A crazy few days to kick off the week. Needless to say, COVID is not having an effect on college basketball coaching moves like it did last year. AD’s have not been shy to pull the trigger this off-season and pony up for some big buy outs. Here are a few quick things to kick off the day…
I can confirm that new Indiana State head coach Josh Schertz has asked current assistant Kareem Richardson to stay on board. Richardson has been on the Sycamore’s staff for the past two seasons, and was the Head Coach at UMKC before that. It is unclear at this point if Richardson will accept the offer.
Word on the street is that Jeremiah Samarrippas is the leader to replace Schertz at Lincoln Memorial. Samarrippas played at both SMU and Tennessee tech, and has been at LMU for the past seven seasons. I’ve also heard that former assistant (and current Lander head coach) Omar Waddad is no longer involved here.
With T.J. Otzelberger apparently heading to Iowa State, Matt Norlander broke down some of the financial numbers: Iowa State owes approximately $5.5 million to Prohm after his firing and it will also have to pay somewhere between $4 to $4.5 million to front Otzelberger’s buyout from UNLV. Wow.
It sounds like Fordham has met with as many as 18 candidates via a combination of Zoom and on campus interviews. Some sources have told me that Bryant’s Jared Grasso is no longer a candidate. I’ve also heard that Fordham may break the bank for someone like Yale’s James Jones. More on this one as I hear it.
Adding some names to the list at Jacksonville: Tennessee assistant Desmond Oliver, Florida assistant Jordan Mincy, and Bethune Cookman head coach Ryan Ridder. Other names that I’ve already mentioned here include former UAB head coach Rob Ehsan, Rice assistant Vince Alexander, and NC State assistant Mike Summey. At least one more SEC assistant and one more current head coach also involved.
An early name making the rounds at South Carolina State is Gray Collegiate head coach Dion Bethea. The SC native has had a ton of success at the prep level. There are also a bunch of other names floating around – all with local ties (seems to be the direction SC State needs to go). More on this search as it progresses.
The 2021 HoopDirt.com Coaching Changes Tracker can be found HERE. Changes at the D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO levels are included.
