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Thanks to some folks, most notably ESPN's Andy Katz and RRS's Chris Level and myself, I've produced a lit of possible coaching candidates for the Texas Tech basketball job.
I've reconsidered how this coaching search should work in that initially I wanted athletic director Kirby Hocutt to just name Chris Walker as the interim head coach and move on to naming a permanent head coach in the spring. The problem with that sort of thinking is that Texas Tech would not be able to recruit, really at all, for the entire year. No player is going to commit to an interim head coach so that essentially puts Texas Tech bad for two more years, recruiting next year and the year after. So when Hocutt said that he was going to do a search that could last up to two weeks.
Now, I think that it's not a bad idea at all to think about finding a permanent replacement and I'm almost thinking that Hocutt needs to name a permanent replacement right now, for recruiting purposes alone. This is obviously risky in that if Hocutt does do this he doesn't have the pool of candidates available to Texas Tech if he waits until after the season, but unfortunately Texas Tech and Hocutt don't have that option.
Pros and cons of the possible candidates are after the jump and make sure and vote in the poll.
| CANDIDATE | CURRENTLY | PROS AND CONS |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Walker | Associate head coach Texas Tech |
Pros: Long-time assistant coach from graduation up until ths point. From Loyola Marymount, Vanderbilt, Pepperdine, Umass, New Mexico and Villanova. Has strong recruiting ties to Houston area prep basketball. Has relationship with current players and is largely responsible for recruiting Texas Tech's best high school players, Wannah Bail and Josh Gray. Cons: Has no head coaching experience at any level. |
| Rob Evans | Assistant coach North Texas |
Pros: Evans is a Texas Tech lifer in a sense. He was an assistant coach at Texas Tech from 1976 to 1990. Evans has been in and around the area for almost his entire coaching career. He would be a steadying influence. Cons: Evans is essentially a .500 coach with a career record of 205-201. Not only that, he is 66 years old, which means that he would not be a young coach that could grow old with this program, this would be a temporary fix. |
| Tony Benford | Head coach North Texas |
Pros: Played at Texas Tech from 1982-1986 so he had local ties at Texas Tech. Has worked through the ranks and as been an assistant coach at New Mexico, Arizona St and most recently at Marquette under Buzz Williams. Cons: Was named as the head coach at North Texas this past spring after being a candidate for the TTU job. Has no head coaching experience. |
| Grant McCasland | Assistant coach Baylor |
Pros: Has Texas Tech ties as he obtained graduate degree from Texas Tech and was Director of Operations from 1999-2001 under James Dickey. Also coached in West Texas as head coach at Midland College and Midwestern State. Had record of 143-23 as a coach. Has been assistant at Baylor since 2011. Cons: Very little head coaching experience. |
| Darvin Ham | Assistant coach Los Angles Lakers |
Pros: Played at Texas Tech from 1993-1996 and retired from playing in 2008. Began coaching with the NBA D-League after retirement. Darvin and wife have degree from Texas Tech. Currently the head coach of Lakers. Cons: Only 3 years of coaching experience and has no experience in the college ranks. At the best, he would be a similar hire to Fred Hoiberg at Iowa St. |
| Doc Sadler | Director basketball operations Kansas |
Pros: A long-time assistant with a wealth of experience, including stints as an assistant coach under Billy Gillispie. Was head coach at UTEP and Nebraska. Head coaching record of 149-107. He squeezed just about every bit of talent from his teams and the only candidate with major coaching experience. Cons: Could never push Nebraska through to a tournament appearance, but had little program support. Strong ties to Billy Gillispie and Rob Evans as assistant to both coaches. Has nice job in Kansas where he could retire for life if he wanted. |
| Steve Green | Head coach South Plains College |
Pros: Won the NJCAA title last year and has overall record of 301-83 in 13th year of SPC. Was named as coach of the year in 2012 and in 2008. Has a sterling record at the JUCO level and consistently wins. Has been assistant at TAMU-Corpus Christi and recruiting coordinator at San Diego St. Cons: Has never been head coach at level higher that SPC and may be a candidate that is a bit older. |
| Mark Adams | Head coach Howard College |
Pros: Has 17 years as head coach with overall record of 458-223. Led Howard to 35-2 record in 2006 and won NJCAA in 2010. Father of current player Luke Adams. Would most likely, like Green, retire at Texas Tech although I believe he is younger than Green. Cons: Like Green, has no major college coaching experience. |
| Reggie Theus | Not currently employed |
Pros: Was an excellent head coach at New Mexico St and in second year lead Aggies to NCAA Tournament. Long-time NVA player. Cons: Was not good as head coach of Sacramento Kings and bolted NMSU as soon as he could for the NBA where he flamed out after two years. |