Jersey Boy Hurley Finds His Way Across River

Danny Hurley leaves success at St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey for a challenge on a higher level, accepting the vacant head coaching job at Staten Island's Wagner College. (Photo courtesy of Newark Star-Ledger)

The chorus of a 1990 song by Bruce Hornsby says: "Well, I know some fine day, you will find your way, across the river." Two decades later, the lyrics are coming to fruition for Danny Hurley, a man who had spent most of his adult life in the Garden State; first as a player at Seton Hall, then as an assistant coach at Rutgers before becoming the head man at St. Benedict's Prep, a high school he had eventually built into a national powerhouse.

Now, the 37-year-old Hurley is taking his 223-21 lifetime record at St. Benedict's over the Outerbridge Crossing into Staten Island, where he heads into New York City as the new head coach of Wagner College, replacing former coach Mike Deane. Deane, also the head man at Marquette, Siena and Lamar once upon a time, was fired after finishing just 5-26 at the helm of the Seahawks.

As reported this afternoon by Brendan Prunty of the Newark Star-Ledger, Hurley's older brother Bobby, best known for winning two national championships playing for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, will be joining him on the bench as an assistant. Bobby also played briefly in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings before injuries derailed his career.