The Gophers are looking for a new coach. I don’t know if you heard that. They have some lofty ambitions. First, they think they are a program that can be built to be better than middle of the Big Ten, which might be a bit misguided. To do so, they want to hire one of the coaches that every team in he country wants to hire, which is hilarious. They grabbed Tubby Smith because he was about to get canned at Kentucky. Still, it was a fantastic hire, and he was the most consistent clean coach the Gophers may have ever had.
Not good enough! Let’s take a look at the names that have surfaced in various places with some quick takes on their potential.
– Shaka Smart – Not going to happen
– Brad Stevens – Lol
– Buzz Williams – His predecessor left to go to Indiana. If Buzz Williams is really available, a better program will step in to make an offer.
– Gregg Marshall – Marshall is from South Carolina, and he turned down the University of South Carolina to stay at Wichita State. Why would he choose to come to Minnesota?
– Flip Saunders – Go through your mental Rolodex and tell me all of the successful coaches who started in the NBA and then went to college. I’ll wait.
– Andy Enield – If you want a coach to demonstrate success winning conference games, why would you go after a coach that couldn’t even win the Atlantic Sun? Because of two games? The last time they went after a coach because of what they did in the tournament it was Dan Monson.
– Anthony Grant – Not mentioned much, but he was actually Shaka Smart’s predecessor at VCU. Coaching now at Alabama, but might actually be a decent candidate.
– Ben Howland – The Gophers aren’t going for someone who just got fired.
– Ben Jacobson – Still think this is what’s going to happen.
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