MANHATTAN — Kansas State's search for its next basketball coach has begun after the school announced it fired Jerome Tang.
Wildcats athletic director Gene Taylor said a national search will begin immediately. Taylor said the school will prioritize head coaching experience in the search.
"We'll look at what kind of program they've had and what kind of success they've had as a head coach," Taylor said. "It doesn't mean that'll be the only candidates we'll look at, but that's certainly where we're gonna start."
Matthew Driscoll will serve as the program's interim coach over the team's final six games and in the Big 12 Tournament. Most of the focus will now shift to the future as Taylor seeks the Wildcats' next head coach.
Here are a few early names to know:
Josh Schertz, Saint Louis
Schertz will be the hottest name in this college basketball coaching cycle. He's revived the Saint Louis program after finding success at Indiana State. He can afford to be patient and pick the best job available. That might not be Kansas State, but the Wildcats have a head start over everyone else.
Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State
Calhoun is more realistic than Schertz, but he'll be a hot commodity. He's won at a high level everywhere he's been, building Youngstown State into a winner before reaching the NCAA Tournament last year, his first, with Utah State.
Travis Steele, Miami (Ohio)
Steele leads the only undefeated program in the country, Miami (Ohio), at 25-0, already matching last season's win total. Steele is a bit of a high-major retread, having coached four seasons at Xavier before getting fired. He wasn't the worst with the Muskateers, winning 19 games in three of his four seasons, but it wasn't up to the school's standard. He should have a few options after this season.
Chris Holtmann, DePaul
Hotmann has had a successful coaching career, leading Butler to three NCAA Tournaments before he arrived at Ohio State, where he led the Buckeyes to four trips to the big dance. But he fizzled out in the last two seasons, leading to his firing. He's now at DePaul, where he's 13-12 in his second season. The Blue Devils haven't had a winning season since 2018-19.
John Groce, Akron
How about another former Illinois head coach? Groce landed on his feet at Akron after five seasons leading the Fighting Illini, where he wasn't terrible, but not up to Illinois' standards. The Zips have won 20 or more games in each of the last five seasons and have three NCAA Tournament trips to go with them.
Eric Olen, New Mexico
Olen is a name that's rising quickly. He's in his first season at New Mexico, where the Lobos are 19-6 entering Feb. 16. He's coming off a successful 12-year stint at UC San Diego, where he coached the Tritons through a Division II to Division I transition and made the NCAA Tournament by his fifth year in the Division I ranks.
Casey Alexander, Belmont
Alexander has been one of the better mid-major coaches for a while. He led Lipscomb to an NCAA Tournament appearance and an NIT runner-up finish before moving to Belmont, where the Bruins have won 20 or more games in all seven of his seasons in Nashville.
Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa
Another Missouri Valley Conference name, Jacobson has been at Northern Iowa for what feels like forever. He's in his 20th season with UNI, during which he's led the Panthers to four NCAA Tournaments.
Brett Ballard, Washburn
Could Kansas State travel down the road for its next coach? Ballard has Washburn ranked No. 3 among Division II programs in the country. He's in his ninth season with the Ichabods and is coming off a 30-4 season in which he led Washburn to the Division II Final Four. There have been some really good former Division II coaches who have entered the Division I ranks recently (Schertz and Iowa's Ben McCollum, to name two). This is a stretch, but Ballard should get some looks soon.
Brad Underwood, Illinois
Collin Klein returned to Kansas State to become the head coach of the football team. What about Underwood? Keep dreamin'. Put the feeler out, but he's got a good thing going.
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball coach candidates hot board 1.0