When college basketball betting heats up for the NCAA Tournament, so do rumors involving coaches potentially switching schools.
As mid-major schools reach the NCAA Tournament, their coaches get noticed and oftentimes hired to replace coaches at bigger schools.
Rob Dauster, founder of The Field of 68, which has recently partnered with BetMGM, gave his five best candidates for the 2024 college basketball coaching carousel.
Dusty May – Florida Atlantic
Dauster noted this was an obvious selection, given Florida Atlantic reached the Final Four in 2023.
It is worth noting he got a 10-year contract last April, where he will earn $15.7 million over the length of the deal.
This wouldn’t prevent him from leaving, it would just mean the school hiring him would need to likely execute an expensive buyout.
Pat Kelsey – College of Charleston
Kelsey made the NCAA Tournament twice when he was at Winthrop, and then he led Charleston to the Big Dance in his second year at the school in 2022-23.
In his nine years at Winthrop, Kelsey went 281-196, including four regular-season conference championships.
Bob Richey – Furman
This is Richey’s seventh season at Furman, and he’s led the school to 20-win seasons every year except for one.
“He’s only 40 years old,” Dauster said. “Furman doesn’t have a rich basketball history, but in the last five years, they’ve been in the top-three in a really good conference.”
Furman made the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23.
Niko Medved – Colorado State
Medved has been at Colorado State since 2018 and led them to the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22.
“He didn’t have a great season last year, but they were really banged up and injured,” Dauster said. “… He won at least 20 games in three of his first five years at the school.”
Robert Jones – Norfolk State
Jones has led Norfolk State to the NCAA Tournament in two of his 10 years at the school and could be a surprise name to emerge.
“Just a really, really good coach who doesn’t get enough attention because he coaches in the MEAC conference,” Dauster said. “At some point, someone is going to come in and hire him and be really happy about it.”
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