Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.No delicate way exists to approach the following topic — especially with four weeks left in the season — so here goes:
The world of college basketball knows that Nebraska (11-13 overall, tied for last in the Big Ten at 3-10) is headed toward a coaching search.
As if any confirmation were needed, I took phone calls from three current and former Division I coaching friends after Saturday's mess against Penn State in which the first words weren't "Hello'' or "What's up?'' but "Who are they going to hire?''
Doc Sadler deserves as respectful a final month at Nebraska as its fans and the state can muster. He immersed himself into Husker culture as well as any coach I've seen, operated as a true professional and has tried hard in a hard job.
But even harder work lies ahead as Nebraska tries to end a run of irrelevancy the school has allowed to fester for 13 years.
Adding to the degree of difficulty in finding a new hire is the fact — confirmed by university officials — that NU has no succession plan for Athletic Director Tom Osborne, who turns 75 next week and works without a contract.
All good coaches want to know who their boss will be going forward before signing a long-term deal, or at least will want extra built-in guarantees if the issue is unresolved.
So who might Nebraska pursue?
First, to squash some rumors, former Husker star and NBA player Erick Strickland isn't a head coaching candidate. Neither is former Husker star Tyronn Lue, who left Nebraska a year early for the NBA and doesn't have a bachelor's degree, which he would first need.
And if you have a friend who suggests Butler's Brad Stevens, find smarter friends.
Stevens' athletic director is former NU coach Barry Collier, who didn't have a pleasant experience in Lincoln. Stevens isn't coming.
Consider the names listed here as educated speculation based on discussions with multiple coaches and administrators in Division I, contacts in junior colleges and prep schools, along with two NBA connections.
This is a crystallization of early thoughts, not an exhaustive list:
Local-knowledge specialists: Oregon head coach Dana Altman and Maryland lead assistant Scott Spinelli.
Altman, 53, grew up near Lincoln and has told friends through the years that Nebraska was a job he always wanted. Altman was at Creighton the last two times the position opened, but neither Nebraska A.D. at the time — Bill Byrne, Steve Pederson — contacted him.
Love for his home state might temper Altman's concerns about the absence of an athletic director succession plan.
Still, he is paid $1.8 million a year at Oregon — double Sadler's current NU salary — and has a $1.8 million buyout if he left for another job. And among Husker fans, how much does Altman really move the needle in interest?
Spinelli, 44, was an assistant at Nebraska for three seasons with Collier, but don't hold that against him. Spinelli had NU in on players it never dreamed of getting before his arrival. His current boss, Mark Turgeon, calls him, "a bulldog recruiter with tremendous connections up and down the East Coast, and a great basketball mind.''
Spinelli's basketball experience ranges from prep schools — his lone head coaching positions — to the NBA.
He grew up near Boston, but loved his time at Nebraska and still has numerous friends in Lincoln. Plus, he would be inexpensive, leaving more money for high-powered assistants who also excel in recruiting.
Hot mid-major: Wichita State's Gregg Marshall.
Marshall, 48, is cocky and a bit prickly, but he wins. He coached Winthrop to the NCAA tournament seven times and is on track for a third straight 25-win season at Wichita State. Last year, the Shockers won the NIT, thrashing Nebraska in the first round by 29 points.
His roots are in the Carolinas, but that didn't stop Marshall from moving to the Midwest and succeeding quickly. If Nebraska is interested, it better talk fast because the power conference job he likely has his eye on is South Carolina.
Underrated mid-major: Ohio University's John Groce.
Groce, 40, is an Indiana native, a former teacher and a past assistant at North Carolina State, Butler, Xavier and Ohio State before taking the Ohio U. job in 2008.
Groce's teams have led the Mid-American Conference in scoring. He also has been nationally recognized for his recruiting. It's no secret that if Illinois fires Bruce Weber that Groce would be highly interested, so time might be short for Nebraska.
Top assistant at a royalty program: Kansas' Joe Dooley.
Dooley, 48, is a New Jersey native and a graduate of George Washington. In 2010, foxsports.com ranked him No. 1 in its list of Top 25 High-Major Assistants. He also has head coaching experience at East Carolina in the mid-1990s.
In his nine years at Kansas, Dooley has turned down mid-major head coaching jobs. But he would be interested in Nebraska.
Why? KU coach Bill Self likes to re-tool his staff semi-regularly just to stay fresh. Plus, with KU and NU no longer in the same league, Self and Dooley — great friends — wouldn't have to worry about coaching or recruiting against each other.
Big-school success who might consider a new gig: Notre Dame's Mike Brey.
OK, this is a real long shot. Brey, 52, has been with the Fighting Irish since 2000. He was the U.S. Basketball Writers national coach of the year last season, and this season he is a candidate to win Big East coach of the year for the fourth time in six years.
But there are murmurs in the coaching grapevine that the former Duke assistant under Mike Krzyzewski and former player at famed DeMatha (Md.) High School might look at other jobs.
Hires like this are more risky than they used to be.
When Johnny Orr left Michigan after 12 years for Iowa State, coaches weren't paid a ton. He still needed to work hard. Now, with the money coaches have in the bank, you better make sure a veteran candidate still has the fire in the belly and isn't just looking to pad his IRA.
Young stud worth a full-court hiring press: Memphis' Josh Pastner.
Pastner, 34, is in his third season of succeeding John Calipari. Pastner's father, Hal, started Houston Hoops, one of the country's premier traveling AAU teams. Pastner began recruiting for that team at age 14 and took it over as player-coach at 16.
He played and coached for Lute Olson at Arizona and has been involved with more than a dozen NBA players.
With Memphis just joining the Big East and settling its conference worries, Nebraska probably lost a chance at piquing the interest of this potential splash hire. It would have been a bonus, too, to get Jimmy Williams back. Williams, who as an assistant at Nebraska recruited Lue, Venson Hamilton, Mikki Moore and Cookie Belcher, is an assistant to Pastner.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
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