Reports started to surface on Thursday afternoon that Indiana head basketball coach Mike Woodson was contemplating stepping down and retiring from his post, potentially leaving the Hoosiers without a head coach of the future.
As corresponding reports rolled in and made a case for this being all but a done deal, it’s quickly become a job opening that many huge names are bound to be interested in.
Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger has already been listed as the “top candidate” for Virginia when it inevitably moves on from interim head coach Ron Sanchez this offseason, but it appears that yet another Big 12 head coach will be the focus of a coaching search.
The Indianapolis Star released a Hot Board list of candidates to take over in Bloomington, and one of the top overall candidates mentioned is Baylor head coach Scott Drew.
While Drew has turned down advances from programs like Kentucky and Louisville in recent cycles, this particular job might have more appeal, as it would get him closer to his roots, as the Indy Star points out.
“[An] Indiana native, Drew has been at Baylor now for more than two decades. He won a national title in Waco in 2021, plus Big 12 regular-season titles in 2021 and 2022, and he’s three times been named Big 12 coach of the year.
“A Butler grad, Drew coached under and then succeeded his father, Homer, at Valparaiso, before taking over as Bears head coach in 2003. Drew turned back overtures from Louisville and Kentucky in recent years, all his behavior suggesting he’s happy in Waco. Turning his head has been impossible thus far, but Indiana could try.”
Drew’s listing as a “home run hire” puts him in company with Brad Stevens (Boston Celtics Pres. of Basketball Ops), Nate Oats (Alabama), and Bruce Pearl (Auburn) on this list.
He’s far from the only Big 12 name on the list, though, as Otzelberger, Grant McCasland (Texas Tech), and Darian DeVries (West Virginia) are all included as well, but at lower levels of assumed interest.
Will the Hoosiers lure a Big 12 coach away from their current program, or will they stand pat for another cycle? Let us know what you think in the member forum!
