In the iconic book “The Miracle of St. Anthony,” which chronicles a year in the life of Hall of Fame basketball coach Bob Hurley and his players, Hurley is depicted doing everything in his power to keep St. Anthony High School financially afloat.

That includes donating his speaking fees at clinics and camps to the Jersey City school. And most of all, it means never leaving.

Many times over the years, Hurley could have taken a college coaching job and made considerably more money for himself.

He never did, because St. Anthony was his calling. And when that school finally closed in 2017, he coached at the youth level. For Bob Hurley, it very clearly was never about the money.

His younger son seems to have noticed.

Dan Hurley has rebuffed a reported $70 million contract to coach the L.A. Lakers, opting to remain at UConn in pursuit of the first NCAA Tournament three-peat in college men’s basketball since John Wooden and UCLA. He’ll be paid handsomely to do so – nobody is taking a vow of poverty here – but he reportedly left $20 million on the table. If this was about the money, Dan would be on a plane west right now.

His decision to stick around gives him the gravitas to impart a vital piece of wisdom to his players and, given his platform, to the sport of college basketball: It doesn’t always have to be about the money.

Fit matters (Dan Hurley is a lifelong northeasterner, from Jersey City to Seton Hall to Rutgers to St. Benedict's to Wagner to Rhode Island to Connecticut). Loyalty matters (twice during his tenure at Rhody, Dan rebuffed a payday from Rutgers, the second time expressly because he had unfinished business with a strong team returning). A sense of security matters (his college teammate Adrian Griffin was just fired midway through his first season as an NBA head coach). Relationships matter, like the one Dan forged with Huskies standout Alex Karaban – who just passed up the NBA Draft to spend another year playing for Hurley.

Life is not an auction, where the highest bid is always the right one. There are intangibles and nuances and shades of gray. This is something the college sports world desperately needs to hear.

Just because you can make more money by expanding the NCAA Tournament doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can make more money by dragging athletes at UCLA and USC clear across the country for conference games doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can transfer to the highest bidder, regardless of fit or what it does to your degree track, doesn’t mean you should.

Of course, every situation is different. Dan Hurley choosing many millions over a gazillion dollars is not the same as a teenager who comes from nothing trying to maximize an opportunity in a limited earning window. Sometimes, often, mostly, it is in fact about the money.

But not always.

There is only one Bob Hurley. But this week, his son took a page out of the father’s book. It’s a phenomenal book, worth revisiting now more than ever.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Dan Hurley reminds us: It's not always about the money