It is extremely difficult to figure out where this search will go and what Warde Manuel is actually thinking. Lots of names get thrown out willy nilly, some unrealistic (Jay Wright, Tony Bennett, Chris Beard), while others are familiar people at the high major level who, in my view, really have not proven themselves to be top tier guys (Bobby Hurley, Steve Wojo). Still other successful coaches may be too old to consider if we want a 10+ year coach -- Mike Brey, Bob McKillop of Davidson, Joe Mihalich of Hofstra (seriously) and Keith Dambrot of Duquesne (nobody won there before him) -- or have skeletons (Ben Howland).
No reason not to explore Gregg Marshall - he is prickly and surly, but inarguably one of the best coaches in America. If there are skeletons, they will be found and then simply move on. I like Dan Hurley, but he just started at UConn. I would be fine with considering any of Steve Prohm, Kevin Keatts, Ed Cooley, Frank Martin, and Jamie Dixon. We can hem and haw to find faults, but all have been successful wherever they have been. I am less jazzed than others about the likes of Mike White and Kevin Willard, but they too have had some success.
I am already on record that Lavall Jordan should not even merit an interview, but he will get one. It is hard to determine who may be special, up and comer types. As fans, we ignore many good coaches who are better known within coaching circles and I think it is myopic to just look at win-loss record as a metric. Program circumstances matter.
Now, I do this without any regard to regional ties or other unknown factors that would make a pursuit unlikely, but here are some coaches to ponder whose names are not typically mentioned:
Randy Bennett (St. Mary's) - look at his record, nuff said
Russell Turner (UC-Irvine) - same and is often on lists of top x and o coaches
Travis DeCuire (Montana) - his teams are disciplined and very Beilein-esque
John Becker (Vermont) - take a look at his success, which exceeds other successful coaches there
Chris Jans (New Mexico State) - he has done gangbusters there, far exceeding his predecessor
And some at a tad lower level:
Scott Nagy (Wright State) - very well regarded in coaching circles
No reason not to explore Gregg Marshall - he is prickly and surly, but inarguably one of the best coaches in America. If there are skeletons, they will be found and then simply move on. I like Dan Hurley, but he just started at UConn. I would be fine with considering any of Steve Prohm, Kevin Keatts, Ed Cooley, Frank Martin, and Jamie Dixon. We can hem and haw to find faults, but all have been successful wherever they have been. I am less jazzed than others about the likes of Mike White and Kevin Willard, but they too have had some success.
I am already on record that Lavall Jordan should not even merit an interview, but he will get one. It is hard to determine who may be special, up and comer types. As fans, we ignore many good coaches who are better known within coaching circles and I think it is myopic to just look at win-loss record as a metric. Program circumstances matter.
Now, I do this without any regard to regional ties or other unknown factors that would make a pursuit unlikely, but here are some coaches to ponder whose names are not typically mentioned:
Randy Bennett (St. Mary's) - look at his record, nuff said
Russell Turner (UC-Irvine) - same and is often on lists of top x and o coaches
Travis DeCuire (Montana) - his teams are disciplined and very Beilein-esque
John Becker (Vermont) - take a look at his success, which exceeds other successful coaches there
Chris Jans (New Mexico State) - he has done gangbusters there, far exceeding his predecessor
And some at a tad lower level:
Scott Nagy (Wright State) - very well regarded in coaching circles
Mark Schmidt (St. Bonaventure) - took program from the ashes, difficult to succeed there
Will Brown (Albany) - has taken a nothing program to the tourney multiple times
One final name - Steve Pikiell. The record at Rutgers does not reflect it, but the man can coach. I saw the wonders he did at Stony Brook at a place with almost no support for most of his time there. Bring him to UM where he can recruit on a different level and I see almost guaranteed continuity in program success. I would be thrilled to learn that mutual interest exists.Will Brown (Albany) - has taken a nothing program to the tourney multiple times
