Indiana men’s basketball coach candidates: top options, home run hires, honorable mentions

In the transfer portal era of college basketball, coaching changes generally coincide with a clean slate roster. If that’s the case with Indiana next season, look no further than Otzelberger.

After inheriting a 2-22 Cyclones team in 2021-22, Otzelberger led his team to a Sweet 16 with a roster that featured only three returning scholarship players. Now in his fourth season at the helm, No. 8 Iowa State holds a 19-5 record and is on pace to reach its fourth straight NCAA Tournament.

There are two major concerns with Otzelberger’s potential hire. For one, he struggled in a brief two-year stint at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, tallying a 29-30 record before his jump to Ames, Iowa. The other issue is whether Otzelberger would be interested in leaving Iowa State.

Including his time spent as an assistant, he’s currently in his 12th season with the program. Additionally, his wife, former Cyclone women’s basketball star Alison Lacey, was inducted into the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.

While not particularly flashy, McCasland is a proven winner. He rose to prominence after six successful seasons at the University of North Texas from 2017-23. During that period, he had a 135-66 record, one NCAA Tournament appearance and — in his final year with the Mean Green — a National Invitational Tournament title.

The Red Raiders hired McCasland ahead of the 2023-24 season. Amid his second campaign with Texas Tech, he holds a 41-15 record at the program’s helm. Indiana could be an ideal landing spot for McCasland if he’s willing to leave the Lone Star State he grew up in.

A few days ago, he may have landed in the “Home runs” category. Now, May’s potential return to his alma mater seems more likely with each passing day. Missing out on the former Florida Atlantic University head coach was a contentious talking point when Woodson retained his role last season.

In May’s first season with Michigan, he turned a program that went 8-24 in 2023-24 into a Big Ten title contender. While the possibility of an intra-conference coaching switch seemed improbable, comments he made after the Wolverines’ 70-67 win over Indiana on Feb. 8 reignited similar conversations to one year prior.

“That hasn’t crossed my mind, other than just what friends and family have said, and to be honest, I’ve eliminated all that,” May said postgame.

In addition to May’s time as a student manager under Bob Knight from 1996-2000, his mother is a Bloomington resident. While it’s clear he’s focused on his current role with Michigan, there are certainly concrete factors that could influence May to return to the same program he called his “foundation” in that same postgame press conference.

Would Cronin leave Los Angeles for Bloomington? That’s the biggest question surrounding the Cincinnati native, but his Midwest ties coupled with the chance to avoid multiple cross-country road trips during conference play gives the Hoosiers a strong opening pitch.

Cronin, 53, has a career record of 498-230. He spent the first three years of his coaching career at Murray State University before returning to his alma mater, the University of Cincinnati, for 13 seasons. He’s spent the last six years at UCLA.

If Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson wants a coach with proven Power Five success and connections to the region, Cronin, who’s made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the Final Four in 2021, is a strong option. His $16 million buyout, however, may be too big an obstacle to overcome.

Smart is from Wisconsin, and after a rocky six-year stretch at the University of Texas where he didn’t win an NCAA Tournament game despite three appearances, he’s rebuilt himself at Marquette.

The 47-year-old Smart rose to prominence by leading Virginia Commonwealth University to the 2011 Final Four, and he took Marquette to the Sweet 16 last year. He’s 93-36 at Marquette and owns a career winning rate of 67.2%.

Smart signed a contract extension with the Golden Eagles last year, and because Marquette is a private institution, the details of Smart’s buyout are unknown. It's also uncertain whether he’d want to leave Milwaukee — but if he does, his track record of success and glimpses of deep March runs should at least warrant a call from Dolson.

While perhaps not the flashiest hire, Williams has a strong blend of Power Four experience and program building — both of which should be important factors during Indiana’s hunt for a new coach.

Williams made the NCAA Tournament five consecutive seasons at Marquette from 2008-13, led Virginia Tech from 11 wins in his first year to a 26-9 mark in his last and now has No. 8 Texas A&M headed for a third straight March Madness appearance.

A native Texan, Williams may not want to leave the Aggies for the Midwest. Although, It’s still worth a call.

Brownell hails from Evansville, Indiana, and played college basketball from 1988-91 at Division III DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He’s also pioneering one of the sport’s fastest-turning programs.

Clemson, which made the Elite Eight last season, is currently 20-5 and ranked No. 23 in the country. In 15 years on the bench, Brownell has led the Tigers to seven 20-win seasons, including each of the past three years.

If Dolson opts for someone with Indiana ties and an established reputation, the 56-year-old Brownell figures to get a look.

If Stevens picks up the phone, he’ll likely be offered the job before he brings it to his ear. His accomplished career is intertwined with the Hoosier state. Born in Zionsville, Indiana, he played four seasons at Division III DePauw University. Soon after, Stevens began his coaching career as an assistant under Todd Lickliter at Butler University.

At just 30 years old, he was hired as the Bulldogs head coach before the 2007-08 season. In six seasons with Stevens at the helm, Butler tallied a 166-49 overall record, made five NCAA Tournament appearances and made back-to-back trips to the National Championship in 2010 and 2011.

His success in the college ranks earned him the job as head coach of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, a position he held from 2013-2021. His Celtics teams reached the playoffs in each of their final seven seasons. Since stepping down from coaching in 2021, Stevens has served as the franchise’s president of basketball operations and de facto general manager.

While a return to college coaching would be a long-shot for the 2024 NBA Executive of the Year, Stevens is a proven winner with a business-oriented approach that may be exactly what Indiana needs in the NIL-era.

Going after the head coach of college basketball’s No. 1 team is ambitious to say the least. Regardless, prying Pearl away from Auburn isn’t completely out of the question.

Pearl began his coaching career in the Hoosier state at then-Division II University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana, where he won a national championship in 1995. In addition to his nine seasons with the Screaming Eagles, he’s also expressed appreciation for the coveted position throughout his career.

“Indiana was my dream job, it really was, I love everything about Indiana basketball, really loved and admired Coach Knight as a young coach myself, and it's one of the great programs in America,” Pearl said, during an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2023.

Jumping ship from the routinely consistent Tigers to revamp Indiana would be a major risk for the 64-year-old Pearl, but his comments in respect to the program show it’s a risk he may be willing to take.

Having previously turned down prestigious coaching positions at the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville last offseason, getting Drew to leave Baylor won’t be an easy task. He’s been with the program since 2003 and turned a historically poor program into a fixture of the Big 12 that won the national championship in 2021.

It’s true, Drew grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana, coached at Valparaiso University before his time in Waco, Texas, and graduated from in-state Butler. Regardless, a $4.5 million buyout along with over two decades of tenure with Baylor makes a jump to Indiana appear far-fetched.

If the Hoosiers can convince a previously resistant Oats to leave Alabama, it would be an expensive decision. His current contract includes an $18 million buyout. Now in his sixth season with the Crimson Tide, Oats has led the program to a pair of Sweet 16 appearances and a Final Four in 2024.

In 2021 — the last time Indiana entered a coaching search — Oats stated that he had “No interest” in departing Tuscaloosa. It’s difficult to imagine that the sustained success Alabama’s had since those comments were made has shifted his mindset.

Was it merely a coincidence Beard name-dropped late Indiana head coach Bob Knight while leading No. 25 Ole Miss to a 98-84 victory against No. 14 Kentucky on Tuesday?

Who knows — but Beard, who served as an associate head coach under Bob and Pat Knight from 2001-11 at Texas Tech University, has an innate understanding of the Knight family’s approach. Woodson played under Knight from 1976-80, and perhaps Dolson opts to leave the Knight tree.

Beard, however, isn’t merely a Knight protege. In Division I stops at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Texas Tech, the University of Texas and Ole Miss, Beard has amassed a record of 208-91 while making the NCAA Tournament six times in his nine seasons.

There are off-court questions for Beard, who was arrested Dec. 12, 2022, on a third-degree felony charge of assault against his then-fiancee, Randi Trew. The charges were ultimately dropped due to the case evidence and Trew’s wishes not to prosecute. Trew, now Beard’s ex-fiancee, later said Beard acted in self-defense.

Dolson seemingly hit a home run with one successful Division II coach turned mid-major standout in Indiana football’s Curt Cignetti, and McCollum appears to be the basketball version of a Cignetti-esque swing.

The 43-year-old McCollum went 395-91 across 15 years as the head coach at Northwest Missouri State University before leveling up to Drake this year. McCollum has the Bulldogs at 21-2 in his first season, but his lack of experience at the Power Four level could prove too much of a jump for Dolson.

Since bursting onto the scene with his 32-4 James Madison University squad in 2023-24, Byington has answered the call during his first season at the helm of a Power conference program. He’s turned a 9-23 Vanderbilt University team into a roster winning games in the dominant Southeastern Conference.

It seems improbable he would leave the Commodores after just one season. However, it’s a hire that’s logically sound. Byington’s led winning teams everywhere he’s gone with a 236-141 overall record. And — as a bonus — overlapped with Cignetti for four straight years during their respective time with the Dukes.

Indiana’s coaching search has an undefined timeline. If the Hoosiers’ prospective coaching candidates lead their teams to deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, Dolson will be forced to wait. However, if Indiana pursues a candidate such as Stevens, who’s not currently coaching a team, the search could be short lived.