Oklahoma State basketball coaching search update: Several top candidates off the board, new names emerge
Mar. 25—When Oklahoma State moved on from Mike Boynton on March 14, I'm not sure many people expected the search for a replacement to last late into the month.
Now entering the final week of March, several coaches are already getting the carousel moving. Here's what we know (and what we don't know) about the search for a new name in Stillwater.
Some of the "top candidates" on OSU's search list have already been claimed elsewhere. Yesterday, West Virginia announced that it was hiring former Drake head coach Darian DeVries to be its next head coach. DeVries was a popular name for OSU's prospects, but he was claimed by a fellow Big 12 school less than a day after Drake's elimination from the NCAA Tournament.
The attention then turned to Utah State's Danny Sprinkle, who's name had been linked to both the Cowboys for a better part of the past week. Sprinkle's Aggies lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past weekend to one-seed Purdue, and by Monday afternoon he had taken the job in his home state of Washington to become the next head coach of the Washington Huskies.
With two big names down, the talk pivots to the best available remaining names for Oklahoma State to dial in on.
Last weekend, the Tulsa World reported a connection between OSU and Nevada head coach Steve Alford, stating that Alford reportedly "expressed interest" in the job.
Alford most famously spent five seasons as head coach of UCLA, leading the Bruins to three Sweet Sixteens in a four-season span from 2014 through 2017. In total, he has been a Division I coach for 29 years and has won 11 NCAA Tournament games in his coaching career.
USF's Amir Abdur-Rahim and Western Kentucky's Steve Lutz would be promising leads. Both of which have found success in their young coaching careers.
Abdur-Rahim led Kennesaw State to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and won the American Athletic Conference regular-season title this season. Lutz took Western Kentucky to the NCAA Tournament in year one, and each of his two previous seasons led Texas A&M Corpus Christi to tournament appearances.
Reports have been flying out of Stillwater since the coaching search began, but one of the consistent themes has been Chad Weiberg's alleged aggressiveness in finding a replacement. CBS Sports' Matt Norlander said, "Weiberg has been able to be aggressive in his offers to candidates."
Despite the reported aggression in this coaching search, Oklahoma State is still looking for its successor.
Some of the names reported on in that statement are since off the board as well. Kyle Smith is reportedly leaving Washington State to take the job at Stanford and Mark Byington is leaving James Madison for Vanderbilt.
Don't overlook Northwestern Missouri State's Ben McCollum. Though he is unproven at the Division-I ranks, he is leading a Division-II powerhouse. He has a 394-91 career record and four Division-II National Championships with 10 consecutive Tournament appearances.
Weiberg and OSU's athletic department have kept a majority of the coaching search close to the vest, so a lot of the alleged names are truly unknown in terms of validity. Names could range from proven winners in power-five roles all the way to assistants at top universities around the country, or even Ronald Nored, who is an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks.
One thing is known for sure, and it's that the clock is ticking more urgently than ever. Boynton's estimated buyout of $7.5 million would have decreased to around $6 million on April 1, which is quickly approaching.
Every day that OSU spends searching gets potentially more and more expensive. A decision of such financial measures needs to result in a worthy hire for a program that so desperately needs new life and a sense of direction.
