College basketball coaching carousel

I'd put UConn and, perhaps, Duke a notch below UNC, Kansas and Kentucky when it comes to the premier jobs. To me it's an outstanding job if there's something about the program itself that breeds success. Multiple coaches have come in and got it done at UNC, KU and UK.

It will be interesting to see what happens at UConn and Duke after their legendary coaches hang it up. Look at Indiana, it's not a given those programs are going to keep it going after that happens.

 

As great as the Calhoun era has been, I figure the next guy will have to deal with a lot of messes that were ignored because of Calhoun's stature, while also have to win. Not a good job to take. It's Wooden after UCLA, NC after Dean Smith..
I still figure Illinois can't be that tough to win at. Hire the top AAU guy in Chicago as an assistant and watch the recruits start rolling in.

 

The only way Illinois is going to get the talent John Calipari gets out of Chicago is to hire Calipari. Bruce Weber was too nice a guy to deal with those sharks.

 

Rumor has it that Marquette's Buzz Williams is who Illinois may be going after next...

 

I don't think Illinois is a consistent top-20 team, but one of the 20 top jobs given its conference, location and lack of a big time football program to compete for attention with.

I do think there is a difference though between college hoops and football. Players being recruited to play top level basketball are used to playing in different parts of the country through AAU, making them probably more open to playing far from home than football players.

 

OK, I'm talking myself out of the Illini as a top 20 program. Here's 30 and I'm guessing Illinois would be in the 20-30 range. I'm sure I forgot someone...

Kentucky
Kansas
Indiana
Michigan State
UCLA
Louisville
North Carolina
Duke
Syracuse
Arizona
UConn
Florida
Ohio State
Michigan


Georgetown
Marquette
Purdue
Missouri
Texas
Oklahoma
Illinois
Wisconsin
Pitt
Oregon
Arkansas
Maryland
Notre Dame
St. Johns
Villanova
Cincy

Just missed: Memphis, Georgia Tech, Butler, Gonzaga, Cal, Stanford, NC State, West Virginia...

 

I could see Grant being very happy to be a bit under the radar at Bama.

 

Based on the jobs he turned down last year, I'd be a little surprised if he left.

 

Williams would be a fool to leave Marquette for Illinois. As you might have gathered, I don't think terribly highly of that job, at least not for someone who is being well-paid at a solid program at a basketball-focused school like a Gonzaga, Butler, Marquette, VCU or Xavier. If you're a good coach at a mid-major whose administration doesn't aspire to those heights (and at all those schools, basketball is integral to their university branding), then Illinois is a great destination for you because, as Bubbler noted, you do have a chance of catching lightning in a bottle and getting into the top 20. In fact, I think for Illinois the best bet is a coach who took a middling program to the top of its mid-major conference, because that's the sort of position he would be in when he gets to Champaign.

There are few major jobs I would think those coaches would consider. For example, the only other place that would appeal to Brad Stevens is Indiana, and with the job Tom Crean is doing right now, I don't think that position is going to be open for a while.

 

To me, it would mean the 20 jobs where, if reasonable potential is met, you'll win big and sustain it, if you so desire to.

Which means, you have support. You have recruiting base. You either have first-rate facilities or the ability to get them built.

 

By that definition, USC should be a Top 20 job.