K-State basketball will focus on these names in final stages of coaching search
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K‑State in final stages, hoping for a handshake agreement this week.
- Jerrod Calhoun is the frontrunner; $4M buyout and Pitt interest loom.
- Alexander, Schertz and Huss are considered alternatives, with caveats.
Kansas State fans won’t have to wait much longer for a new men’s basketball coach.
A disastrous season will come to an end for the Wildcats whenever they suffer their next loss. That could happen as early as Tuesday evening in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament against BYU. Afterward, all eyes will be on Gene Taylor’s coaching search as the K-State athletic director works to find a replacement for Jerome Tang.
K-State officials are hoping to have a handshake agreement in place with a candidate at some point this week.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Wildcats will be ready to announce a new hire that quickly. Some of K-State’s top targets will be coaching in the NCAA Tournament, which means they won’t be available until their seasons end. But the Wildcats have been working behind the scenes on their coaching search for three weeks. The search process is entering its final stages.
It will be interesting to see whether K-State’s head start helps it land its top choice. K-State was the first power-conference job to come open this cycle. But Boston College, Georgia Tech and Providence have also since made coaching changes. It appears as though Pittsburgh and others could soon join the group.
With that in mind, here is a look at where the coaching search currently stands:
Jerrod Calhoun is the frontrunner
All signs point to Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun as the current frontrunner in K-State’s coaching search.
The Wildcats have strong interest in him. He appears to have interest in the Wildcats. They could make for a good match.
Calhoun is 51-13 over his two seasons at Utah State. He guided the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament last season. This season, they won the Mountain West regular season championship and will once again be part of March Madness.
Before his time at Utah State, Calhoun also won consistently at Youngstown State and Division II Fairmont State.
Calhoun served as an assistant coach under Bob Huggins at both Cincinnati and West Virginia. Huggins breathed life into K-State basketball during his lone season in Manhattan, and that connection is a draw for the Wildcats.
Utah State is paying Calhoun $1.85 million in salary this season. His buyout is nearly $4 million, according to a copy of his contract.
K-State could face competition for him with Pitt. Calhoun is originally from Ohio, and Pittsburgh could offer a more desirable location for him and his family.
Casey Alexander is available
K-State won’t have to wait if it decides to target Belmont coach Casey Alexander.
The Bruins suffered an early upset at Arch Madness, which means they are no longer in the mix for an NCAA Tournament berth. Despite that defeat, Belmont had a terrific season that featured 26 victories and a Missouri Valley regular-season championship.
Alexander has won 73.5% of his games at Belmont. Before that, he guided Lipscomb to three 20-win seasons and one NCAA Tournament. He would fit the mold of an experienced head coach that Taylor has said he is hoping to hire.
He will be a strong candidate if talks don’t progress with Calhoun.
Josh Schertz may not be interested
K-State officials think highly of Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz. It’s easy to understand why, given his success with the Billikens and before that with Indiana State and Division II Lincoln Memorial.
His overall record as a head coach is 449-128.
But Schertz may not be interested in the K-State job. Some reports have indicated that K-State reached out to Schertz and he told them “no thanks.” For what it’s worth, insiders with knowledge of the K-State coaching search have said that Schertz remains in the mix, but convincing him to leave SLU right now is viewed as a difficult task.
Saint Louis is preparing to offer him a raise and contract extension. Odds are he will wait for a higher-profile job to come open before he leaves his current gig.
Alan Huss may lead a second-tier of candidates
There has been conflicting chatter about Creighton assistant Alan Huss.
Some have indicated that his ties to Kansas City and the Midwest make him a strong candidate at K-State. Others have said he is barely in the mix, because he is the head-coach-in-waiting at Creighton. But it is unclear how much longer Greg McDermott intends to continue coaching there.
Perhaps Huss could best be described as a wild card in this search.
Huss played high school basketball at North Kansas City. He has coached as an assistant at New Mexico and Creighton. He also has head coaching experience at High Point, where he won 56 games over two seasons.
If he seriously enters the mix, K-State could hire him sooner rather than later. Creighton will need to win the Big East Tournament to advance to March Madness.
Other coaching options
It is unclear where K-State would turn if none of the above options work out.
But Charleston coach Chris Mack and Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson have been mentioned on the periphery of this coaching search.
Mack won big at Xavier and then lost at Louisville. He has since guided Charleston to consecutive 20-win seasons. He could also be in the mix for the Providence job.
Jacobson just guided Northern Iowa to an Arch Madness championship. He has been with the Panthers for 20 years, and would like a shot at a bigger job. K-State hasn’t shown much interest in Jacobson yet, according to sources, but maybe that could change if Northern Iowa keeps winning.