Date: 04/09/2015

Arizona State hires Buffalo basketball coach Bobby Hurley

Arizona State has hired University at Buffalo basketball coach Bobby Hurley, the school confirmed to ESPN.com Thursday.

Hurley amassed a 42-20 record during his two seasons as coach of the Bulls. He lead Buffalo to its first NCAA tournament berth in school history in 2015. Buffalo lost to West Virginia 68-62 in the tournament’s Round of 64.

With the hire, Arizona State will replace former coach Herb Sendek, who was fired Mar. 24 after making only two NCAA tournament appearances over nine years at the school.

Hurley had emerged as the “frontrunner” for the position Wednesday, according to multiple reports. ​Duke assistant coach Jeff Capel had also been under consideration, but he removed his name from consideration earlier this week.

In an interview with SI Now on Mar. 31, Hurley said he felt he would be Buffalo’s head coach for the 2015-16 season.

Hurley, 43, helped lead Duke to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1991 and 1992.

DePaul University also showed interest in Hurley to lead its basketball program, but eventually re-hired former its former coach Dave Leitao.

Hurley and the University at Buffalo had reached a verbal agreement to renegotiate his contract to make him the highest paid coach in the Mid-American Conference, The Buffalo News reported last month.

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