Indiana Basketball Coaching Candidates: Who is going to replace Mike Woodson?

The Indiana Head Trainer Job is one of the biggest in College Basketball right now, and its opening of this season will give no shortage of candidates.

Before we come to a list of 12 potential options to fill this vacant position, here is what I would do if I was Hoosier’s athletic director Scott Dolson: Go with someone who has at least proven something in college rows has one Energy that fits Modern Day College Basketball boats within the strategy on the field and the name, image and equality (zero) Renaissance and who will work tirelessly at a Big Ten conference filled with NCAA tournament programs.

The Hoosians have not reached the second weekend of the big dance since 2016, just shy for a decade, and the last four of the program was 23 years ago. While the memories of Bob Knight are plenty and Indiana tried to get a coach who understood that in Mike Woodson, the 66-year-old did not fit the college stage for various reasons.

(Read more: Why should Mike Woodson’s time at Indiana come to an end and what’s next??

So it’s back to the drawing board. Indiana has to get this rent right. Money is not a problem. The Hoosians used approx. $ 5.5 million on their list this year, sources of Fox Sports tell. The program’s brand is one of the largest in College Basketball, and there is a real campus feeling on Indiana. With it comes pressure, but look at it this way: After Mike Krzyzewski at Duke or Jay Wright in Villanova or Roy Williams in North Carolina or even Jim Boeheim in Syracuse are all challenging. The coach who can turn this on Indiana would become an instant folk hero.

That said, let’s run through 12 names to see in this search that we update as it progresses.

He is already a legend in the state of Indiana after taking the butler to back-to-back national championships in 2010 and 2011. As president of basketball operations for Celtics, Stevens has already won a championship and is preferred to repeat in June. Would the 48-year-old have some desire to return to the sidelines? Would Zionsville, Indiana native and his family actually like to come home? Dolson’s first call would probably be to Stevens. I don’t think he and his wife will go back in college basketball, but you can’t leave Stevens’ name out of it, and Indiana Donors would back up the Brinks truck to get him.

A Bob Knight disciples and proven winner, Beard is perhaps the most discussed name in the race. If he is offered he would take it. The question is simple: Would Indiana’s administration be ok with hiring beards after his exit from 2022 from Texas? The 51-year-old was fired in the middle of a crime domestic family violence for allegedly strangling his fiancé. The charges were abandoned in February 2023. If Indiana is willing to accept it and hire beards, he has won at all levels he has coached from Division III to II to the high large level. After taking Arkansas-Little Rock to the NCAA tournament for a 30-win season in 2016, he got the job at Texas Tech and led Red Raiders to three NCAA tournaments in five years and the national championship game in 2019-an incredible achievement. He has an NCAA tournament team that could reach the second weekend if things break right at Ole Miss this year. The rebels have not danced since 2019.

(Read more: NCAA Tournament Bubble Watch: Arkansas, Indiana among teams that need strong finish?

Could the Hoosiers pull in the heart strings in May, an Indiana-Alun who served as student manager at Bob Knights Hoosiers from 1996-2000? Ironically, May and his top-25 will visit Wolverine’s Indiana on Saturday in a game to produce a wild atmosphere considering the recent news.

If I was Indiana and could get any coach in the country right now, this is the one I would hire. The 47-year-old is a complete grinding machine and has done an incredible job with Iowa State, which is 17-5 a year, has the Final Four Outside and is ranked as eighth in the country. He is a guy in Midwest who has performed one of the best building jobs in college basketball, and his team is consistently some of the most difficult player groups in the country.

This year’s two-time SEC coach took Marquette to three sweet 16s and an elite Eight. He led Virginia Tech to his first sweet 16 since 1965, and now has a top-10 Texas A&M team led by the Allamerican guard Wade Taylor IV. Williams has won 367 matches on a clip of 62%. He is a long -lasting, proven winner and is still only 52.

One of the best coaches in the country that people are not talking enough about, McDermott has led Bluejays to the NCAA tournament for three of the past four years and Have won a march madness game in each of the past four seasons. He has collected 618 wins as the main coach and is one of the best offensive minds in basketball, not to mention that he would fit the Indiana fan base well.

The 45-year-old from Chicago is one of the best young coaches in the country leading Cleveland State to the NCAA tournament in 2021 and NIT in 2022. Now he is subject to a great turn on Missouri. After reaching the second round of the big dance and won 25 games two years ago, Gates’ teams amounted to only eight wins last year. But this season the Tigers are 17-5 and are ranked in the top 15 of the AP vote. He is on the radar.

Other names:

Drake head coach Ben McCollum Have had an incredible increase and initiated the bulldogs for a 21-2 start of the year. He has also won four national titles in Division II and was to get an interview for the degree he won early in his career.

Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland Has been a huge rent in Lubbock and has a top-10 caliber team this year. The 48-year-old is a Scott Drew disciples.

I have a hard time believing Shaka Smart Will ever leave Marquette because they pay him big money. He has returned to his home state and has really become the best version of himself there. That said, he should be on the call list.

Take care of Mississippi State Main Trainer Chris JansThere has won everywhere he has been and has made the bulldogs a winner again.

The second name would be Vanderbilt’s Mark ByingtonThere James Madison led to his first NCAA -Tournament Gain in the Round of 64 since 1983 last year and has put Commodores back on the map to get a potential tournament bid for the first time in eight years – which would be one of the biggest surprises in the sport .

John Fanta is a National College Basketball Company and Author of Fox Sports. He covers the sport in different capabilities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as a lead host on Big East Digital Network to give comments on the area 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_fanta.

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