Let’s talk candidates!
First off, I have NO inside connections, but I’m not sure if anyone does at this point. I do follow the coaching carousel and chatter very closely. A lot of it turns out to be rumors, but some intel turns out to be legit AND sometimes it gives you an idea for the kind of coaches who may be considered for certain jobs. Currently, it’s too early to hear much “official” chatter on our opening, but here are some coaches I’ve been following this season, should we have an opening:
The dream candidates who aren’t coming here:
Bill Self: Maybe his health scare this year has him coming to terms with his own mortality, and he doesn’t want to leave this earth having not coached at his alma-mater?
Kelvin Sampson: There are rumors he once was and maybe even still is interested in this job. I’m guessing this ship has sailed, but he was in GIA for some Bedlam games that rank among the greatest sports atmospheres I’ve EVER experienced, and I was in the Ford Center when KD, Russ and Harden defeated Kobe and the defending champion Lakers in their first ever playoff victory. Kelvin knows how special GIA can be.
Dusty May: Probably ends up at Louisville or Ohio State, but I do think he’d be a fantastic fit here. Honestly, he's a better fit here than those other two places, but I just don’t see it happening.
Guys who will be mentioned, and probably aren’t coming here, but are more likely than the last group:
Buzz Williams: We’d be a bit of a soft landing for Buzz, as things seem to be going south at A&M. He’s reportedly shown interest in our job before and spent time in Oklahoma during the Sutton era. He hasn’t KILLED it at A&M, but who has? One thing I've always liked about Buzz is he reportedly turned down the OU job when he was at Marquette.
Pat Kelsey: I would’ve probably had him in the Dusty May tier when the season started, but as other mid-major guys have stolen some of his spotlight, we may have a slightly better shot than I thought. He’s won a ton of games and made a bunch of tournaments at Winthrop and Charleston, and he's the type of shameless self-promoter and hype man who could get our NIL up and running FAST!
Will Wade: Obviously, I expect OSU to hire a guy who’s squeaky clean, but if they decide to just say “screw it, let’s win” Wade is the guy. It would be a fantastic “middle finger” to the NCAA. He’s KILLED it at noted basketball power McNeese State. Signed an extension recently, but from what I understand it’s not too prohibitive. In short, he’d be the best coach we’ve had since Eddie and he’s probably the best coach we’ve had a realistic chance of getting to OSU since Bill Self was at Illinois. I think he’s that level of coach.
Danny Sprinkle: Sprinkle might have coached himself into Dusty May territory this season, and was one of my favorites for OSU, but all of the rumors suggest he is headed back to his home state to coach the University of Washington. Nothing official yet though, so technically we still have a shot I guess.
Guys who have been mentioned and probably weren’t coming here anyway, but have now signed extensions and DEFINITELY aren’t coming here:
Gregg McDermott
Chris Beard
Proven guys we could realistically get who I think we’d all be excited about:
Darian DeVries: All he does is win. Has a 150-54 record as a head coach. Based on KenPom, seems to be a nice balance of offense and defense. Spent many years at Creighton under Altman and McDermott. Would bring his NBA talent son.
Josh Schertz: Everyone’s current darling. Was a dominant DII coach before taking over at ISU three years ago. They’ve gotten better every year, and may end up being an at-large team this year even after losing to Darian DeVries in the Missouri Valley conference championship game. His teams run amazing offense. And ISU has probably the worst basketball resources in his conference.
Niko Medved: Has had a good, but not great year at Colorado State, but has a track record of winning and turning programs around quickly. Considered an good offensive coach.
Kyle Smith: Very well-regarded coach who has only ever been at terrible jobs. He’s never been to the NCAA Tournament, but has won more than anyone could have hoped for, given the places he’s been. Looks like he may finally get in this year, and the only other guys to do so at Washington State are Tony Bennett and Kelvin Sampson. A “does more with less” guy seems like he’d do well here.
Chris Jans: A long-time Gregg Marshall assistant. He’s done a nice job at Mississippi State after an amazing run at New Mexico State, where he won almost 80% of his games.
Guys who are considered “coaches on the rise” and probably need to take one more step in their careers before being considered at OSU, but if we end up with one of them, there’d still be reason for optimism:
Eric Henderson: Has won an almost 70% of his games at SDSU and that jumps to an even more absurd 80% in Summit League play. Considered a really good offensive coach.
Bucky McMillan: Another current media darling. A dominant Alabama high school coach who’s done an amazing job at Samford. Got them to the tournament this year playing his unique brand of up-tempo offense referred to as “Bucky Ball.”
Steve Lutz: Long time assistant under McDermott at Creighton and Painter at Purdue. Took A&MCC to the tournament TWICE in two years before taking over at Western Kentucky.
Dustin Kerns: Honestly, probably belongs in the previous group, as I think he’d be a great fit here. He turned around Presbyterian in a few years, before taking over at Appalachian State, where he took them dancing a few years ago and almost did it again this season. They won 26 games but lost by 2 in the Suns Belt tournament. Known for his stifling defense—they’re #26 in KenPom’s defensive metrics—which always plays well with the OSU fanbase.
Mike Morrell: A former Shaka Smart assistant who got UNC Asheville to the dance last year, but came up a little short this year after winning 22 games. Won 4 games his first year at UNCA, so it's been quite a turn around for them.
Sundance Wicks: Another media darling. I can’t remember the exact stat, but there’s some way to measure a team’s success vs. what was expected/projected coming into the year, and Green Bay was at the top of that list.
Assistants we’d initially be disappointed in because they have no head coaching experience, but are way more qualified for the job than Mike Boynton:
John Jakus: Baylor Associate HC. Offensive guru. Knows Texas/Big XII country.
Shephen Gentry: A name I actually heard mentioned yesterday at OSU by someone who used to work in the athletics department. He was here with Underwood and was considered the architect of his motion offense. Left Underwood not long after he went to Illinois and has been at Gonzaga ever since.
Guys other people have mentioned I want no part of:
Richard Pitino: Seems to be a bad cultural fit and has had some SERIOUS ups and downs as a head coach. Having a great year, but his prior record reminds me way too much of Travis Ford.
Bryce Drew: The Vandy experience scares me. He may be a guy who works best at smaller private religious schools.
Bob Huggins: He’s 70 and was recently arrested for a DUI. No chance IN HELL he ends up at OSU. Not sure why people want him either, as he hadn’t exactly lit it up at WVU in recent years…
Guys I’m not as high on as I once was:
John Lucas & Stevie Graham: I thought they’d do well because they're NBA assistants, but there are just way too many former NBA players turned assistants turned college head coaches getting fired right now. That said, some of them were stars with no assistant coaching experience. Speedy Claxton is one guy who was a journeyman PG and he’s killing it at Hofstra.
Guys we hire if @Been Jammin was right and we can’t afford anyone else:
Scott Sutton
Keiton Page
Guy who would excite half the fanbase and drive the other half crazy, but I'd probably talk myself into:
Doug Gottlieb
First off, I have NO inside connections, but I’m not sure if anyone does at this point. I do follow the coaching carousel and chatter very closely. A lot of it turns out to be rumors, but some intel turns out to be legit AND sometimes it gives you an idea for the kind of coaches who may be considered for certain jobs. Currently, it’s too early to hear much “official” chatter on our opening, but here are some coaches I’ve been following this season, should we have an opening:
The dream candidates who aren’t coming here:
Bill Self: Maybe his health scare this year has him coming to terms with his own mortality, and he doesn’t want to leave this earth having not coached at his alma-mater?
Kelvin Sampson: There are rumors he once was and maybe even still is interested in this job. I’m guessing this ship has sailed, but he was in GIA for some Bedlam games that rank among the greatest sports atmospheres I’ve EVER experienced, and I was in the Ford Center when KD, Russ and Harden defeated Kobe and the defending champion Lakers in their first ever playoff victory. Kelvin knows how special GIA can be.
Dusty May: Probably ends up at Louisville or Ohio State, but I do think he’d be a fantastic fit here. Honestly, he's a better fit here than those other two places, but I just don’t see it happening.
Guys who will be mentioned, and probably aren’t coming here, but are more likely than the last group:
Buzz Williams: We’d be a bit of a soft landing for Buzz, as things seem to be going south at A&M. He’s reportedly shown interest in our job before and spent time in Oklahoma during the Sutton era. He hasn’t KILLED it at A&M, but who has? One thing I've always liked about Buzz is he reportedly turned down the OU job when he was at Marquette.
Pat Kelsey: I would’ve probably had him in the Dusty May tier when the season started, but as other mid-major guys have stolen some of his spotlight, we may have a slightly better shot than I thought. He’s won a ton of games and made a bunch of tournaments at Winthrop and Charleston, and he's the type of shameless self-promoter and hype man who could get our NIL up and running FAST!
Will Wade: Obviously, I expect OSU to hire a guy who’s squeaky clean, but if they decide to just say “screw it, let’s win” Wade is the guy. It would be a fantastic “middle finger” to the NCAA. He’s KILLED it at noted basketball power McNeese State. Signed an extension recently, but from what I understand it’s not too prohibitive. In short, he’d be the best coach we’ve had since Eddie and he’s probably the best coach we’ve had a realistic chance of getting to OSU since Bill Self was at Illinois. I think he’s that level of coach.
Danny Sprinkle: Sprinkle might have coached himself into Dusty May territory this season, and was one of my favorites for OSU, but all of the rumors suggest he is headed back to his home state to coach the University of Washington. Nothing official yet though, so technically we still have a shot I guess.
Guys who have been mentioned and probably weren’t coming here anyway, but have now signed extensions and DEFINITELY aren’t coming here:
Gregg McDermott
Chris Beard
Proven guys we could realistically get who I think we’d all be excited about:
Darian DeVries: All he does is win. Has a 150-54 record as a head coach. Based on KenPom, seems to be a nice balance of offense and defense. Spent many years at Creighton under Altman and McDermott. Would bring his NBA talent son.
Josh Schertz: Everyone’s current darling. Was a dominant DII coach before taking over at ISU three years ago. They’ve gotten better every year, and may end up being an at-large team this year even after losing to Darian DeVries in the Missouri Valley conference championship game. His teams run amazing offense. And ISU has probably the worst basketball resources in his conference.
Niko Medved: Has had a good, but not great year at Colorado State, but has a track record of winning and turning programs around quickly. Considered an good offensive coach.
Kyle Smith: Very well-regarded coach who has only ever been at terrible jobs. He’s never been to the NCAA Tournament, but has won more than anyone could have hoped for, given the places he’s been. Looks like he may finally get in this year, and the only other guys to do so at Washington State are Tony Bennett and Kelvin Sampson. A “does more with less” guy seems like he’d do well here.
Chris Jans: A long-time Gregg Marshall assistant. He’s done a nice job at Mississippi State after an amazing run at New Mexico State, where he won almost 80% of his games.
Guys who are considered “coaches on the rise” and probably need to take one more step in their careers before being considered at OSU, but if we end up with one of them, there’d still be reason for optimism:
Eric Henderson: Has won an almost 70% of his games at SDSU and that jumps to an even more absurd 80% in Summit League play. Considered a really good offensive coach.
Bucky McMillan: Another current media darling. A dominant Alabama high school coach who’s done an amazing job at Samford. Got them to the tournament this year playing his unique brand of up-tempo offense referred to as “Bucky Ball.”
Steve Lutz: Long time assistant under McDermott at Creighton and Painter at Purdue. Took A&MCC to the tournament TWICE in two years before taking over at Western Kentucky.
Dustin Kerns: Honestly, probably belongs in the previous group, as I think he’d be a great fit here. He turned around Presbyterian in a few years, before taking over at Appalachian State, where he took them dancing a few years ago and almost did it again this season. They won 26 games but lost by 2 in the Suns Belt tournament. Known for his stifling defense—they’re #26 in KenPom’s defensive metrics—which always plays well with the OSU fanbase.
Mike Morrell: A former Shaka Smart assistant who got UNC Asheville to the dance last year, but came up a little short this year after winning 22 games. Won 4 games his first year at UNCA, so it's been quite a turn around for them.
Sundance Wicks: Another media darling. I can’t remember the exact stat, but there’s some way to measure a team’s success vs. what was expected/projected coming into the year, and Green Bay was at the top of that list.
Assistants we’d initially be disappointed in because they have no head coaching experience, but are way more qualified for the job than Mike Boynton:
John Jakus: Baylor Associate HC. Offensive guru. Knows Texas/Big XII country.
Shephen Gentry: A name I actually heard mentioned yesterday at OSU by someone who used to work in the athletics department. He was here with Underwood and was considered the architect of his motion offense. Left Underwood not long after he went to Illinois and has been at Gonzaga ever since.
Guys other people have mentioned I want no part of:
Richard Pitino: Seems to be a bad cultural fit and has had some SERIOUS ups and downs as a head coach. Having a great year, but his prior record reminds me way too much of Travis Ford.
Bryce Drew: The Vandy experience scares me. He may be a guy who works best at smaller private religious schools.
Bob Huggins: He’s 70 and was recently arrested for a DUI. No chance IN HELL he ends up at OSU. Not sure why people want him either, as he hadn’t exactly lit it up at WVU in recent years…
Guys I’m not as high on as I once was:
John Lucas & Stevie Graham: I thought they’d do well because they're NBA assistants, but there are just way too many former NBA players turned assistants turned college head coaches getting fired right now. That said, some of them were stars with no assistant coaching experience. Speedy Claxton is one guy who was a journeyman PG and he’s killing it at Hofstra.
Guys we hire if @Been Jammin was right and we can’t afford anyone else:
Scott Sutton
Keiton Page
Guy who would excite half the fanbase and drive the other half crazy, but I'd probably talk myself into:
Doug Gottlieb
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