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Bobby Hurley is one of the best point guards in NCAA history, winning two national championships at Duke in 1991 and 1992. Hurley was selected seventh overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 1993 NBA draft, but an accident later that year nearly took his life.
On one fateful night – Dec. 12, 1993 – Hurley was just coming off the 19th game of his rookie season. He was driving home when his car was broadsided by a station wagon. He was not wearing his seat belt, causing him to get thrown out of his vehicle.
Hurley landed in a drainage ditch nearly 100 feet from his car. He was found by teammate Mike Pelowksi, who was also going home. The Duke product suffered life-threatening injuries: collapsed lungs, broken ribs, severed trachea, back and shoulder blade fractures and minor injuries to his leg and wrists.
Bobby Hurley made a miraculous recovery and was back playing in the NBA less than a year later. However, Hurley was never the player he once was at Duke and was out of the league in 1999. His left shoulder, which was injured in the accident, continued to bother him for the rest of his career.
In an interview with The Athletic in 2018, former Sacramento Kings general manager Jerry Reynolds recalled how good Hurley was. Reynolds thought that if Hurley never had an accident, he would have had a solid career in the NBA and compared him to Ricky Rubio.
"Honestly, I don't know that Bobby would've been a major star, but he wouldn't have missed," Reynolds said. "No doubt, he would've had a very good career, a 10-to-12-year career. Could he have been better than Ricky Rubio? I have absolutely no doubt."
Hurley became a thoroughbred racehorse co-owner after retirement before getting hired as a scout by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2003. He started his coaching career as an assistant at Wagner College from 2010 to 2012. He also served as an associate head coach in Rhode Island before landing his first head-coaching gig in 2013 at Buffalo.
The 51-year-old coach was in charge of the Bulls until 2015. He took over the Arizona State Sun Devils that same year and has been there ever since.
Also Read: 5 schools with most NCAA basketball championships
Who was the driver of the car who caused Bobby Hurley's accident?
The driver of the station wagon that hit Bobby Hurley's vehicle was later revealed to be a house painter named Daniel Wieland. He suffered a shattered femur as a result of the accident. He was later convicted on a misdemeanor reckless driving charge and was sentenced to a three-year probation.
Wieland was also ordered to pay a $300 fine, but didn't apologize to Hurley and his family until 2012. He released an apology via a phone call with ESPN's Ian O'Connor.
"I'd like to send my heartfelt apologies and respect to Bobby Hurley," Wieland said. "I really felt very badly for what happened to him, and it's been more of a burden on my back than anybody knows."
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