It’s officially official, Indiana announced Head Coach Mike Woodson will step down at the end of the season, amid back to back years of underachievement. Indiana AD, Scott Dolson, released a statement thanking Woodson for his efforts in the ever changing College Basketball landscape. Reading between the lines, this appears as if the athletic department is a firing, but is treating Woodson, an IU legend, with dignity.
Indiana sits at 14-9 overall and 5-7 in the Big Ten with just over a month remaining. As of now, the Hoosiers are on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament, but they are a good week from being back in the mix.
The attention turns to the names Indiana will target to succeed Woodson. Here’s how I would categorize Dolson and Indiana’s approach:
Tier 1 - Reaches (will probably say no)
Brad Stevens - former Butler and Celtics coach, current Celtics GM
Bruce Pearl - current Auburn coach, former Tennessee coach
TJ Otzelberger - current Iowa State coach, former UNLV coach
Dusty May - current Michigan coach, former FAU coach, former IU manager
Tier 2 - Maybes (could say yes, could say no)
Chris Beard - current Ole Miss coach, former Texas Tech, Texas coach. Assistant for both Bob and Pat Knight at Texas Tech.
Todd Golden - coach at Florida, former San Fran coach
Chris Collins - coach at Northwestern, longtime assistant at Duke
Tier 3 Outside the Box (would say yes)
Ben McCollum - Coach at Drake
Will Wade - Coach at McNeese, former LSU coach
Bucky McMillan - Coach at Samford
Only time will tell who Scott Dolson will go after. With the championship brand, and an NIL war chest that is rumored to be in the $5M range, the Indiana job is bound to attract some of the biggest names in the sport.
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