Indiana men’s basketball coaching hot board: Version 1.0

Northwestern v Indiana — Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

Who’s in contention to be the Hoosiers’ next head coach?

We’ve already listed some names to know for the Indiana men’s basketball job opening, let’s get onto what everyone is doing these days and put together a real hot board.

Here we’ll list some guys, determine the viability of their hire by the athletic department and offer our own thoughts on them. We’ve broken this up into a few tiers: Gotta Give ‘Em A Call, For When Those Guys Say No and last but also least the “No” tier.

Let’s get into it.

Gotta Give ‘Em A Call Tier

This is pretty self explanatory. These are the guys that Indiana at the very least should gauge for interest because, hey, you simply never know. Not realistic, no, but that’s sorta the point.

Brad Stevens – President of Basketball Operations, Boston Celtics

Background: It’s going to happen every time the job is open. He is a basketball savant who grew up in the state cheering for the program and whose father was on the Hoosiers’ 1968 Rose Bowl team. He’s getting a call.
Our Thoughts: It’s Brad Stevens. Home state hero and basketball savant. Move heaven and Earth to get him.
Viability: Stevens’ name will be brought up and Indiana will make him the kind of offer that would be incredibly difficult for anyone to refuse. Indiana has failed to make the hire for the past two coaching searches but hey, maybe third time’s the charm?

Dusty May – Head Coach, Michigan

Background: May is yet another favorite son in the college basketball coaching ranks. As a student manager under Bob Knight, IU graduate and native of the state, he gets the program and environment in a way most don’t. He also took FAU to a Final Four just two years ago and has Michigan as a top-half Big Ten team in year one.
Our Thoughts: May took FAU to the Final Four. FAU. To the Final Four. He can Coach. He’d do well in Bloomington.
Viability: When and if the job makes it past Stevens, May is probably the second call on Indiana’s list. It could be difficult to pry him away from Michigan but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a coach felt pulled home. Indiana has also shown an increased willingness to pay top dollar for coaching talent, so it could simply outbid the Wolverines.

Bruce Pearl – Head Coach, Auburn

Background: Pearl is an interesting one. He won an NCAA Division-II championship in his first head coaching role at Southern Indiana and his name still carries substantial weight around Evansville as a result. He’s also coaching one of the best teams in the sport right now and appears pretty happy at Auburn.
Our Thoughts: Pearl has college basketball’s best team this season and lives for the spotlight. He’d make sense but it’s a longshot.
Viability: This is another shoot for the moon possibility. Would Pearl, never shy for a spotlight, be interested in a region that’s already interested in him? Again, it’d be very difficult and Auburn would put up a fight to keep him. He’s also shown this year that he can win at the highest level while at Auburn, so he may be less inclined to leave now.

Billy Donovan – Head Coach, Chicago Bulls

Background: Donovan’s college coaching resume speaks for itself as a two-time title winner. He, like Stevens, has the hangup of becoming an NBA mainstay after so much time in the league between two different organizations. Unlike Stevens, Donovan’s Bulls seem cursed to mediocrity. Would an offer to come back to a changed college basketball prove enticing?
Our Thoughts: Donovan is an incredible coach. If you can make it happen you do it.
Viability: This whole section is shoot for the moon guys, man, you know how it is. It’s farfetched. Indiana would probably place a few full-on calls before Donovan but I wouldn’t be surprised if they reached out in one way or another to gauge interest.

Scott Drew – Head Coach, Baylor

Background: Drew has a past in the Hoosier state after starting his basketball career as a student manager at Butler before joining his father’s bench as an assistant at Valparaiso. He’s since taken Baylor and built it from the ground up all the way to a title.
Our Thoughts: Drew would be a good hire… but he has two conference championships in over 20 years at Baylor. He has a title too, yes, but… I mean…
Viability: Both Kentucky and Louisville tried to pry Drew away from Baylor to no dice. It’d be an uphill battle for Indiana too, but he does have ties to the state that those other programs did not.

For When The Above Guys Say No Tier

Okayyyy all the longshots failed. Now what? Well, there’s plenty of other guys who could be interested in a good job. Such as!

Grant McCasland – Head Coach, Texas Tech

Background: McCasland took over at Texas Tech after a disastrous end to the Mark Adams tenure and has the Red Raiders as a top program in the Big 12 again.
Our Thoughts: We like it, think it would work but there’s names above him on the list.
Viability: McCasland has almost never worked outside of Texas. It’s home for him. It’s hard to see him leaving for The Midwest.

Buzz Williams – Head Coach, Texas A&M

Background: Williams is currently the head coach at Texas A&M and has a past at programs like Virginia Tech and Marquette. He consistently makes the Tournament and typically goes deeper with time at each of his stops.
Our Thoughts: We could see it. We understand the appeal. We are hesitant of hiring Yet Another Defensive Guy.
Viability: Indiana basketball desperate for success money vs. Texas oil money but at a football school. You tell me, man.

Mark Byington – Head Coach, Vanderbilt

Background: Byington is in year one at Vanderbilt after having been hired from JMU. He’s done an incredible job in a stacked SEC at a program with a solid NIL commitment.
Our Thoughts: While it’d be funny to hire two of JMU’s coaches from that 2023-24 academic year we also think Byington would make it work in Bloomington.
Viability: We think Indiana could provide the right kind of offer for Byington. Would he want the job though? He’s also somewhat unproven. Will Dolson take a risk like that with the pressure to get this hire right?

Brad Brownell – Head Coach, Clemson

Background: Brownell is a native of the Hoosier state having been born in Evansville and played at DePauw (like another Brad on this list). He’s been at Clemson since 2010 and has hit something of a peak lately, taking the Tigers to an Elite Eight last year and looking strong this season.
Our Thoughts: There are names above Brownell. It would take time. Ultimately we think he’d get the Hoosiers consistently competitive but, again, call other guys first.
Viability: Brownell has been at Clemson forever. It’s home to him. Could he feel the draw to return to Indiana.

Dennis Gates – Head Coach, Missouri

Background: Hey, Tamar Bates. Gates is a younger candidate who did well at Cleveland State before taking the Mizzou job, where he’s been… weird. He burst onto the scene and led the Tigers to the second round in year one and then looked absolutely terrible in year two. Now they’re looking good again. Sure?
Our Thoughts: Last season’s performance frankly terrifies me. That was bad. Really bad. Too big of a risk with that kind of floor.
Viability: Mizzou would probably fight to keep him around but Indiana could probably pull this one off.

Micah Shrewsberry – Head Coach, Notre Dame

Background: Shrewsberry’s Penn State squads got the better of Woodson’s Indiana when he was in the Big Ten. Now he’s up at Notre Dame where his Fighting Irish have looked… underwhelming in two years. But he’s a native of the state who would recruit it well and runs a fun offense, so.
Our Thoughts: At least one of us thinks Shrews would do pretty well in Bloomington. But still, there’s names above his like Stevens and May. He hasn’t necessarily impressed so far in South Bend, but it’s not a comparable situation to the Indiana job.
Viability: Indiana provides more than Notre Dame. A lot more. This shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Ben McCollum – Head Coach, Drake

Background: McCollum has kept Drake humming as a program in a post-Darian DeVries landscape. He’s also won multiple titles at the NCAA Division-II level and is a Midwest guy.
Our Thoughts: We think he could work but a guy with one year of Division-I coaching experience at IU is still a gamble.
Viability: Indiana could probably make this happen if McCollum is good with the spotlight. If Indiana doesn’t, Iowa certainly will. Another guy who may be too much of a gamble for Dolson, too.

Mick Cronin – Head Coach, UCLA

Background: Cronin has taken UCLA to the Final Four and consistently makes the NCAA Tournament with his hard-nosed, defensive units. He’s at a Big Ten rival but feels like a mainstay on these lists at this point.
Our Thoughts: Cronin does not have the personality to make it work here. He’s akin to Archie Miller just with high-major with coaching success. No thanks. Also don’t like his style of play. Pass.
Viability: Maybe?

“No” Tier

No.