Maryland basketball head coach options, names, ideas: Enfield? Pope?

Due to the odd moment Mark Turgeon quit / gets fired, we’ll have the entire conference season to play this game. Who is in the hot seat to become the next Maryland Terrapins coach.

Yes, the irony is intentional, that GETTING a coaching position puts you in the hot seat.

First of all, two remarks:

• Everyone in Maryland loves Nat Oats from Alabama Crimson Tide. Its buyout is for $ 10 million. Do not arrive.
• Another popular name is Eric Musselman of the Arkansas Razorbacks. It is also prohibitive.

Musselman and Oats can be deposited under yes, but too expensive.

Option 1: local, with the Power-5 experience

Andy Enfield is a legitimate target. I will put it first when I consider the feasibility and the desirability.

Enfield was responsible for the 2013 Florida Gulf Coast Sweet 16 Tour, which he turned into a concert at USC, where he inherited a complete mess. He did a good job of rebuilding that.

Beyond that, Enfield is local. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania and played basketball at Johns Hopkins. Plus, when Maryland is on, Xfinity gets a crowd of 18,000 energetic people; USC currently receives around 3,000 crowds, even when it is ranked in the top 25.

USC has mysteriously released details that Enfield signed an extension last year. This information was not released until after Maryland’s interest.

Option 2: Mid-Major with talent

A: Program generator

Marc Pope (BYU): Played for Kentucky and played in the NBA. Has been at BYU since 2019 and is 52-17. Prior to that, he spent 4 years in Utah Valley, inheriting a less than 500 squad and improving it to a 25-10 squad in four years.

Nice improvement. It is my choice 1b or # 2.

B: Mid-major climber

Casey Alexandre (Belmont): Improved teams on all 3 coaching runs, Stetson, Lipscomb, Belmont. Only 2 years at Stetson. Took a 15-15 team at Lipcomb in Year 1 at the NCAA Tournament in Years 5 and 6. Has a 55-12 record at Belmont and led Belmont to 1st place in the Ohio Valley Conference during the first two years. Currently 5-2 this year.

Wildcards:

• Gary Williams has publicly argued for a 67-year-old garbage bag Rick Pitino (Iona). It’s time to muzzle Gary Williams. We love you for two Final Fours and a Natty, but shut up.
• Thad Matta (formerly Ohio state): He can train and he is only 54 years old! I thought he was much older. Health is a problem. And he might not want to go back to training.
• Sarunas Jasikevicius (FC Barcelona): Former MD under the direction of Gary Williams of Lithuania. Briefly played in the NBA. Absolutely one of the top 5 coaches in European professional leagues. Can quite train, but should hire good recruiters. No college basketball coaching experience. It’s a wild card that I can support. He is Lithuanian. He may be much more comfortable coaching professional basketball players in Europe.

Turgeon replacements

Guys with high ceilings, but low floors:

Ed Cooley (Providence) and Kevin Willard (Seton Hall)

Both have been in their respective schools for about 10 years and have rebuilt these programs, but very slowly. Not disastrous hires, but certainly wouldn’t be excited – these guys are literally Turge clones.

But I don’t see Damon Evans looking for a replacement for Turge.