Alabama Basketball: Early Look at Potential Head Coaching Candidates

Alabama wasn’t going to be part of “Selection Sunday”, doesn’t mean the program can’t make an impact on the college basketball world. With the final conference championships winding down, Alabama’s Athletic Director Bill Battle announces the termination of Anthony Grant.

After a promising 12-3 start, Alabama crumbled down the stretch and finished 18-14. In six seasons, Grant accumulated a record of 117-85 while in Tuscaloosa but with an 0-1 record in the NCAA Tournament and a mediocre record against the RPI top 50, a change was needed. Despite a somewhat torn fan base on the Grant decision, it’s hard to not be excited about the future of Alabama basketball. With that being said, let’s take a look at early potential candidates that could be a fit for Alabama.

First of all, fans are going to have to temper their expectations. Let me go ahead and eliminate some early popular names. Tom Izzo is not leaving Michigan St for Alabama. As much as I would love him here, there’s not enough goats in the world to sacrifice to get him here. We can also eliminate Brad Stevens, the Head Coach for the Boston Celtics. If Indiana fans are delirious thinking they can land Stevens, I’m not even sure what that would make Alabama. Two more names we can go ahead and eliminate is VCU’s Shaka Smart and Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall. Yes small schools but basketball power houses. Those moves would actually be a step down for those two coaches. Here are my current top 5:

Archie Miller

This is personally my dream guy for Alabama. He has found wild success at Dayton, imagine what he can do at Alabama. Miller comes from a family with heavy basketball ties. His brother, Sean, is the current Head Coach at Arizona and Archie was coached by his dad in high school before accepting a scholarship to North Carolina State. Last season, Miller and Dayton shocked a lot of folks reaching the Elite 8, finishing with a 26-11 record. This season, Dayton will be dancing again with a current record of 25-8. Even though Miller has already signed an extension with Dayton, it’s not abnormal for a coach to move on after making that sort of deal. It will depend on whether Miller is willing to leave what he’s built in Dayton to come to Alabama and build another program.

Michael White

This may be the most realistic move for Alabama. The former Ole Miss Guard talked to Tennessee and Missouri last year before returning to Louisiana Tech. White turned a lackluster program into three consecutive 25+ win seasons. In his four seasons at Tech, he already has 99 wins. He has a mid major on the rise, the Tide could pull the trigger before he gains even more national attention.

Steve Prohm

In four seasons at Murray State, he has four 20+ win seasons including a NCAA tournament win in 2012. With a 102-27 record, the main question is if he can perform at the next level. As I’m typing this, Murray State just missed out on another NCAA tournament bid, despite a 27-4 record this season. With Prohm not in the tournament, he could be an early mover on the coaching carousel.

Tom Crean

Crean was a bit more realistic when he had a hot seat at Indiana but now with Indiana in the tournament, he should be staying in Bloomington for at least another year. It wouldn’t be a shocker if Crean still left – he departed a loaded Marquette team for a rebuilding Hoosier program. This is a hire that would have to come from very deep pockets if Alabama is expected to make a move for Indiana’s Head Coach.

Ben Howland

Despite not coaching this past season, Howland will be a hot name when schools start chasing after coaches. His resume includes 398 career wins, three consecutive Final Four appearances, numerous Coach of the Year awards, and has coached 18 players at UCLA that have appeared in an NBA game. So why is Howland available? After the Final Four appearances, the program slipped a bit. Throw in rumors and speculation with how Howland handled some of his players and here we are. There are some question marks around this potential hire but the pay off would be huge.

I asked twitter for their choices and got a few responses. If you would like to discuss the vacant seat please comment at the bottom of this article or find me on twitter (@tylerd91).

W. Reeves @williemack11 (Private account)

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