The ink has barely dried on Danny Manning’s monster buyout at Wake Forest, but things will need to move quickly in Winston-Salem. Here are seven potential candidate at Wake with early odds:
- John Beilein (3 to 1) – Former Head Coach Cleveland Cavs / University of Michigan. Veteran who has proven he can win at the high major level. Could get Wake turned around quickly. No other HM jobs open right now, and all indications are that he would welcome the opportunity to be back at the college level after the debacle in Cleveland.
- Wes Miller (4 to 1) – Head Coach UNC Greensboro. Has 4 straight 23+ win seasons at UNCG, and some pretty solid connections in the area pushing him for this one. Rumored by some to be the favorite here.
- Ryan Odom (5 to 1) – Head Coach UMBC. Son of former Wake head coach Dave Odom. The elder Odom will most likely be involved in some capacity in this search. Ryan’s name has been swirling here since his squad became the first 16 to beat a 1 in the NCAA tournament back in 2018.
- Pat Kelsey (20 to 1) – Head Coach Winthrop. Former Wake assistant who has had success at Winthrop – 163–93 (.637) in 8 years. Bailed on UMass after accepting that gig back in 2017, but the ACC is obviously a much better draw than the A10.
- Steve Forbes (25 to 1) – Head Coach East Tennessee. An interesting name here, but one that has been making the rounds none the less. The former Tennessee and Wichita State assistant has gone 130–43 (.751) in 5 seasons at ETSU (including 30-4 this past season).
- Randolph Childress (30 to 1) – Acting Head Coach Wake Forest. A Demon Deacons legend from his playing days, has been the staff since 2013. I’ve heard he’s making a push for this one, but I don’t have a good feeling that that AD John Currie will keep it in house.
- Russell Turner – (35 to 1) – Head Coach Cal Irvine. A long shot here, Turner is former assistant under Dave Odom at Wake (1994-2000). Has also been an assistant at Stanford and with the Golden State Warriors, and has proven he can recruit to a high academic school.
- Field (16-1) – I really like the top three a lot which is why the field is being set a bit high.
