COLLEGE

Hurdle played college basketball at UC Santa Barbara during the 2005–06 season before transferring to San Bernardino Valley College, where he competed in 2006–07, and he then finished his NCAA career at Miami from 2007–08 to 2008–09.

Hurdle suited up for UC Santa Barbara during the 2005–06 season, which the program’s year-by-year records list as a 15–14 campaign under head coach Bob Williams, and he appeared in 22 of the Gauchos’ 29 games as a true freshman.

He averaged 7.4 minutes per game and produced 1.7 points, 0.9 assists, and 0.9 rebounds per outing, while shooting .257 from the field, .444 on three-pointers, and .652 at the foul line.

After UC Santa Barbara, he transferred to San Bernardino Valley College for the 2006–07 season and became the Foothill Conference Player of the Year after averaging 16 points, four rebounds, and six assists per game.

He also earned first-team all-state recognition, made the San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic Team, and helped guide San Bernardino Valley College to the Foothill Conference championship.

Hurdle then joined Miami and played for head coach Frank Haith on the 2007–08 Hurricanes, a 23–11 team that went 8–8 in ACC play and reached the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed, winning in the first round before falling in the second round to Texas.

During that 2007–08 season, he saw action in all 34 games and started 20, moving into the starting lineup for the final 14 regular-season ACC contests and Miami’s four postseason games after starting two games in the non-conference slate.

Over the full season, he averaged 8.0 points per game in 22.3 minutes per night, and he ranked third in the ACC and 24th nationally in free-throw percentage by converting 86.5% at the line on 96 makes in 111 attempts.

He tied for the team lead with 82 assists, was tied for third on the team with 9.3 points per game in ACC play, and averaged 9.0 points per game in the NCAA Tournament, which was second-best on the team during that postseason run.

Across that 2007–08 Miami season, Hurdle posted double-figure scoring in 12 games and hit a season-high 20 points against North Carolina on January 23, going 7-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range, and he also made three three-pointers in games versus Florida State on February 6 and Marist on November 15.

He scored 19 points in a win over Boston College on March 5, going 10-for-10 at the foul line, and he set a career high with seven rebounds in that same Boston College game.

He also made a key three-pointer with 9.2 seconds left to put Miami ahead 94–90 in a March 1 win over Virginia, and in the NCAA Tournament second-round game versus Texas on March 23 he scored 11 points while going 5-of-6 at the free-throw line.

Other notable single-game marks that season included 13 points in a season-high 33 minutes versus NC State in the ACC Tournament opener on March 13, 9-of-10 free throws against Maryland on February 23, 13 points with three assists and two rebounds in a win over Duke on February 20, a career-high six assists at Wake Forest on January 29, and 14 points with a career-high three steals in a win over Clemson on January 27.

He finished the year by earning Miami’s “Hustlin’ Cane” award at the team banquet, and his role expanded as ACC play progressed, with his minutes rising in conference games compared to the non-conference portion of the schedule.

As a senior at Miami in 2008–09, Hurdle appeared in 31 games and made 23 starts while averaging 25.9 minutes per game, and he produced 7.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per outing with a .348 field-goal percentage and a .341 three-point percentage.

That 2008–09 Miami team went 19–13 overall and played postseason basketball in the NIT, where its run ended in the second round.