The names of two of Dan Hurley’s top UConn lieutenants have shown up – again – on lists of potential candidates for a head coaching job.

This time, the job is at Syracuse, which fired alum Adrian Autry on Wednesday after three seasons, a 49-48 record and no NCAA Tournament appearances. The move followed Syracuse’s loss to SMU in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Tuesday night.

He replaced his former coach, Jim Boeheim, who held the job for 47 years.

Both The Athletic and The Post-Standard in Syracuse on Wednesday identified UConn assistant coaches Luke Murray and Kimani Young as names that could intrigue whomever is doing the hiring for the job.

Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack announced Autry’s dismissal on Wednesday, adding a national search would begin immediately. He is retiring at the end of the academic year, and a search committee is at work to recommend a replacement.

Although media reports indicated it will be the next athletic director who makes the hire, Wildhack laid out the qualifications for the next coach.

"We are going to move quickly and with purpose," Wildhack said in a school news release. "This is one of the most storied programs in college basketball, and we intend to hire a proven winner who will build on that legacy. We are looking for a coach who can recruit at the highest level, develop players and compete for championships, conference and national. Syracuse fans deserve nothing less, and that is exactly what we are going to deliver."

The early favorite for the job appears to be Bryan Hodgson, the head coach at South Florida, but he will be looked at by other programs as well. One thing that wouldn't scare him off is the brutal Syracuse winters. He's from Western New York and was an assistant to Nate Oats at Buffalo (2015–19).

While Syracuse said a national search is underway, officials wouldn’t have to look that far away if they, indeed, are interested in Murray or Young. They’re just about 275 miles east, almost all of the drive on Interstate 90.

Murray, the son of actor Bill Murray, has been on Hurley’s staff since the 2021-22 season but has been with the head coach longer than that.

UConn is the ninth stop in his basketball career, which has taken him from his first job as director of operations at Quinnipiac in the 2007-08 season to Post to Arizona to Wagner to Towson to Rhode Island to Xavier to Louisville and finally to UConn.

He served as an assistant coach to Hurley at Wagner (2010-11) and Rhode Island (2013-15) before joining him with the Huskies.

Murray has taken a lead role as a recruiter and mentor for the post players.

Young has worked mostly with the long line of talented guards to come through UConn. He joined the Huskies staff ahead of the 2018-19 season, first as an assistant coach and as the associate head coach since 2020.

He began his career as the athletic director of a nonprofit organization in New York and held roles with additional community groups in the city. He broke into the college ranks as the video coordinator at St. John’s in the 2008-09 season, then spent a season at Florida International before working on Richard Pitino’s staff at Minnesota from 2013-18.

In late February, the well-respected Field of 68 speculated Murray could be a candidate at Boston College, which fired head coach Earl Grant, and Young could be on the radar of Pitt, should officials there decide to part ways with longtime coach Jeff Capel.

It will be interesting to watch developments as they occur on the national coaching landscape. One thing seems certain, however. If this isn't the year that Young or Murray get a chance at a head-coaching job, it will come soon enough.

Remember to join our UCONN on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Huskies fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!