Sprinkle's (possible) replacements

WAaggieFan · Post by **WAaggieFan** » March 25th, 2024, 4:02 pm

aggies22 wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 11:57 am

Aggie in Boise wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 11:01 am

slcagg wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:53 am

Aggie in Boise wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:50 am

apo wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:46 am
I’d like to throw my hat in the ring

Coaching Experience: 0 years (not even Jr. Jazz)
Recruiting: Mediocre, at best
X and Os: I read Coach K’s book “Beyond Basketball”, so I’m set there
Love of CV: Very High
Likelihood of accepting another coaching position: Incredibly low

Please have your people reach out to my people for inquiries
We need stability. Are you a stable person?
He posts on here..do you think he is stable?
He only has 226 posts. We need a larger sample size. Like a @ViAggie sample size?
I'm not interested in ViAggie's sample size.

Give it another 22 and you’ll be begging for free ViAggie samples.

LoveMyAggies · Post by **LoveMyAggies** » March 25th, 2024, 8:48 pm

LarryTheAggie wrote:
Aggie in Boise wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 9:51 am

hipsterdoofus21 wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 9:49 am
Brian Dutcher was an assistant for decades.
Under a legendary head coach that he assisted for a number of years.
Sounds like Tim Duryea.

Wrong program though. Look at Tommy Lloyd he was at Gonzaga for 10+ years and was part of many sweet16 runs.

I’m fine hiring an assistant you’re just mentioning the wrong assistant pool.

If you want to use mid major assistants

Think

Gonzaga
St Mary’s
SDSU
Musselman’s crew he took to Arkansas
Creighton
Butler
Dusty May’s staff
Etc etc etc

I’m honestly spit balling here.

There is an elite few mid major programs that figured out how to win in the tournament consistently. This is why Lloyd is now in the sweet16 again with Gonzaga.

Maybe we hire Gonzaga’s top assistant Brian Michaelson, or another top assistant with long term tourney experience.

Let’s look at some other options

Dwigt · Post by **Dwigt** » March 25th, 2024, 8:49 pm

shoresy wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 11:01 am
If Tunka hasn't been contacted, the AD isn't doing its job.

LoveMyAggies · Post by **LoveMyAggies** » March 25th, 2024, 9:30 pm

Dwigt wrote:
shoresy wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 11:01 am
If Tunka hasn't been contacted, the AD isn't doing its job.

I though you all were big on Ryan Thompson and his players.

https://bhsuathletics.com/sports/mens-b ... ompson/607

(605)642-6607

EMAIL Ryan.Thompson@bhsu.edu

Here’s his contact info .. he can tell you how much more qualified he is than Tunka.

Madmartigan · Post by **Madmartigan** » March 26th, 2024, 7:19 am

@treesap32 any way to merge this thread with the one SLB started?

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » March 26th, 2024, 10:03 am

In trying to glean all the info I can across the webs combined with some things I've heard, here's a bit of an unofficial summary of seemingly likely candidates:

(The list is intended to be in somewhat of a ranked order.)

* Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo - He is rumored as the top candidate. He took over a poor Toledo team in 2010 that had only won 7 games the prior year. After only winning 4 games his first year, he turned Toledo into a winner and has won the last 4 MAC season championships and been the 2X MAC coach of the year. He has not won the conference tournament though. Our AD, Diana Sabau is from Ohio and has deep ties there, so I assume there's also some sort of connection here. He is 57 years old.

*Todd Simon, Bowling Green - He was the 2021 Big Sky coach of the year at SUU and then jumped to Bowling Green for a pay increase in 2023. BG went 11-20 last year, but Simon went 20-14 his 1st year there. At SUU he was considered a hot young coach. He also spent 1/2 season as UNLV's interim head coach in 2016. SUU was Kenpom ranked #342 when he took over and he got them up to #111. He was the 1st coach ever at SUU to have 3 straight 20 win seasons. It's no secret he wants this job. He's 43 years old.

*Andy Hill, USU- Current associate head coach Andy Hill has to be a strong candidate for the job. He does a fair amount of the actual coaching right now and has a lot of good recruiting connections. He's very familiar with out West due to being a long time Utah assistant. He is how we got Ian Martinez here. I believe he's about 46 years old.

*Eric Henderson, South Dakota st. - Has been at South Dakota st. the past 5 years and has won the league 4 times. His win % is .693. He doesn't have much experience outside of the Dakotas though and hasn't left the Midwest. He's 46 years old. I could also argue the team hasn't been as good under him as it was under Scott Nagy or TJ Otzelberger.

*Pat Kelsey, College of Charleston- Pat Kelsey is a very hot name right now and is rumored as a finalist for the Louisville job. He is very highly respected and has 74% win % at Charleston. He played two years at Wyoming but then transferred to Xavier. He spent his whole coaching career out East. It's been rumored he's waiting for a big job out East. IF we could actually get him I would be ecstatic about this hire, but I'm not optimistic about it. He's 48 years old.

*Bucky McMillan, Samford - This is a fascinating name. He coached a HS dynasty bball team in Alabama and was hired directly into Samford. He is in his 4th year where he's taken them from #321 Kenpom to #80. He just led his team to a 29-5 record and NCAA tournament appearance. They nearly beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament but lost on a horrible incorrect foul call. He is coaching Rylan Jones. He is 40 years old.

*Joe Pastnerack, UC Santa Barbara - He was a strong candidate for the job last year with UCSB winning the Big West 2 of the past 3 years. All he has done is win in the 7 seasons he's been there. However, this year his term inexplicably has taken a step back and he's having his worst season in 7 years there. Maybe some monotony has set in for him?

*Chris Gerlufsen, San Francisco - He's only been at San Francisco for two years, but the team was good this year (as we saw first hand) and was quite improved over last year. He was the associate head coach in 2022 when they were a 10 seed in the NCAA tournament. He's been an assistant at various places the past 20 years before getting the head job at San Francisco. He's 47 years old.

*David Riley, Eastern Washington - He's only 35 years old and has been very impressive at Eastern Washington in 3 years. He was the Big Sky coach of the year last year over Danny Sprinkle. However, his team has flamed out and lost early in the Big Sky Tournament the past two years as the 1 seed. On paper he seemed like a great idea, but apparently he isn't actually that highly regarded and may not be a great candidate.

*Tim Miles, San Jose st. - Tim was actually a candidate for the job last year. He was Craig Smith's mentor and had a ton of success at Colorado st. He was fired at Nebraska after that and now has done a decent job at SJSU. I'm not sure any coach can win at SJSU with their lack of fan support and he put out a pretty good team last year. I actually like this idea and he's a coach who would seemingly stay in the job for a long time if successful. He was a top candidate last year but with San Jose fledgling it seems he's lost a lot of momentum. He's 58 years old.

*Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon- He just had a crazy successful at Grand Canyon and has been great there, after running Vanderbilt into the ground a few years ago. His name is commonly brought up, but the consensus across the internet is that he's already making probably double what we could pay him. I have to think he's not a realistic candidate. He's 49 years old.

*Matt Langel, Colgate- He has been Colgate's coach for 13 seasons, with a 55% win %. However, he's won the patriot league 6 years in a row. He played college ball at Penn and is from Pennsylvania has a lot of Ivy League ties. This one also seems like a longshot. He's 46 years old.

*Preston Spradlin, Morehead st. He just won the OVC and took Morehead st. the tournament. He's only 37 years old and has been Morehead st.'s head coach for 8 years with a 56% win %, but his team has trended up the whole time. This guy was born in KY, played bball a small KY college, and has coached in KY his whole career. It also seems unlikely.

*Chris Victor, Seattle- He was the 2022 WAC coach of the year, but Seattle's record has gotten worse each of the 2 seasons he's been there after his first year. He is considered a dynamic young coach. He's approximately 40 years old.

*Russell Turner, UC Irvine - He has been at UC Irvine for the past 14 years and has win % of .62. He's won the Big West 7 of the 14 seasons and had a great team this year. He's 53 years old.

*Will Wade, Mcneese st. - I just bring him up to mention him because someone will inevitably ask again. The rumor is USU has no interest given the character reputation.

SasquatchAggie · Post by **SasquatchAggie** » March 26th, 2024, 10:10 am

If the rumors were true about throwing 2M at Sprinkle, why don't we throw that money to a higher level coach like a Medved?

GameFAQSAggie · Post by **GameFAQSAggie** » March 26th, 2024, 10:11 am

SasquatchAggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:10 am
If the rumors were true about throwing 2M at Sprinkle, why don't we throw that money to a higher level coach like a Medved?

Cause medved wouldn't come here

Aggie702 · Post by **Aggie702** » March 26th, 2024, 10:18 am

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:03 am
In trying to glean all the info I can across the webs combined with some things I've heard, here's a bit of an unofficial summary of seemingly likely candidates:

(The list is intended to be in somewhat of a ranked order.)

* Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo - He is rumored as the top candidate. He took over a poor Toledo team in 2010 that had only won 7 games the prior year. After only winning 4 games his first year, he turned Toledo into a winner and has won the last 4 MAC season championships and been the 2X MAC coach of the year. He has not won the conference tournament though. Our AD, Diana Sabau is from Ohio and has deep ties there, so I assume there's also some sort of connection here. He is 57 years old.

*Todd Simon, Bowling Green - He was the 2021 Big Sky coach of the year at SUU and then jumped to Bowling Green for a pay increase in 2023. BG went 11-20 last year, but Simon went 20-14 his 1st year there. At SUU he was considered a hot young coach. He also spent 1/2 season as UNLV's interim head coach in 2016. SUU was Kenpom ranked #342 when he took over and he got them up to #111. He was the 1st coach ever at SUU to have 3 straight 20 win seasons. It's no secret he wants this job. He's 43 years old.

*Andy Hill, USU- Current associate head coach Andy Hill has to be a strong candidate for the job. He does a fair amount of the actual coaching right now and has a lot of good recruiting connections. He's very familiar with out West due to being a long time Utah assistant. He is how we got Ian Martinez here. I believe he's about 46 years old.

*Eric Henderson, South Dakota st. - Has been at South Dakota st. the past 5 years and has won the league 4 times. His win % is .693. He doesn't have much experience outside of the Dakotas though and hasn't left the Midwest. He's 46 years old. I could also argue the team hasn't been as good under him as it was under Scott Nagy or TJ Otzelberger.

*Pat Kelsey, College of Charleston- Pat Kelsey is a very hot name right now and is rumored as a finalist for the Louisville job. He is very highly respected and has 74% win % at Charleston. He played two years at Wyoming but then transferred to Xavier. He spent his whole coaching career out East. It's been rumored he's waiting for a big job out East. IF we could actually get him I would be ecstatic about this hire, but I'm not optimistic about it. He's 48 years old.

*Bucky McMillan, Samford - This is a fascinating name. He coached a HS dynasty bball team in Alabama and was hired directly into Samford. He is in his 4th year where he's taken them from #321 Kenpom to #80. He just led his team to a 29-5 record and NCAA tournament appearance. They nearly beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament but lost on a horrible incorrect foul call. He is coaching Rylan Jones. He is 40 years old.

*Joe Pastnerack, UC Santa Barbara - He was a strong candidate for the job last year with UCSB winning the Big West 2 of the past 3 years. All he has done is win in the 7 seasons he's been there. However, this year his term inexplicably has taken a step back and he's having his worst season in 7 years there. Maybe some monotony has set in for him?

*Chris Gerlufsen, San Francisco - He's only been at San Francisco for two years, but the team was good this year (as we saw first hand) and was quite improved over last year. He was the associate head coach in 2022 when they were a 10 seed in the NCAA tournament. He's been an assistant at various places the past 20 years before getting the head job at San Francisco. He's 47 years old.

*David Riley, Eastern Washington - He's only 35 years old and has been very impressive at Eastern Washington in 3 years. He was the Big Sky coach of the year last year over Danny Sprinkle. However, his team has flamed out and lost early in the Big Sky Tournament the past two years as the 1 seed. On paper he seemed like a great idea, but apparently he isn't actually that highly regarded and may not be a great candidate.

*Tim Miles, San Jose st. - Tim was actually a candidate for the job last year. He was Craig Smith's mentor and had a ton of success at Colorado st. He was fired at Nebraska after that and now has done a decent job at SJSU. I'm not sure any coach can win at SJSU with their lack of fan support and he put out a pretty good team last year. I actually like this idea and he's a coach who would seemingly stay in the job for a long time if successful. He was a top candidate last year but with San Jose fledgling it seems he's lost a lot of momentum. He's 58 years old.

*Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon- He just had a crazy successful at Grand Canyon and has been great there, after running Vanderbilt into the ground a few years ago. His name is commonly brought up, but the consensus across the internet is that he's already making probably double what we could pay him. I have to think he's not a realistic candidate. He's 49 years old.

*Matt Langel, Colgate- He has been Colgate's coach for 13 seasons, with a 55% win %. However, he's won the patriot league 6 years in a row. He played college ball at Penn and is from Pennsylvania has a lot of Ivy League ties. This one also seems like a longshot. He's 46 years old.

*Preston Spradlin, Morehead st. He just won the OVC and took Morehead st. the tournament. He's only 37 years old and has been Morehead st.'s head coach for 8 years with a 56% win %, but his team has trended up the whole time. This guy was born in KY, played bball a small KY college, and has coached in KY his whole career. It also seems unlikely.

*Chris Victor, Seattle- He was the 2022 WAC coach of the year, but Seattle's record has gotten worse each of the 2 seasons he's been there after his first year. He is considered a dynamic young coach. He's approximately 40 years old.

*Russell Turner, UC Irvine - He has been at UC Irvine for the past 14 years and has win % of .62. He's won the Big West 7 of the 14 seasons and had a great team this year. He's 53 years old.

*Will Wade, Mcneese st. - I just bring him up to mention him because someone will inevitably ask again. The rumor is USU has no interest given the character reputation.

With the portal open and our current roster in limbo, would love to get a quality candidate hired ASAP. I think the top 3 on your list would all accept ASAP. Others on this list will wait to see how the dominoes shake out hoping for a better offer before entertaining USU.

Aggie84025 · Post by **Aggie84025** » March 26th, 2024, 12:36 pm

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:03 am
In trying to glean all the info I can across the webs combined with some things I've heard, here's a bit of an unofficial summary of seemingly likely candidates:

(The list is intended to be in somewhat of a ranked order.)

* Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo - He is rumored as the top candidate. He took over a poor Toledo team in 2010 that had only won 7 games the prior year. After only winning 4 games his first year, he turned Toledo into a winner and has won the last 4 MAC season championships and been the 2X MAC coach of the year. He has not won the conference tournament though. Our AD, Diana Sabau is from Ohio and has deep ties there, so I assume there's also some sort of connection here. He is 57 years old.

*Todd Simon, Bowling Green - He was the 2021 Big Sky coach of the year at SUU and then jumped to Bowling Green for a pay increase in 2023. BG went 11-20 last year, but Simon went 20-14 his 1st year there. At SUU he was considered a hot young coach. He also spent 1/2 season as UNLV's interim head coach in 2016. SUU was Kenpom ranked #342 when he took over and he got them up to #111. He was the 1st coach ever at SUU to have 3 straight 20 win seasons. It's no secret he wants this job. He's 43 years old.

*Andy Hill, USU- Current associate head coach Andy Hill has to be a strong candidate for the job. He does a fair amount of the actual coaching right now and has a lot of good recruiting connections. He's very familiar with out West due to being a long time Utah assistant. He is how we got Ian Martinez here. I believe he's about 46 years old.

*Eric Henderson, South Dakota st. - Has been at South Dakota st. the past 5 years and has won the league 4 times. His win % is .693. He doesn't have much experience outside of the Dakotas though and hasn't left the Midwest. He's 46 years old. I could also argue the team hasn't been as good under him as it was under Scott Nagy or TJ Otzelberger.

*Pat Kelsey, College of Charleston- Pat Kelsey is a very hot name right now and is rumored as a finalist for the Louisville job. He is very highly respected and has 74% win % at Charleston. He played two years at Wyoming but then transferred to Xavier. He spent his whole coaching career out East. It's been rumored he's waiting for a big job out East. IF we could actually get him I would be ecstatic about this hire, but I'm not optimistic about it. He's 48 years old.

*Bucky McMillan, Samford - This is a fascinating name. He coached a HS dynasty bball team in Alabama and was hired directly into Samford. He is in his 4th year where he's taken them from #321 Kenpom to #80. He just led his team to a 29-5 record and NCAA tournament appearance. They nearly beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament but lost on a horrible incorrect foul call. He is coaching Rylan Jones. He is 40 years old.

*Joe Pastnerack, UC Santa Barbara - He was a strong candidate for the job last year with UCSB winning the Big West 2 of the past 3 years. All he has done is win in the 7 seasons he's been there. However, this year his term inexplicably has taken a step back and he's having his worst season in 7 years there. Maybe some monotony has set in for him?

*Chris Gerlufsen, San Francisco - He's only been at San Francisco for two years, but the team was good this year (as we saw first hand) and was quite improved over last year. He was the associate head coach in 2022 when they were a 10 seed in the NCAA tournament. He's been an assistant at various places the past 20 years before getting the head job at San Francisco. He's 47 years old.

*David Riley, Eastern Washington - He's only 35 years old and has been very impressive at Eastern Washington in 3 years. He was the Big Sky coach of the year last year over Danny Sprinkle. However, his team has flamed out and lost early in the Big Sky Tournament the past two years as the 1 seed. On paper he seemed like a great idea, but apparently he isn't actually that highly regarded and may not be a great candidate.

*Tim Miles, San Jose st. - Tim was actually a candidate for the job last year. He was Craig Smith's mentor and had a ton of success at Colorado st. He was fired at Nebraska after that and now has done a decent job at SJSU. I'm not sure any coach can win at SJSU with their lack of fan support and he put out a pretty good team last year. I actually like this idea and he's a coach who would seemingly stay in the job for a long time if successful. He was a top candidate last year but with San Jose fledgling it seems he's lost a lot of momentum. He's 58 years old.

*Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon- He just had a crazy successful at Grand Canyon and has been great there, after running Vanderbilt into the ground a few years ago. His name is commonly brought up, but the consensus across the internet is that he's already making probably double what we could pay him. I have to think he's not a realistic candidate. He's 49 years old.

*Matt Langel, Colgate- He has been Colgate's coach for 13 seasons, with a 55% win %. However, he's won the patriot league 6 years in a row. He played college ball at Penn and is from Pennsylvania has a lot of Ivy League ties. This one also seems like a longshot. He's 46 years old.

*Preston Spradlin, Morehead st. He just won the OVC and took Morehead st. the tournament. He's only 37 years old and has been Morehead st.'s head coach for 8 years with a 56% win %, but his team has trended up the whole time. This guy was born in KY, played bball a small KY college, and has coached in KY his whole career. It also seems unlikely.

*Chris Victor, Seattle- He was the 2022 WAC coach of the year, but Seattle's record has gotten worse each of the 2 seasons he's been there after his first year. He is considered a dynamic young coach. He's approximately 40 years old.

*Russell Turner, UC Irvine - He has been at UC Irvine for the past 14 years and has win % of .62. He's won the Big West 7 of the 14 seasons and had a great team this year. He's 53 years old.

*Will Wade, Mcneese st. - I just bring him up to mention him because someone will inevitably ask again. The rumor is USU has no interest given the character reputation.

Thank you for all the detailed information. My top 4 from that list would be.

Pat Kelsey
Todd Simon
Tod Kow
Andy Hill

Real Life Aggie · Post by **Real Life Aggie** » March 26th, 2024, 5:41 pm

GameFAQSAggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:11 am

SasquatchAggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:10 am
If the rumors were true about throwing 2M at Sprinkle, why don't we throw that money to a higher level coach like a Medved?
Cause medved wouldn't come here

Even if Medved wanted to, that would be a pretty uninspiring hire.

aggieborn · Post by **aggieborn** » March 26th, 2024, 6:01 pm

Real Life Aggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 5:41 pm

GameFAQSAggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:11 am

SasquatchAggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:10 am
If the rumors were true about throwing 2M at Sprinkle, why don't we throw that money to a higher level coach like a Medved?
Cause medved wouldn't come here
Even if Medved wanted to, that would be a pretty uninspiring hire.

Coach K isn’t walking through that door. Uninspiring maybe, but a home run hire that we also couldn’t hit.

Real Life Aggie · Post by **Real Life Aggie** » March 26th, 2024, 6:06 pm

aggieborn wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 6:01 pm

Real Life Aggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 5:41 pm

GameFAQSAggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:11 am

SasquatchAggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:10 am
If the rumors were true about throwing 2M at Sprinkle, why don't we throw that money to a higher level coach like a Medved?
Cause medved wouldn't come here
Even if Medved wanted to, that would be a pretty uninspiring hire.
Coach K isn’t walking through that door. Uninspiring maybe, but a home run hire that we also couldn’t hit.

I don't want Coach K. I'd be happy with some other dude I've never heard of that had great success at a smaller level and wants to do some work at USU. It's worked pretty well three times in a row.

GameFAQSAggie · Post by **GameFAQSAggie** » March 26th, 2024, 6:15 pm

Aggie in Boise wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:37 am
Has his wife seen the Cache Valley Mall?

The Cache Valley Mall won't be around much longer. It is going to be demolished soon in favor of a new shopping center that has a hotel and apartments. Alot of stores anticipating it have moved to other locations.

Huddleclubber · Post by **Huddleclubber** » March 26th, 2024, 6:51 pm

Has anyone brought up Dave Rice? He spent a year with Stew in Logan and then 6 down at the Y so he knows the culture. Also had some good years at UNLV as their head coach before some boosters decided to get him fired.

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » March 26th, 2024, 6:53 pm

Huddleclubber wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 6:51 pm
Has anyone brought up Dave Rice? He spent a year with Stew in Logan and then 6 down at the Y so he knows the culture. Also had some good years at UNLV as their head coach before some boosters decided to get him fired.

As a head coach there's 0 chance, but it's thought he'd be a potential assistant if Todd Simon got the job.

Huddleclubber · Post by **Huddleclubber** » March 26th, 2024, 7:12 pm

Todd Simon was an assistant to Dave Rice at UNLV so that dynamic won't happen.

FloridaAggie13 · Post by **FloridaAggie13** » March 26th, 2024, 7:22 pm

shoresy wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:54 am

rAggie wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 1:37 am
The "I'd rather Bovee make the hire than Sabau" stuff here is comical.

Under Bovee's watch, we hired a coaching staff and gave them five nights in a hotel and a good luck. Now we have an actual professional athletics director in place who is turning this into a modern D1 program that will treat people properly and not be amateur hour.

I don't know where it is on the list of challenges that this outgoing coaching staff had with USU, but things got off to a rocky start when proper temporary housing wasn't provided to the coaches.
It's clear that you have a personal issue with Bovee, but THIS is comical. Danny is leaving to take millions of dollars at the program his dad coached at. Not because they spent a few nights in a hotel.

Jerry has had an incredible track record hiring coaches, including one who is likely going to be named national Coach of the Year. Diana is a professional, and yes, is very capable of making big decisions. But she's never made a coaching hire bigger than the women's hockey coach at Ohio State. I very much would rather have Bovee leading the search. And that's no shot at Sabau.

Maybe if Bovee doesn't treat him like (I can't express myself without swearing) beginning on Day One, Sprinkles falls in love Cache Valley and USU administration.

bluegrouse · Post by **bluegrouse** » March 26th, 2024, 7:22 pm

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 10:03 am
In trying to glean all the info I can across the webs combined with some things I've heard, here's a bit of an unofficial summary of seemingly likely candidates:

(The list is intended to be in somewhat of a ranked order.)

* Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo - He is rumored as the top candidate. He took over a poor Toledo team in 2010 that had only won 7 games the prior year. After only winning 4 games his first year, he turned Toledo into a winner and has won the last 4 MAC season championships and been the 2X MAC coach of the year. He has not won the conference tournament though. Our AD, Diana Sabau is from Ohio and has deep ties there, so I assume there's also some sort of connection here. He is 57 years old.

*Todd Simon, Bowling Green - He was the 2021 Big Sky coach of the year at SUU and then jumped to Bowling Green for a pay increase in 2023. BG went 11-20 last year, but Simon went 20-14 his 1st year there. At SUU he was considered a hot young coach. He also spent 1/2 season as UNLV's interim head coach in 2016. SUU was Kenpom ranked #342 when he took over and he got them up to #111. He was the 1st coach ever at SUU to have 3 straight 20 win seasons. It's no secret he wants this job. He's 43 years old.

*Andy Hill, USU- Current associate head coach Andy Hill has to be a strong candidate for the job. He does a fair amount of the actual coaching right now and has a lot of good recruiting connections. He's very familiar with out West due to being a long time Utah assistant. He is how we got Ian Martinez here. I believe he's about 46 years old.

*Eric Henderson, South Dakota st. - Has been at South Dakota st. the past 5 years and has won the league 4 times. His win % is .693. He doesn't have much experience outside of the Dakotas though and hasn't left the Midwest. He's 46 years old. I could also argue the team hasn't been as good under him as it was under Scott Nagy or TJ Otzelberger.

*Pat Kelsey, College of Charleston- Pat Kelsey is a very hot name right now and is rumored as a finalist for the Louisville job. He is very highly respected and has 74% win % at Charleston. He played two years at Wyoming but then transferred to Xavier. He spent his whole coaching career out East. It's been rumored he's waiting for a big job out East. IF we could actually get him I would be ecstatic about this hire, but I'm not optimistic about it. He's 48 years old.

*Bucky McMillan, Samford - This is a fascinating name. He coached a HS dynasty bball team in Alabama and was hired directly into Samford. He is in his 4th year where he's taken them from #321 Kenpom to #80. He just led his team to a 29-5 record and NCAA tournament appearance. They nearly beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament but lost on a horrible incorrect foul call. He is coaching Rylan Jones. He is 40 years old.

*Joe Pastnerack, UC Santa Barbara - He was a strong candidate for the job last year with UCSB winning the Big West 2 of the past 3 years. All he has done is win in the 7 seasons he's been there. However, this year his term inexplicably has taken a step back and he's having his worst season in 7 years there. Maybe some monotony has set in for him?

*Chris Gerlufsen, San Francisco - He's only been at San Francisco for two years, but the team was good this year (as we saw first hand) and was quite improved over last year. He was the associate head coach in 2022 when they were a 10 seed in the NCAA tournament. He's been an assistant at various places the past 20 years before getting the head job at San Francisco. He's 47 years old.

*David Riley, Eastern Washington - He's only 35 years old and has been very impressive at Eastern Washington in 3 years. He was the Big Sky coach of the year last year over Danny Sprinkle. However, his team has flamed out and lost early in the Big Sky Tournament the past two years as the 1 seed. On paper he seemed like a great idea, but apparently he isn't actually that highly regarded and may not be a great candidate.

*Tim Miles, San Jose st. - Tim was actually a candidate for the job last year. He was Craig Smith's mentor and had a ton of success at Colorado st. He was fired at Nebraska after that and now has done a decent job at SJSU. I'm not sure any coach can win at SJSU with their lack of fan support and he put out a pretty good team last year. I actually like this idea and he's a coach who would seemingly stay in the job for a long time if successful. He was a top candidate last year but with San Jose fledgling it seems he's lost a lot of momentum. He's 58 years old.

*Bryce Drew, Grand Canyon- He just had a crazy successful at Grand Canyon and has been great there, after running Vanderbilt into the ground a few years ago. His name is commonly brought up, but the consensus across the internet is that he's already making probably double what we could pay him. I have to think he's not a realistic candidate. He's 49 years old.

*Matt Langel, Colgate- He has been Colgate's coach for 13 seasons, with a 55% win %. However, he's won the patriot league 6 years in a row. He played college ball at Penn and is from Pennsylvania has a lot of Ivy League ties. This one also seems like a longshot. He's 46 years old.

*Preston Spradlin, Morehead st. He just won the OVC and took Morehead st. the tournament. He's only 37 years old and has been Morehead st.'s head coach for 8 years with a 56% win %, but his team has trended up the whole time. This guy was born in KY, played bball a small KY college, and has coached in KY his whole career. It also seems unlikely.

*Chris Victor, Seattle- He was the 2022 WAC coach of the year, but Seattle's record has gotten worse each of the 2 seasons he's been there after his first year. He is considered a dynamic young coach. He's approximately 40 years old.

*Russell Turner, UC Irvine - He has been at UC Irvine for the past 14 years and has win % of .62. He's won the Big West 7 of the 14 seasons and had a great team this year. He's 53 years old.

*Will Wade, Mcneese st. - I just bring him up to mention him because someone will inevitably ask again. The rumor is USU has no interest given the character reputation.

Bucky McMillan signed an extension at Samford today.

Intermeddler · Post by **Intermeddler** » March 26th, 2024, 7:38 pm

FloridaAggie13 wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 7:22 pm

shoresy wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:54 am

rAggie wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 1:37 am
The "I'd rather Bovee make the hire than Sabau" stuff here is comical.

Under Bovee's watch, we hired a coaching staff and gave them five nights in a hotel and a good luck. Now we have an actual professional athletics director in place who is turning this into a modern D1 program that will treat people properly and not be amateur hour.

I don't know where it is on the list of challenges that this outgoing coaching staff had with USU, but things got off to a rocky start when proper temporary housing wasn't provided to the coaches.
It's clear that you have a personal issue with Bovee, but THIS is comical. Danny is leaving to take millions of dollars at the program his dad coached at. Not because they spent a few nights in a hotel.

Jerry has had an incredible track record hiring coaches, including one who is likely going to be named national Coach of the Year. Diana is a professional, and yes, is very capable of making big decisions. But she's never made a coaching hire bigger than the women's hockey coach at Ohio State. I very much would rather have Bovee leading the search. And that's no shot at Sabau.
Maybe if Bovee doesn't treat him like (I can't express myself without swearing) beginning on Day One, Sprinkles falls in love Cache Valley and USU administration.

There is probably some truth to this. Doesn't keep him here in all likelihood but things got off to a bad start when Sprinkle got here for a number of reasons.

StanfordAggie · Post by **StanfordAggie** » March 26th, 2024, 8:05 pm

Intermeddler wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 7:38 pm

FloridaAggie13 wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 7:22 pm

shoresy wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:54 am

rAggie wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 1:37 am
The "I'd rather Bovee make the hire than Sabau" stuff here is comical.

Under Bovee's watch, we hired a coaching staff and gave them five nights in a hotel and a good luck. Now we have an actual professional athletics director in place who is turning this into a modern D1 program that will treat people properly and not be amateur hour.

I don't know where it is on the list of challenges that this outgoing coaching staff had with USU, but things got off to a rocky start when proper temporary housing wasn't provided to the coaches.
It's clear that you have a personal issue with Bovee, but THIS is comical. Danny is leaving to take millions of dollars at the program his dad coached at. Not because they spent a few nights in a hotel.

Jerry has had an incredible track record hiring coaches, including one who is likely going to be named national Coach of the Year. Diana is a professional, and yes, is very capable of making big decisions. But she's never made a coaching hire bigger than the women's hockey coach at Ohio State. I very much would rather have Bovee leading the search. And that's no shot at Sabau.
Maybe if Bovee doesn't treat him like (I can't express myself without swearing) beginning on Day One, Sprinkles falls in love Cache Valley and USU administration.
There is probably some truth to this. Doesn't keep him here in all likelihood but things got off to a bad start when Sprinkle got here for a number of reasons.

Come on. I can think of about 20 million reasons that Sprinkle was not going to stay in Logan no matter how well he was or was not treated by our athletic department. If the rumors about not providing temporary housing to Sprinkle and his staff are true, that is definitely an area where USU needs to improve in the future. But let's not pretend like this had anything to do with Sprinkle leaving USU.

Intermeddler · Post by **Intermeddler** » March 26th, 2024, 8:48 pm

StanfordAggie wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 8:05 pm

Intermeddler wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 7:38 pm

FloridaAggie13 wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 7:22 pm

shoresy wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:54 am

rAggie wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 1:37 am
The "I'd rather Bovee make the hire than Sabau" stuff here is comical.

Under Bovee's watch, we hired a coaching staff and gave them five nights in a hotel and a good luck. Now we have an actual professional athletics director in place who is turning this into a modern D1 program that will treat people properly and not be amateur hour.

I don't know where it is on the list of challenges that this outgoing coaching staff had with USU, but things got off to a rocky start when proper temporary housing wasn't provided to the coaches.
It's clear that you have a personal issue with Bovee, but THIS is comical. Danny is leaving to take millions of dollars at the program his dad coached at. Not because they spent a few nights in a hotel.

Jerry has had an incredible track record hiring coaches, including one who is likely going to be named national Coach of the Year. Diana is a professional, and yes, is very capable of making big decisions. But she's never made a coaching hire bigger than the women's hockey coach at Ohio State. I very much would rather have Bovee leading the search. And that's no shot at Sabau.
Maybe if Bovee doesn't treat him like (I can't express myself without swearing) beginning on Day One, Sprinkles falls in love Cache Valley and USU administration.
There is probably some truth to this. Doesn't keep him here in all likelihood but things got off to a bad start when Sprinkle got here for a number of reasons.
Come on. I can think of about 20 million reasons that Sprinkle was not going to stay in Logan no matter how well he was or was not treated by our athletic department. If the rumors about not providing temporary housing to Sprinkle and his staff are true, that is definitely an area where USU needs to improve in the future. But let's not pretend like this had anything to do with Sprinkle leaving USU.

Yes, like I said, it probably doesn’t keep him here. Did you read that part?

garyismyhomeboy · Post by **garyismyhomeboy** » March 26th, 2024, 8:56 pm

Brother Bovee didn’t do his home teaching and wasn’t very honest in his dealings.

Danny was vocal about it by the second month he was here.

shoresy · Post by **shoresy** » March 26th, 2024, 9:03 pm

FloridaAggie13 wrote:
shoresy wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 10:54 am

rAggie wrote: ↑
March 25th, 2024, 1:37 am
The "I'd rather Bovee make the hire than Sabau" stuff here is comical.

Under Bovee's watch, we hired a coaching staff and gave them five nights in a hotel and a good luck. Now we have an actual professional athletics director in place who is turning this into a modern D1 program that will treat people properly and not be amateur hour.

I don't know where it is on the list of challenges that this outgoing coaching staff had with USU, but things got off to a rocky start when proper temporary housing wasn't provided to the coaches.
It's clear that you have a personal issue with Bovee, but THIS is comical. Danny is leaving to take millions of dollars at the program his dad coached at. Not because they spent a few nights in a hotel.

Jerry has had an incredible track record hiring coaches, including one who is likely going to be named national Coach of the Year. Diana is a professional, and yes, is very capable of making big decisions. But she's never made a coaching hire bigger than the women's hockey coach at Ohio State. I very much would rather have Bovee leading the search. And that's no shot at Sabau.
Maybe if Bovee doesn't treat him like (I can't express myself without swearing) beginning on Day One, Sprinkles falls in love Cache Valley and USU administration.

Please detail for me the ways Jerry treated Danny like (I can't express myself without swearing), since you seem to be in the know

AGGIEinIOWA · Post by **AGGIEinIOWA** » March 26th, 2024, 9:09 pm

garyismyhomeboy wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 8:56 pm
Brother Bovee didn’t do his home teaching and wasn’t very honest in his dealings.

Danny was vocal about it by the second month he was here.

Home Teaching? You're behind the times my Aggie friend.

FeartheFro · Post by **FeartheFro** » March 26th, 2024, 9:21 pm

I can tell you from a first hand source that Danny and his assistants had some major issues with the move here. Contributed 0% to him leaving.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

slcagg · Post by **slcagg** » March 26th, 2024, 9:24 pm

FeartheFro wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:21 pm
I can tell you from a first hand source that Danny and his assistants had some major issues with the move here. Contributed 0% to him leaving.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would assume this is right. $22m is $22m. Not to mention Montana state and Washington seems like the schools he is most connected to.

greggers1868 · Post by **greggers1868** » March 26th, 2024, 9:27 pm

I’ve seen enough. Josh Schertz or bust. We need to at least make the call. Someone said earlier he’s rumored at saint louis, but our conference just put six teams in the tourney. Can’t even tell you what conference at Louis plays in without googling it.

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » March 26th, 2024, 9:29 pm

greggers1868 wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:27 pm
I’ve seen enough. Josh Schertz or bust. We need to at least make the call. Someone said earlier he’s rumored at saint louis, but our conference just put six teams in the tourney. Can’t even tell you what conference at Louis plays in without googling it.

Saint Louis is going to pay him way more more than we afford. That’s a luxury of not having a football program to pay for.

slcagg · Post by **slcagg** » March 26th, 2024, 9:32 pm

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:29 pm

greggers1868 wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:27 pm
I’ve seen enough. Josh Schertz or bust. We need to at least make the call. Someone said earlier he’s rumored at saint louis, but our conference just put six teams in the tourney. Can’t even tell you what conference at Louis plays in without googling it.
Saint Louis is going to pay him way more more than we afford. That’s a luxury of not having a football program to pay for.

To your point, the last coach was paid just over $2m. Schertz currently is paid about $365k

I kind of want to focus more on basketball and move away from football

slcagg · Post by **slcagg** » March 26th, 2024, 9:36 pm

Wow even more interesting is the contributors for Indiana state are all soph/juniors.

Yup offer this guy the kitchen sink if he doesn’t take the Louisville job

greggers1868 · Post by **greggers1868** » March 26th, 2024, 9:39 pm

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:29 pm

greggers1868 wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:27 pm
I’ve seen enough. Josh Schertz or bust. We need to at least make the call. Someone said earlier he’s rumored at saint louis, but our conference just put six teams in the tourney. Can’t even tell you what conference at Louis plays in without googling it.
Saint Louis is going to pay him way more more than we afford. That’s a luxury of not having a football program to pay for.

I saw you say St. Louis last coach got 2.5 mil. So on initial contract he would get something similar. We pay him let’s say 1.75, which wouldn’t be totally out of line as we offered sprinkle 2 mil to stay. He basically guaranteed to win in Logan, based on our history the past 30 years. St. Louis is a total rebuild, and doesn’t have the same success rate and one bid conference. You make the tourney a few times at usu and get a big $4 mil payday. Just saying, it’s worth the conversation

Intermeddler · Post by **Intermeddler** » March 26th, 2024, 9:39 pm

FeartheFro wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:21 pm
I can tell you from a first hand source that Danny and his assistants had some major issues with the move here. Contributed 0% to him leaving.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, once the offer came it was irrelevant but Danny had an eye to the exit pretty early based on the transition (from my understanding) so perhaps offers don’t come his way so quickly if things had been different. Probably not and probably doesn’t matter in any event but there was no institutional goodwill for sure.

2004AG · Post by **2004AG** » March 26th, 2024, 9:44 pm

Anybody care to share what problems there were with the transition?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Roy McAvoy · Post by **Roy McAvoy** » March 26th, 2024, 9:48 pm

greggers1868 wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:39 pm

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:29 pm

greggers1868 wrote: ↑
March 26th, 2024, 9:27 pm
I’ve seen enough. Josh Schertz or bust. We need to at least make the call. Someone said earlier he’s rumored at saint louis, but our conference just put six teams in the tourney. Can’t even tell you what conference at Louis plays in without googling it.
Saint Louis is going to pay him way more more than we afford. That’s a luxury of not having a football program to pay for.
I saw you say St. Louis last coach got 2.5 mil. So on initial contract he would get something similar. We pay him let’s say 1.75, which wouldn’t be totally out of line as we offered sprinkle 2 mil to stay. He basically guaranteed to win in Logan, based on our history the past 30 years. St. Louis is a total rebuild, and doesn’t have the same success rate and one bid conference. You make the tourney a few times at usu and get a big $4 mil payday. Just saying, it’s worth the conversation

I hear you on this. USU is a better job. And the transfers he could bring in make him worth every penny. However, Saint Louis is only 2 1/2 hours away from Terre Haute, IN where he lives now. It wouldn't be a culture shock and is still near all his network.

This board also loves to talk cost of living. Saint Louis is significantly less than Logan. For those reasons and that Saint Louis is so much closer to "home" for him and everything his family knows, I have to think he would take that job.

Upcoming Events

Event Results