‘A sleeping giant’: Wichita State basketball coaching job still considered to be elite

It’s been 16 years since the last time Wichita State has conducted a national search for its men’s basketball head coach.

Since then, the Shockers have been to a Final Four, made history by winning the first 35 games in a season, played in seven straight NCAA tournaments, won six conference championships and moved from the Missouri Valley to the American Athletic Conference.

But in the last two years, WSU has fallen in the AAC standings and failed to reach the postseason, which played a role in Isaac Brown’s firing last Saturday. The stakes are high for first-year athletic director Kevin Saal to make the right hire in order to restore the Shockers back to competing for conference championships and March Madness bids.

The Eagle interviewed a wide range of national college basketball writers and the consensus was that the WSU job remained among the best in the country outside of the power conferences and should attract some of the best up-and-coming candidates in this year’s coaching carousel.

“From an outsiders’ perspective, Wichita State certainly feels like a sleeping giant,” said Matt Cox of the Three Man Weave. “You hear about coaches making programs, but I think when you have three different coaches who have had success, I think programs become destinations for coaches and I think Wichita State is on the short list in terms of premier high-mid-major jobs. It’s proven to be a program that can raise itself to a high power-conference level like (Gregg) Marshall did in his best years.”

From a national perspective, the writers believe making the right hire is vital for WSU because of the shifting landscape in the AAC. With Houston, Cincinnati and UCF departing this summer for the Big 12, the group unanimously believes that WSU is the second-best job in the new-look American, only behind Memphis, with its crowds at Koch Arena, growing NIL collective and tradition.

“I think Wichita State is set up, along with Memphis, to dominate that league for the foreseeable future,” said C.J. Moore of The Athletic. “They have the best resources, a good setup for NIL and the money people are probably ready to help out there. I think all of that makes it a really attractive job for a coach to walk in the door with that much support. WSU is in position to dominate that league if it gets this coaching hire right.”

What kind of interest could WSU attract in its coaching search?

With a deep class of intriguing mid-major head coaches who have their teams playing in the NCAA tournament this week, the national writers say WSU should be firmly in the mix to pluck one — if that’s the direction Saal wants to go.

“If I’m Wichita State, I’m going out there and trying to get a young, ambitious coach. Basically I’m trying to find the next Gregg Marshall,” said Rob Dauster of The Field of 68. “Some of these successful coaches are at programs who don’t have the resources that WSU has and might be looking to make a jump to a higher level and a higher-paying gig and a chance to play in front of fans and better facilities. I think there are going to be a lot of really good mid-major guys out there who might be looking at that kind of opportunity.”

The list of such candidates would seem to include Darian DeVries (Drake), Paul Mills (Oral Roberts), Bob Richey (Furman), Pat Kelsey (College of Charleston), Grant McCasland (North Texas) and Dusty May (Florida Atlantic).

All of those coaches, minus McCasland, have led their teams to the NCAA tournament this season. All of those names seem to have the stamp of approval from national media.

“All of those are really good coaches and the sweet spot where Wichita State should be targeting,” Cox said. “I feel like all of those have Gregg Marshall-upside potential. That’s exactly the type of coach Wichita should be targeting and I think Wichita would be thrilled to have them and it would be a perfect marriage. Those are all elite X-and-O coaches who have taken programs and permanently elevated them, so that’s a pretty good backbone to go from.”

“Any of those guys would be really smart for Wichita State to go after,” Moore said. “All of those names are really good coaches. One name I would consider if I were them and throw in the mix is Ben McCollum from Northwest Missouri State. I think Ben is one of the brightest, sharpest guys I’ve been around and I think he would kill it at a spot like Wichita State. But honestly, I think all of those names are really good coaches that would do a good job at Wichita State.”

There is also mutual interest with WSU and Houston assistant coach Kellen Sampson, who has quickly emerged as a candidate for the position. He would be a first-time head coach, which presents its own set of risks, but the national media didn’t seem to be bothered by his lack of credentials as a head coach. Many view Sampson in the same line as Tommy Lloyd (from Gonzaga assistant to Arizona head coach) and Jerome Tang (from Baylor assistant to Kansas State head coach).

“Kellen is going to be an absolute stud,” Dauster said. “I think Kellen is going to be that next guy on the assistant list where we end up going, ‘How come nobody gave him a job before now?’ If you put him in a place like Wichita State, that just makes a ton of sense.”

“I think any time you can get a guy who is tied to one of the most impressive staffs in college basketball, there is a ton of upside there,” said Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated. “He has a very strong reputation in the coaching industry and not just as a son of somebody who is really good, but he has a chance to be a really special coach in this thing for a long time. It would be a big job for what would be his first head coaching opportunity, but it’s probably the right level for him to leave Houston and leave what’s comfortable. I think it would be a worthwhile gamble if you’re Wichita State because you could be getting in early on what could be a special coach.”

The writers believe it’s likely Saal is waiting for the targets on his short list to complete their seasons and doing his due diligence in the meantime.

WSU could also be waiting for the first domino in the coaching carousel to fall, which is believed to be the Notre Dame job. It appears WSU could be in competition with many of the same candidates as Texas Tech, as well.

With WSU paying $2.5 million per year for the next three years to pay out former coaches, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde is curious to see how much money WSU will be able to offer its next coach. That could also determine the level of candidate it might attract.

“We’ll see if they still want to pay a healthy coaches’ salary,” Forde said. “The advantage that Big 12 and football schools have over them is they just continue to make more money, but they also don’t care as much about basketball as Wichita State does. That’s why I still think this is a very attractive job. It’s a basketball school that has put a lot of investment into being a good basketball school.”