Mark Mirko/Hartford Courant via Getty Dan Hurley's wife, Andrea Hurley, and his son, Danny Hurley.
Andrea Sirakides Hurley is the wife of UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley. The Hurleys met in college and have been married since 1997. They have two sons, Andrew Hurley and Danny Hurley. Andrea Hurley, who is aa New Jersey native like her husband, started a podcast about what it’s like to be the wife of a college basketball coach.
Andrea Hurley told WFSB in March 2023 about the nerves she has before watching her husband and his team, “There’s a lot of nerves. Cause I want it so bad for these kids. I mean I’m a crier, and they mean the world. I just don’t want this to end. It’s not easy playing for my husband and the staff. They expect a lot from these kids, not just on the court but off the court. Academically, the way that they carry themselves.”
Andrea Hurley added in the interview with the Connecticut news station ahead of the Final Four, “What they keep doing is being a team. They are close, they’re such a tight knit group. When I say special, it’s an understatement. They’re so special, every single one of them. Them together, their dynamic as a team, you don’t get that every year. I think they pick each other up and everybody just feeds off the excitement and the will to get there.”
Here’s what you need to know about Huskies coach Dan Hurley’s wife Andrea Hurley:
1. Andrea Sirakides & Dan Hurley Met While They Were Students at Seton Hall University in New Jersey
Andrea Sirakides and Dan Hurley met when they were both students at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, according to their social media pages. They were married in 1997 at the Shadowbrook at Shrewsbury wedding venue in their home state, according to Andrea Hurley’s Instagram.
Dan Hurley told WTNH in March 2023, “I met her at Seton Hall. It’s like, by far, the best thing that happened to me at Seton Hall, but that was the thing that saved my life when I met her and changed my life and made me want to be better.” Andrea Hurley added, “I didn’t know his story. And then, you know, you just became we just became friends, and next thing you know, we’re engaged. We’ve been best friends ever since.”
In 2020, Andrea Hurley posted a photo from their wedding and wrote on Instagram, “This was my favorite picture from my most favorite night🥰 23 years and so much to be proud of. 💕 Who knew we would make such a good team 👰🏻💙🤵🏻💙.”
On his Instagram in 2022, Dan Hurley wrote, “We celebrate our 25th Anniversary today and I am so grateful for this incredible woman! She is my inspiration and my strength. She is the leader of our Home Team. Without her love and partnership I would be nothing. My life changed in the best possible way that night at the Hall…Thank you My Love!!”
2. Andrea Hurley & Nicole Kellogg Started the ‘Ball Is Wife’ Podcast in 2021
In 2021, Andrea Hurley started a podcast, “Ball Is Wife,” along with Nicole Kellogg, the wife of UMass coach Derek Kellogg. She told The Athletic about their decision to start podcast, “Who else feels like us. Is anybody else going through this? What do other coaches’ wives do on game day? What do other coaches’ wives do when you have four losses in a row? Like, what do you do? How do you feel? What about your kids? How are your kids reacting to this profession and the good and the bad that come with it?”
She added, “So after a while, I’m like every time we meet up, we say the same thing. I’m like, you know, it’s time. Somebody has to do it. Just so other people could relate. Hurley said she and Kellogg were inspired by the Bravo TV show “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.”
Hurley and Kellogg have sat down for conversations with some of Andrea and Dan Hurley’s family members, including his mother, Chris Hurley. Dan Hurley’s father, Bob Hurley, is a legendary New Jersey high school basketball coach. Other guests have included Iowa coach Fran McCaffery’s wife Margaret McCaffery, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman’s wife Danyelle Sargent Musselman and Carol Higgins, the wife of college basketball referee John Higgins.
3. Dan & Andrea Hurley’s Son Andrew Hurley Plays for His Father at UConn, While Their Older Son, Danny Hurley, Followed in His Parents Footsteps & Is a Seton Hall Grad
Dan and Andrea Hurley have two sons, Danny Hurley and Andrew Hurley. Their oldest son, Danny, followed in their footsteps and graduated from Seton Hall University, according to his LinkedIn profile. He works as an aide to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and is also a board member of The Hurley Family Foundation. Dan Hurley Jr. studied history as an undergrad and then finished a master’s degree in public administration at Seton Hall in 2021, according to his LinkedIn.
The Hurleys’ youngest son, Andrew Hurley, is a member of the UConn Huskies basketball team. Before joining his dad’s team, he won a state championship at East Catholic High School in Connecticut. The coach’s son, a walk-on, has made multiple appearances during the Huskies run to the tournament, coming into games with UConn well ahead. He and his father have talked about what it means to be enjoying the run to the national title game together.
Dan Hurley told CTInsider in March 2023, “He’s a chip off the old block. He’s just a mini me. Both my boys are.”
Andrew Hurley told CTInsider about living up to his family’s name, “Yeah, it’s definitely hard not to acknowledge the basketball family that I come from/ But no, I don’t feel any pressure, really. It’s hard to when you have such a supportive family around you, and,they do a great job of reminding of how much they love me … so it doesn’t really bother me at all.”
4. Andrea Hurley Revealed She Washes Her Husband’s Lucky Dragon Underwear in the Hotel
Ahead of the Final Four, Andrea Hurley sat down with “The Field of 68” podcast in Houston for an “unfiltered” conversation about the Huskies and their run to the title game. Andrea Hurley talked about her superstitious “germaphobe” husband, who wears the same lucky dragon underwear, shirt and “game day socks,” and how she keeps them clean by washing them at the hotel while on the road.
“This has been going on for years,” she told the podcast hosts at Little Woodrow’s bar in Houston. “The sinks in hotels are gross. So I bought this bucket, it’s a collapsable bucket. … And I would fill the bucket, usually in the shower, because you can’t get it under the sink and it’s a big ordeal.” Hurley added that her husband has a “small rotation” of clothes that he switches out if he needs to give them a “rest” during a losing streak.
Andrea Hurley shared a lot of love for UConn’s fans, but had a little bit of criticism for a segment of Huskies supporters. She told the podcast, “We have the best fans. But then there’s those few that are a******. It’s just like, ‘Who the frig are you?’ These guys are working their a**** off. If you’re not with us, you’re against us. And go up the road to Providence, I think they need more a******, they have tons of them. I don’t like that s***. It’s a shame that a few of these fans, they get to our kids, don’t get in my kids head.”
She also expanded on her hatred for Providence Friars fans. “I will never go back to that place. What they did to me there, grown men spitting, throwing beer. That’ll never be our fans. Our fans are just hard on the team, which annoys be. But they’re not disrespectful.”
5. Andrea & Dan Hurley Live in Glastonbury, Connecticut
Dan and Andrea Hurley moved to Glastonbury, Connecticut, about 40 minutes away from UConn’s Storrs campus, when he was hired as the Huskies coach in 2018. According to public records, the Hurleys own a $1.5 million home in Glastonbury.
In January 2023, Andrea Hurley wrote on Instagram, “Happy 50th birthday to the love of my life💙 the toughest guy I know, who for most of his life has been publicly critiqued either good or bad depending on the latest performance. Very few could have your constant mental and physical drive for greatness in all areas of life. You are adored beyond words by your #1 fans…#HOMETEAM.”
Andrea Hurley told WTNH about her partnership with her husband, “When you figure out how you could help your other half get better at what he does, and you see it come back to you. It’s a friendship. It’s working together as a team. I try to make his life easier in any way that I possibly can.”
She added that her husband’s players and coaching staff become part of their family, “Every single team that you have, every kid that comes into your life. I always say it just snags a little piece of my heart. His heart. I love these kids and the coaches and the coaches’ families so much that I don’t want this to end. Like you’re not going to get this time back.”