By Aidan Joly
On Friday morning, Ole Miss made the next move of the college basketball coaching carousel, announcing that Kermit Davis will no longer be the head coach of the Rebels, towards the end of his fifth season at the helm in Oxford.
In nearly five seasons, Davis went 74-79 and 32-55 in the SEC and didn’t make the NCAA tournament after his first season.
There are 76 jobs within Power 6. When you look at all of them, it’s relatively easy to put Ole Miss in the bottom 10 of those jobs. It’s probably a bottom three job in the SEC, too. You’re in a league with some of the top jobbers in the country and a school that has a massive passion for football, while not much of one for basketball.
That being said, here are some candidates for that job.
Dusty May, Florida Atlantic head coach
May is more likely than not to land a Power 6 job in this carousel and Ole Miss might end up being the place. His FAU Owls are 25-3 this season and are the favorites to win Conference USA and might win an NCAA tournament game at that. He has connections to Ole Miss – Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter played with Georgia head coach Mike White, who May assisted under at both Louisiana Tech and Florida. May makes a lot of sense for this job, in my opinion.
Chris Beard, former Texas head coach
There’s a good chance it’s too soon for Beard to land a top head coaching gig after the events that caused his dismissal at Texas earlier this season. Opinions are sure to be all over the place on whether Beard deserves another shot or not. But the administration might not want to touch it. However, with the domestic violence charges drop and this being college athletics, Beard is probably going to be a head coach somewhere again.
Grant McCasland, North Texas head coach
A second C-USA coach on this list, McCasland is a little more connected elsewhere and might wait out another job *cough cough West Virginia cough,* but he might be ready to make the jump to the SEC, especially if he can get the Mean Green to the NCAA tournament for the second time in his tenure. Still young at 46, he has plenty of time to wait out a job where it’s easier to win. He might even have a chance for the WVU job this cycle if Bob Huggins calls it a career.
Takayo Siddle, UNC Wilmington head coach
In his third season at the helm of UNC Wilmington, he led the Seahawks to 27 wins last season and 22 so far this season. He has spent time on a power conference staff at NC State from 2017-2020, so he would know how to make a Power 6 job work, especially one that’s not a top job in the conference. Siddle is 36.
Bob Richey, Furman head coach
Furman has not been to the NCAA tournament since 1980 and Richey has a real chance to change that this year, with the Paladins sitting in second in the SoCon at 14-3 in the league and 23-7 overall. Richey has not done worse than 10-5 in the league since he arrived in 2017, but has yet to get Furman to the NCAA tournament. He’ll be in Power 6 eventually, but needs to get his program a conference title first. Ole Miss could be a good stepping stone.
Ron Hunter, Tulane head coach
Hunter might be the best “bad job” coach in the country. He won nearly 300 games and IUPUI and got the program to its only NCAA tournament appearance in program history. When he arrived at Georgia State, the program had only been to the NCAA tournament twice, he got it there three times in a span of five years. Now, he has turned perennial basement-dweller Tulane into a top team in the American Athletic. Is a “bad” Power 6 job coming next?
Brad Brownell, Clemson head coach
The boring retread escape hatch guy, Brownell has spent the last 13 years at Clemson. It would be a little strange for Brownell to leave after one of his better years at Clemson, but it would surely help him escape the hot seat whispers. A jump to a new job might be beneficial for both Brownell and Clemson.
Prediction: This feels like May’s job to lose. He’s well-connected there and has the track record that proves he can win. However, by all accounts, he is happy at FAU, but if Carter is serious about winning he’ll give May an offer he can’t refuse. If not, Richey is a viable Plan B.
AJ Hoops 