Hurley leaving Wagner for Rhode Island

Mar 21, 2012 - 1:03 AM Kingston, RI (Sports Network) - Dan Hurley is leaving Wagner College to take over the men's basketball program at Rhode Island.

Rhode Island announced on Tuesday that Hurley will become the 19th head coach in program history, replacing the recently dismissed Jim Baron.

Hurley has spent the past two seasons at Wagner and turned around a program that was 5-26 before he arrived. The Seahawks went 13-17 in Hurley's first season and 25-6 in 2011-12.

"We are thrilled to name Dan Hurley as our new head men's basketball coach," said Rhode Island director of athletics Thorr Bjorn said. "Dan is a proven winner at every level and I am looking forward to partnering with him to build on the solid foundation we have in place. Our goals are to compete for - and win - Atlantic 10 Championships and advance to play in NCAA Tournaments."

Before taking over at Wagner, Hurley spent nine years as head coach at St. Benedict's Prep of Newark, New Jersey. He led the high school powerhouse to a 223-21 record and coached four McDonald All-Americans and four teams ranked in the top five in the nation.

The Seton Hall product had also served as an assistant coach under his Hall of Fame father Bob at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey (1996-97) and four seasons as an assistant coach at Rutgers (1997-2001).

Baron had guided the Rams for the past 11 seasons, but was dismissed earlier this month after the Rams went just 7-24 this past season. Baron's squads went 184-166 during his tenure.