Oliver has been part of a Wisconsin program, which is currently ranked among the top 13 in the country, that has had a ton of success since his arrival in 2017. Oliver was on the staff when the Redbirds won 28 games and went 17-1 in the MVC. The current Wisconsin assistant coach spent three years at Illinois State working for Dan Muller from 2014-17.
But Illinois State would be a better, more high-profile job than any potential MAC opening this spring. He will surely be in the mix once again for Mid-American Conference jobs, ones that open during this coaching carousel. Washington remains an attractive candidate and appears to be in the sweet spot for breaking in as a head coach. But he’s been content at Michigan as he waits for the right time and best opportunity. While at Michigan he’s been a part of a ton of high-level success, including multiple Big Ten championships, 30-win seasons and a trip to the national championship game in 2018.Ī Michigan native who played at Western Michigan, the veteran assistant coach has drawn considerable head coaching interest from low-major and mid-major programs in recent years. He’s been in Ann Arbor for six seasons following a long run as an assistant coach at Oakland. Saddi Washington, Michigan assistantĪ highly thought of assistant who has now coached under both John Beilein and Juwan Howard while at Michigan. Pedon is ready to run his own show at the mid-major level. He can easily sell his ability to build connections throughout the Midwest. Sharp, organized and a relationship-based assistant coach, he has recruited the state over the years and was instrumental in landing current Ohio State star EJ Liddell from Belleville West. The Ohio native has been an assistant at Miami (Ohio), Toledo and Butler while also serving on John Groce’s staff at Illinois as special assistant to the head coach. He was also a part of two NCAA Tournament teams while at Butler.
The Buckeyes are on pace for a fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in those five years. He’s completing his fifth season under Chris Holtman at Ohio State.
Pedon has been on the cusp of getting a head coaching job in recent years, but he’s been patiently waiting for the right job. One of the highly respected assistant coaches in the country. So there are plenty of natural connections to the state.Īfter taking Cleveland State to the NCAA Tournament last season in what was a pretty remarkable turnaround of a program, Gates has been a hot name since in the coaching rumor mill and will continue to be. He was an assistant coach briefly at Northern Illinois. Gates was born and raised in Chicago and played at Young where he won a state championship in 1998. His success as a head coach, coupled with an extensive history as a high-major assistant coach, makes him a prime high-major head coaching candidate.īut there are local ties and he’s a name to at least explore no matter how big of a reach it would be to nab Gates. Gates has already been looked at and interviewed at that level in the last coaching hiring cycle a year ago. This might be unrealistic and may not make a whole lot of sense- for both sides - considering Cleveland State is atop the Horizon League and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament would likely mean Gates would be a hot commodity among high-major programs. The Missouri Valley Conference would be a step up from the Horizon League as Nagy finishes up his sixth season at Wright State following 21 years at South Dakota State. The 55-year-old Nagy would bring a ton of experience, a lot of substance and a winning history to the program. In addition to always recruiting Illinois throughout his career, he grew up in Champaign, graduated from Centennial and is the son of Dick Nagy, a former assistant for Illinois coach Lou Henson. Since that 2012 season Nagy has averaged 23 wins a season. He would be someone Illinois State has never hired before - a highly-successful sitting head coach.īetween his years at South Dakota State and Wright State, Nagy has won six conference championships and taken four teams to the NCAA Tournament since 2012. All the veteran coach has done in his career is win.