While NC State is searching for its next basketball coach, it is important to keep an eye on the overall market that the Pack is competing in. With that in mind, here is a breakdown of the rumor mill heading into Selection Sunday:
• Missouri: This job is open, as the Tigers went somewhat on a similar route that NC State take, announcing the dismissal of Kim Anderson before the SEC Tournament but allowing him to coach during the event. This might be the beginning of the establishment of a new trend where colleges make sure they start a formal transition before allowing a coach to potentially save his job with a late-season run.
Rumors are rumors, but there is a lot of speculation that Missouri will end up with either embattled Indiana head coach Tom Crean or California head coach Cuonzo Martin. The latter has been subject to a lot of rumors throughout the season that he is looking to move on from Cal.
For his part, Crean denied that he had interest in the Missouri job (story), and he has children either enrolled or set to arrive at Indiana (son Riley signed to play baseball for the Hoosiers next year). However, the questions about Crean won’t be truly answered until after Indiana’s season is over.
• LSU: It may not be official yet, but it is a certainty that Johnny Jones is done in Baton Rouge, and all indications are that the Tigers aim to be big players in the market. This is the opening that could cross paths with NC State the most, especially as it pertains to VCU head coach Will Wade, who some believe could be high on the Tigers’ list.
If Baylor head coach Scott Drew is active about getting out of Waco, LSU could be a landing spot for him. However, Drew and Baylor cancelled a scheduled game against Vanderbilt after the Commodores hired his brother, Bryce. That would leave doubt that he would be interested in competing with his brother in the SEC. ESPN Insider also reported that Drew “has a significant buyout.”
ESPN’s Jeff Goodman had noted in the past that perhaps Virginia Tech’s Buzz Williams could be in play. In the end though, the names on LSU’s list could match a lot of the names on NC State’s, including Wade and UNC Wilmington’s Kevin Keatts.
• Indiana: Most believe that Indiana could be the cream of the crop on the job market if Crean is not retained or he preemptively takes another job (see Missouri). Some of the names that are popular among NC State fans could definitely be in play at Indiana if it opened up: Dayton’s Archie Miller, Butler’s Chris Holtmann and Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall.
From NC State’s perspective, Indiana would probably be the top competitor for Miller if he made a firm decision he wanted to leave Dayton after this season, especially since the Ohio State job is not going to be open. This may also be the one job Holtmann would consider leaving Butler for after this season.
• Illinois: A 20-point first round loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday afternoon after losing to Rutgers in the final game of the regular season may have put a halt to the momentum John Groce was building to potentially save his job.
If Illinois does move on, which was once a seemingly foregone conclusion until they won five out of six games in February (including two victories over Northwestern, a road win at Iowa and capped by a home win over Michigan State) the Illini would be a serious factor in the market. Many believe that they would be Martin’s first choice if he left California.
• California: If Martin does move on after this season, the Bears will obviously need a new coach. But it is a West Coast school and expected to draw from a different pool of candidates that NC State, and the economic picture from Cal (read about it here) is not good, making one wonder how much they could budget for a new coach.
Washington is another West Coast school that could open up but would likely pull from a different pool of candidates. However, Forde recently reported that embattled coach Lorenzo Romar is likely to retain his job.
• Clemson: It is the only other, on the surface, potential ACC job that could open up this offseason, but Clemson AD Dan Radkovich cast doubt on Wednesday that Brad Brownell was in jeopardy of losing his job. If Brownell does get fired however, then the school would likely make Wade, a Clemson alum, a priority.
• Georgia: It remains uncertain what the Bulldogs will do with head coach Mark Fox, who has had modest but not overwhelming success in eight seasons with the Bulldogs (two NCAA Tournament appearances, two NITs and four 20-win seasons in his first seven years; a 19-13 record after beating Tennessee in the opening round of the SEC Tournament this season and potentially on the NCAA Tourney bubble).
Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde reported that Georgia was already exploring options and evaluating mid-major coaches primarily as potential replacements. However, Georgia AD Greg MacGarity forcefully disputed that report and seemed to imply that he anticipates on having Fox back for another season. (Story)
Georgia would be another job that would naturally be linked to some of the same names that have been mentioned at NC State (Wade and Keatts among others).
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On the surface, the job market has a chance of shaping up well for NC State.
The dream scenario: Clemson and Georgia confirm that Brownell and Fox respectively are returning for another year; Illinois hires Martin; Missouri takes Crean off Indiana’s hands; Indiana gets a coach that was not likely coming to NC State anyway and that leaves LSU the Pack’s top competitor for the coaches high on its list.
Now here comes the hard part, when was the last time anything set up like a dream scenario for NC State?
• Missouri: This job is open, as the Tigers went somewhat on a similar route that NC State take, announcing the dismissal of Kim Anderson before the SEC Tournament but allowing him to coach during the event. This might be the beginning of the establishment of a new trend where colleges make sure they start a formal transition before allowing a coach to potentially save his job with a late-season run.
Rumors are rumors, but there is a lot of speculation that Missouri will end up with either embattled Indiana head coach Tom Crean or California head coach Cuonzo Martin. The latter has been subject to a lot of rumors throughout the season that he is looking to move on from Cal.
For his part, Crean denied that he had interest in the Missouri job (story), and he has children either enrolled or set to arrive at Indiana (son Riley signed to play baseball for the Hoosiers next year). However, the questions about Crean won’t be truly answered until after Indiana’s season is over.
• LSU: It may not be official yet, but it is a certainty that Johnny Jones is done in Baton Rouge, and all indications are that the Tigers aim to be big players in the market. This is the opening that could cross paths with NC State the most, especially as it pertains to VCU head coach Will Wade, who some believe could be high on the Tigers’ list.
If Baylor head coach Scott Drew is active about getting out of Waco, LSU could be a landing spot for him. However, Drew and Baylor cancelled a scheduled game against Vanderbilt after the Commodores hired his brother, Bryce. That would leave doubt that he would be interested in competing with his brother in the SEC. ESPN Insider also reported that Drew “has a significant buyout.”
ESPN’s Jeff Goodman had noted in the past that perhaps Virginia Tech’s Buzz Williams could be in play. In the end though, the names on LSU’s list could match a lot of the names on NC State’s, including Wade and UNC Wilmington’s Kevin Keatts.
• Indiana: Most believe that Indiana could be the cream of the crop on the job market if Crean is not retained or he preemptively takes another job (see Missouri). Some of the names that are popular among NC State fans could definitely be in play at Indiana if it opened up: Dayton’s Archie Miller, Butler’s Chris Holtmann and Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall.
From NC State’s perspective, Indiana would probably be the top competitor for Miller if he made a firm decision he wanted to leave Dayton after this season, especially since the Ohio State job is not going to be open. This may also be the one job Holtmann would consider leaving Butler for after this season.
• Illinois: A 20-point first round loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday afternoon after losing to Rutgers in the final game of the regular season may have put a halt to the momentum John Groce was building to potentially save his job.
If Illinois does move on, which was once a seemingly foregone conclusion until they won five out of six games in February (including two victories over Northwestern, a road win at Iowa and capped by a home win over Michigan State) the Illini would be a serious factor in the market. Many believe that they would be Martin’s first choice if he left California.
• California: If Martin does move on after this season, the Bears will obviously need a new coach. But it is a West Coast school and expected to draw from a different pool of candidates that NC State, and the economic picture from Cal (read about it here) is not good, making one wonder how much they could budget for a new coach.
Washington is another West Coast school that could open up but would likely pull from a different pool of candidates. However, Forde recently reported that embattled coach Lorenzo Romar is likely to retain his job.
• Clemson: It is the only other, on the surface, potential ACC job that could open up this offseason, but Clemson AD Dan Radkovich cast doubt on Wednesday that Brad Brownell was in jeopardy of losing his job. If Brownell does get fired however, then the school would likely make Wade, a Clemson alum, a priority.
• Georgia: It remains uncertain what the Bulldogs will do with head coach Mark Fox, who has had modest but not overwhelming success in eight seasons with the Bulldogs (two NCAA Tournament appearances, two NITs and four 20-win seasons in his first seven years; a 19-13 record after beating Tennessee in the opening round of the SEC Tournament this season and potentially on the NCAA Tourney bubble).
Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde reported that Georgia was already exploring options and evaluating mid-major coaches primarily as potential replacements. However, Georgia AD Greg MacGarity forcefully disputed that report and seemed to imply that he anticipates on having Fox back for another season. (Story)
Georgia would be another job that would naturally be linked to some of the same names that have been mentioned at NC State (Wade and Keatts among others).
***
On the surface, the job market has a chance of shaping up well for NC State.
The dream scenario: Clemson and Georgia confirm that Brownell and Fox respectively are returning for another year; Illinois hires Martin; Missouri takes Crean off Indiana’s hands; Indiana gets a coach that was not likely coming to NC State anyway and that leaves LSU the Pack’s top competitor for the coaches high on its list.
Now here comes the hard part, when was the last time anything set up like a dream scenario for NC State?
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