men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley has a similar dilemma on his hands. With his own team out of the NCAA tournament, Hurley is looking at a second round where he’ll watch his alma mater Duke University (where Hurley won two national titles, 1991 and 1992) go up against the University of Rhode Island. The problem? URI is coached by Bobby’s brother, Dan Hurley. (Bobby Hurley actually got his big break as a coach when his brother Dan hired him as his assistant coach at Wagner University.) What’s Bobby Hurley, basketball legend, to do?
Duke, of course, has a reputation for instilling undying loyalty in its students — and the Duke men’s basketball program takes the idea of team fealty to the ultimate level. The current Duke coach, Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski, was Hurley’s coach back when Hurley was named the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament in 1992. Root against Coach K? That’s a tough assignment for Bobby Hurley. You may as well ask Michael Jordan to root against North Carolina. Then again the Hurleys are a tight-knit basketball family through and through — their Dad, Bob Sr., was a legendary coach at perennial high school powerhouse St. Anthony’s in Jersey City. Bobby Hurley might want to call Richard Williams for advice.
