List of Basketball Head Coach Candidates

This list is my best guess at some names that may be thrown around during this coaching search. But before we get to the list, I think it's important we make one thing very clear. There are several coaches that will be mentioned that are ABSOLUTELY not going to take this job. I don't care how many big names Woodward has hired, this isnt the football or baseball job, and our program is going to live under a black cloud for a couple years.

Please stop mentioning Scott Drew, Rick Pitino, Mark Few, Bill Self, Brad Stevens, and Eric Musselman. They likely would not entertain this job under normal circumstances. They are certainly not taking this job right now.

Grant McCasland



McCasland is currently in his 4th season at North Texas. North Texas was bad before he got there, and he has turned them around. He took them to their first NCAA tournament in 11 years last year and upset 4th seeded Purdue.

Jerome Tang



Jerome Tang has been Scott Drew's lead assistant since stepping foot on Baylor's campus. It seems odd that he hasn't taken a head coaching job yet, and it's unclear if his first step would be to an LSU program facing sanctions, but I think he'll be mentioned and would at least listen.

Matt McMahon



McMahon is currently in his 7th season as head coach at Murray State where he took over for Steve Prohm. He's taken the Racers to 3 NCAA tournaments (likely would have been 4 if 2020 postseason hadn't been cancelled). His team is currently 30-2 with losses to East Tennessee State and Auburn.

Eric Konkol



Konkol replaced Mike White at La Tech where he has a 152-74 record. Although he has yet to take Tech to the NCAA tournament, his teams have won 20 or more games in the last 4 seasons. The obvious draw here is his familiarity with the Louisiana basketball landscape.

Dennis Gates



Gates is in his 3rd season at Cleveland State where he has turned the program around. Cleveland State was 11-21 in his first season. Gates lead his team to a 19-8 season and an NCAA tournament bid last year and has his team at 20-10 this year with an NIT bid.

Mike Boynton



Boynton took over for Brad Underwood at Okie State in 2017. He's viewed as a top recruiter, but he would have his work cut out for him on the recruiting trail with potential post season bans and loss of scholarships.


I refuse to list Andy Kennedy although, sadly, I think he'll be in the mix.