The college basketball season is making its way through February, which means that the end of the season and the start of the new coaching carousel aren’t too far away. Teams’ seasons will end in early march when they get eliminated from conference tournaments. Dozens of jobs will come open, and the assistant coaches at high-major programs will want to begin their head coaching careers at the low- and mid-major programs. Some head coaches at high-major schools will be fired, and a few of them might land at the low- or mid-major jobs, but a good number of new head coaches will come from the pool of assistant coaches around the country. Which are the best candidates to become first-time head coaches?
Mike Mennenga, Oregon Ducks
There is no doubt that Dana Altman is primarily responsible for the success of Oregon basketball, but Mennenga has brought in Dillon Brooks and Chris Boucher, two of the cornerstones of this year’s impressive and deep roster. With Oregon making a big push for the Final Four this year, it could very well be that once the Ducks’ stars declare for the NBA Draft, Mennenga will think it is time to jump to a head coaching job and start the new phase of his career. If he makes himself available and expresses interest in a job, athletic directors at programs in the West will be dumb to turn him down.
The Ducks have had an up and down kind of couple of weeks as they are 2-2 in their last four. They have an impressive win over No. 5 Arizona in that span but they also have road losses to Colorado and No. 5 UCLA in that span. On Saturday, they’ll try to get back on track when they visit the USC Trojans.
Bino Ranson, Maryland Terrapins
The tension point with Maryland is that this will almost certainly be Melo Trimble’s last season as the team’s do-everything point guard. Trimble has carried so much of the workload for Maryland over the years that once he leaves, the Terrapins probably won’t be as tough a team. One could make the comparison to Indiana this year without longtime point guard Yogi Ferrell. The Hoosiers have not been the same without him. If Ranson wants to set forth on a head coaching career, staying with Maryland in 2018 when the Terps might decline would not seem to be a smart move. Getting out after this season would represent better timing on his part.
Chris Caputo, Miami Hurricanes
The word on the street in college basketball has been that Caputo – with extensive experience as one of Jim Larranaga’s foremost assistants at Miami – is supremely ready to take on his own program. Many felt Caputo would have already left South Florida at this point to make his own new way in the coaching world, but he has stood by Larranaga’s side. This might be the offseason in which he finally bolts and gets a job which he thinks is a good fit.
The Hurricanes are on a bit of a roll as they’ve won four of their last five games. However, they’ll face one of their toughest tests of the season on Saturday. They’ll visit the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals. That’s just one of four remaining opponents that has is ranked in the Top 25 over their final seven games of the season.
Stan Jones, Florida State Seminoles
This is another situation in which a longtime assistant at a Florida-based ACC school finally steps out of the shadows to see what he can do as the leader of a program. Jones has been instrumental in elevating the quality of Florida State’s recruits, setting the stage for this breakthrough season in which the Seminoles have become an ACC title contender and a legitimate Final Four threat. Jones is very popular right now, so expect some interest from several schools with job openings.
Four of the Seminoles next five games are on the road. That starts on Saturday with a visit to South Bend to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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