I think it is more than fair at this point to say Vanderbilt should be preparing to hire a Men's Basketball coach at the end of this season. As much as I wanted Stackhouse to work out, this year has made it really clear that the program is not heading in a good direction. This season has reminded me a lot of the back end of the Derek Mason era. It was really clear after year 6 that Vandy Football was heading in a bad direction, but the admin decided to give Mason year 7 and it set back the program and Clark's rebuild by multiple years. They can't afford to make the same mistake with Stackhouse. Barring a huge turnaround, it is hard to see the team finishing much better than 12-19 (5-13) this year. The record alone should be enough to make a change, but the recruiting has not been great either and the incoming class is not good enough to justify giving him another year.
This offseason could prove to be a great opportunity for Vanderbilt to make a change as there is not expected to be much coaching turnover in the SEC. With South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Missouri making coaching changes last offseason, it is hard to see more than one other SEC job coming open barring unexpected firings or a coach getting hired away. Being one of the only SEC jobs on the market makes the job much more attractive and could lead to having better candidates that are interested. This is an opportunity that Vanderbilt needs to capitalize on. With that, let' get to the hot board.
Realistic, Good Candidates
Takeaways: McCasland and Kelsey stand out above the rest for me here, but three out of five of these coaches have won at multiple spots and you could feel pretty good if your search came down to a couple of these guys. Kelsey would be my pick, as he has proved he can win and he is a young guy that puts in a lot of effort into building the fan base at Charleston and getting the school/community involved, and I think that is something that is sorely needed here.
Dream Candidates
This offseason could prove to be a great opportunity for Vanderbilt to make a change as there is not expected to be much coaching turnover in the SEC. With South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Missouri making coaching changes last offseason, it is hard to see more than one other SEC job coming open barring unexpected firings or a coach getting hired away. Being one of the only SEC jobs on the market makes the job much more attractive and could lead to having better candidates that are interested. This is an opportunity that Vanderbilt needs to capitalize on. With that, let' get to the hot board.
Realistic, Good Candidates
- Grant McCasland (North Texas): 20-12 in his lone season at Arkansas State. 132-72 in five full seasons at North Texas, currently in his sixth. Has one two regular season championships and one conference tournament championship in five years. Was an assistant under Scott Drew at Baylor and is known to be a good recruiter.
- Pat Kelsey (College of Charleston): 186-95 in nine seasons at Winthrop before taking the CoC job in 2021. At Winthrop, he won four regular season conference championships and three conference tournament championships. He went 17-15 in his first season at Charleston (they went 9-10 the year before he took over). They are currently 11-1 with wins over Davidson, Colorado State, and Virginia Tech. He also has a top 60 recruit in the class of 2023 committed to Charleston.
- Bob Richey (Furman): 117-49 in six seasons at Furman. Has not taken Furman to the NCAA tournament, but has consistently won and is known to be a very good offensive mind. Biggest knock here is he has no Power 5 experience as he started his career as an assistant at Charleston and Furman, respectively.
- Niko Medved (Colorado State): Led rebuilds at Furman and Drake before going to Colorado State in 2018. 77-46 in four seasons at Colorado State, including an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament last season and finished the year ranked 24th in the AP Poll.
- Jordan Mincy (Jacksonville): Took over a Jacksonville program that went 14-18 and 11-13 the two years before he arrived and led them to a 21-10 record and one game away from the NCAA Tournament in his first year. Has Power 5 experience as an assistant at Florida under Mike White.
Takeaways: McCasland and Kelsey stand out above the rest for me here, but three out of five of these coaches have won at multiple spots and you could feel pretty good if your search came down to a couple of these guys. Kelsey would be my pick, as he has proved he can win and he is a young guy that puts in a lot of effort into building the fan base at Charleston and getting the school/community involved, and I think that is something that is sorely needed here.
Dream Candidates
- Jay Wright: I would make Jay Wright convince me that he did not want to coach again before I moved on to someone else. Feels like he would only coach again if it was at a school that is similar to Villanova and Vandy fits that bill, so maybe he’d want to take on the SEC.
- Sitting P5 Head Coaches: I think there is a lot to sell with this job with the new facility being built and the SEC becoming better in basketball every year. I am curious to hear any Power 5 coaches that anyone here thinks they could have a shot at or should reach out to.
