The Louisville basketball program is in need of a new head coach after they decided to fire Kenny Payne. It will be an interesting search for a replacement with a number of names circulating around. As of now, Baylor coach Scott Drew and Alabama coach Nate Oats are the favorites in the latest odds from BetKentucky.com, as Eric Crawford pointed out. Here is the list:
- Scott Drew, Baylor: +600
- Nate Oats, Alabama: +700
- Chris Beard, Ole Miss: +1000
- Mick Cronin, UCLA: +1000
- Jerome Tang, Kansas State: +1250
- Steve Forbes, Wake Forest: +1250
- Josh Schertz, Indiana State: +1250
- Shaka Smart, Marquette: +1500
This is certainly an interesting list of names, but Beard can likely be taken off after signing a contract extension with Ole Miss on Wednesday. Baylor coach Scott Drew is the favorite pretty much everywhere, and he won a national title with the Bears a few years ago.
Payne's run as the Louisville basketball coach was a disaster from start to finish and short-lived. Nate Oats is a big name on the list after having Alabama as the top seed in last year's NCAA Tournament.
A couple of other intriguing names on the list are Shaka Smart, who has Marquette rolling this year, and Indiana State's Josh Schertz, who has emerged out of nowhere. Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May is far down at +2000 but would at least warrant consideration after taking the Owls to the Final Four last year.
Louisville has a big hole to fill after swinging and missing on the Kenny Payne hire and they need to get this one right.
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