Thad Matta if he is looking to jump back into the profession. Why?
He's only 54 and has a tremendous resume. He coached at:
Butler
Spent one year there and won the league title and went to the tournament.
Xavier
Spent three seasons there where he won the league title his first two seasons.....then he finished third in third season but made up for it by leading them to the Elite Eight
Ohio State
13 seasons that included 5 Big Ten titles, 2 Sweet 16's, 1 Elite 8, and 2 Final Four's (including getting to one title game)......they also won an NIT
He had a great staff.....he and his staff were great recruiters who brought in big-time talent.
His teams were well-prepared and he clearly showed he can coach at the highest level.
I pick Matta because I don't think Brad Stevens is leaving the Celtics anytime soon (and if he did I think it would be for the Indiana job once Archie gets canned) and because he's about 10 years younger than John Beilein......I would fine with Beilein but I'd prefer Matta
If Matta is not the man, where do the Cyclones turn:
FIVE candidates that are already head-coaches that I think that Jamie will consider:
1)Darian DeVries.....he has done a solid job at Drake but as we saw with McDermott and John Groce at Illinois and many other mid-major coaches, some guys just can't take the next step.....he could be a great hire but he's unproven on this level.
2)Kelvin Sampson.....I personally am not a fan of Sampson but he's a tremendous coach, who has won at every stop. He has Houston in the top ten after a great season last year. At age 65, he might want one more run in a bigger conference.
3)Mark Pope.......is already 43-13 at BYU in his first two seasons and has them safely in this year's tournament. Could be an option Jamie considers.
4)T.J. Otzelberger........some people have been written that hiring T.J. would be another Prohm......that couldn't be further from the truth. T.J. is a way better fit for ISU but I still don't think he'll be the hire. He did well at South Dakota State and even though he's been .500 at UNLV, they finished 2nd in conference his first season and he has a great recruiting class coming in next year. I covered ISU sports for about 4 years when he was an assistant and got to know him well and he's a tremendous evaluator of talent. As he is showing at UNLV, he would have no trouble recruiting talent to Ames. Him and his wife love ISU and if hired, he would make this a final destination job.
5)Dennis Gates......you might not have heard of him but he's possibly about to win Coach of the Year in the Horizon League (he won it last year in his first season also) as his Cleveland State team might be heading to the tournament. They were Co-Champs but obviously have to win the conference tournament. He's young and was a top assistant at Florida State for 8 years.......he brought in a ton a talent for Leonard Hamilton and is considered a tremendous recruiter. He is from Chicago but played his college at Cal so he's got recruiting ties all over the country.
He might not be the choice but he should be considered.
TWO assistant coaches to consider:
Jon Scheyer.......considered a great recruiter at Duke......he's young, led Duke to a title as a player, and could be a great hire. Duke assistants have had a really weird run at it as head coaches so you just don't know......Quin Snyder ran into trouble at Mizzou but is thriving in the NBA......Mike Brey crushed it at ND until the last two years......Bobby Hurley has been very good until this season.......Jeff Capel and Wojo have also been up and down.....
Saddi Washington.....247 sports voted him the #1 recruiter among all D1 assistant coaches last year so it's probably not surprising that Michigan has the #1 recruiting class for 2021. He coached under Beilein and then stayed with Howard. He also served as an assistant coach for Nate Oats when Oats coached at Romulus High School in Michigan.......what does this mean? He's learned from great coaches and is considered a great recruiter......so I would at least interview the guy......he might be a future star as a head coach
He's only 54 and has a tremendous resume. He coached at:
Butler
Spent one year there and won the league title and went to the tournament.
Xavier
Spent three seasons there where he won the league title his first two seasons.....then he finished third in third season but made up for it by leading them to the Elite Eight
Ohio State
13 seasons that included 5 Big Ten titles, 2 Sweet 16's, 1 Elite 8, and 2 Final Four's (including getting to one title game)......they also won an NIT
He had a great staff.....he and his staff were great recruiters who brought in big-time talent.
His teams were well-prepared and he clearly showed he can coach at the highest level.
I pick Matta because I don't think Brad Stevens is leaving the Celtics anytime soon (and if he did I think it would be for the Indiana job once Archie gets canned) and because he's about 10 years younger than John Beilein......I would fine with Beilein but I'd prefer Matta
If Matta is not the man, where do the Cyclones turn:
FIVE candidates that are already head-coaches that I think that Jamie will consider:
1)Darian DeVries.....he has done a solid job at Drake but as we saw with McDermott and John Groce at Illinois and many other mid-major coaches, some guys just can't take the next step.....he could be a great hire but he's unproven on this level.
2)Kelvin Sampson.....I personally am not a fan of Sampson but he's a tremendous coach, who has won at every stop. He has Houston in the top ten after a great season last year. At age 65, he might want one more run in a bigger conference.
3)Mark Pope.......is already 43-13 at BYU in his first two seasons and has them safely in this year's tournament. Could be an option Jamie considers.
4)T.J. Otzelberger........some people have been written that hiring T.J. would be another Prohm......that couldn't be further from the truth. T.J. is a way better fit for ISU but I still don't think he'll be the hire. He did well at South Dakota State and even though he's been .500 at UNLV, they finished 2nd in conference his first season and he has a great recruiting class coming in next year. I covered ISU sports for about 4 years when he was an assistant and got to know him well and he's a tremendous evaluator of talent. As he is showing at UNLV, he would have no trouble recruiting talent to Ames. Him and his wife love ISU and if hired, he would make this a final destination job.
5)Dennis Gates......you might not have heard of him but he's possibly about to win Coach of the Year in the Horizon League (he won it last year in his first season also) as his Cleveland State team might be heading to the tournament. They were Co-Champs but obviously have to win the conference tournament. He's young and was a top assistant at Florida State for 8 years.......he brought in a ton a talent for Leonard Hamilton and is considered a tremendous recruiter. He is from Chicago but played his college at Cal so he's got recruiting ties all over the country.
He might not be the choice but he should be considered.
TWO assistant coaches to consider:
Jon Scheyer.......considered a great recruiter at Duke......he's young, led Duke to a title as a player, and could be a great hire. Duke assistants have had a really weird run at it as head coaches so you just don't know......Quin Snyder ran into trouble at Mizzou but is thriving in the NBA......Mike Brey crushed it at ND until the last two years......Bobby Hurley has been very good until this season.......Jeff Capel and Wojo have also been up and down.....
Saddi Washington.....247 sports voted him the #1 recruiter among all D1 assistant coaches last year so it's probably not surprising that Michigan has the #1 recruiting class for 2021. He coached under Beilein and then stayed with Howard. He also served as an assistant coach for Nate Oats when Oats coached at Romulus High School in Michigan.......what does this mean? He's learned from great coaches and is considered a great recruiter......so I would at least interview the guy......he might be a future star as a head coach
