ND’s Brey: ASU’s Bobby Hurley would be ‘great’ as Duke head coach

Arizona State’s men’s basketball head coach Bobby Hurley will always be known for his playing time at Duke.

Mike Krzyzewski has been the head coach of Duke’s men’s basketball team since 1980, including the time Hurley was there.

At the age of 72, rumblings of who might replace Krzyzewski when he decides to retire have started.

On Jeff Goodman’s “Good N’ Plenty” podcast, Notre Dame’s men’s basketball head coach Mike Brey was asked who he thought should replace Coach K once he calls it quits.

“Boy, it’s got to be a player. I think it comes from guys that played, and there’s a lot of them out there,” Brey said. “You know who I think would be great? Bobby Hurley.

“Now I don’t know if he’d be interested or whatever, but I think he’d be fabulous,” Frey added.

Taking over for a head coach that has been at the helm for close to 40 years is no easy task. However, Frey thinks Hurley could handle it.

“He could handle it because he’s tough enough. He’s tough enough mentally to handle it,” Frey said.

Hurley’s intensity on the court has gotten him in trouble during games numerous times as he argues calls made by the referees constantly. Frey said that Krzyzewski had that same type of intense mindset when he was a young coach as well.

“Mike Krzyzewski in 1980 to about 1984, when he was building it, he wanted to fight everybody too,” Frey said.

Hurley played at Duke from 1989-93 and won back-to-back National Championships from 1991-92. In his four years as a Blue Devil, he averaged 12 points, 7.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 40% from the three-point line.

Hurley recently signed a 5-year extension to stay in Tempe in April.

Since coming to ASU in 2015, he has amassed a 73-58 record and has led the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances the last two years.

Before his time at ASU, Hurley was the head coach at Buffalo from 2013-15 and had a 42-20 record taking the team to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015.