Sampson Moves On: Who’s Next For OU?

By Big12-Fans Writer Josh Cline


Kelvin Sampson has decided that enough was enough at Oklahoma and has gone to Bloomington to coach the Hoosiers. Most media outside the Sooner State have focused on whether Sampson is a good hire for Indiana given his NCAA run-in and his lack of ties to the Hoosier Nation (heck, Bob Knight and Sampson don’t even get along). What lacks is the focus on who is next for an Oklahoma program that has been a consistent winner over the Billy Tubbs and Sampson eras.

An important consideration that OU Athletic Director Joe Castiglione will have to look at is the style the potential coach has. While the ability to win basketball games, especially in the tournament is important, many fans of OU has complained quite vocally about the slow offense. Sampson was a defensive mastermind, but at times it seems like the Sooners passed the ball around the perimeter with no desire to score the basketball. Fans will support a coach with an up-tempo style that reminds them of the 1980s.

Unfortunately for OU, many of the high-profile coaches have already been snatched up by the Big 12 North schools. Former Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins may not have been what Castiglione is looking for, but even so, he would have brought a big name and even bigger recruits and you would have to be kidding yourself to think he would have picked KSU over OU had both jobs been offered to him. Also a new hire in the conference is Mike Anderson, the UAB coach who is a Nolan Richardson disciple. Anderson runs the “Forty Minutes of Hell” system which emphasizes the fast break on offense and pressing and trapping the entire game on defense. While Missouri has a nice arena, Oklahoma has been a more stable program of late and would have likely been able to lure Anderson head-to-head.

However, there are some quality candidates that Oklahoma will look at...here is a look at five of them and how they would fit in with the Sooners.

Lorenzo Romar, Washington: Romar would be a grand-slam pick up for Oklahoma with his recent success in the NCAA Tournament as well as his up-and-down offense. He has also coached an NBA player in Nate Robinson who would give instant credibility to him. The only downside for OU is that he is probably unlikely to leave the Huskies as they are his alma mater. Given his credentials, however, he might be the best fit for the job. With Castiglione leading everyone to believe he will shell out the big bucks for the hire, maybe Romar will follow his pocketbook instead of his alma mater...but it's unlikely.

Al Skinner, Boston College: Not too much is being said about Skinner ending up in Norman. It might not make a whole lot of sense for Skinner or the Sooners, but nobody is denying that he is a great head coach. It might not make sense for Skinner because he has a solid job in arguably the best basketball conference and probably making a pretty sizable salary already. It might not make sense for OU because Skinner is already in his 50s. However, if OU were to do it, they would be acquiring a solid coach who would be able to keep the Sooners in the top tier of Big 12 schools.

John Calipari, Memphis: The Memphis head coach has Final Four experience at UMass, has (disastrous) NBA experience with the Nets. Now he is with the Tigers and has shown he still has his ability to recruit and coach. Calipari just spurned the Hoosiers offer, so why would he go to a worse basketball school? Oklahoma will give him a call, but if Calipari ends up as the Sooners coach, the money will have to be right.

Mark Turgeon, Wichita State: This is the best “mid-major” candidate for the Sooners. Turgeon has Big 12 ties from his days as a player and coach at Kansas. He also has coached under Oklahoma director of basketball operations, Jerry Green while an assistant at Oregon. When Green left Oregon to Tennessee, Turgeon went to coach under Larry Brown with the 76ers before heading to Jacksonville State. At Wichita, his Shocker teams have improved each of his tenure, which dates back to the 2000-2001 season. Turgeon seems to be a great coach, but his name may not be big enough to appease the Sooner faithful.

Tubby Smith, Kentucky: Smith is the ultimate dark horse candidate for the job, mainly because he is at a top-tier job and OU is not another one of those jobs. However, the heat has been on Smith for the past few years at Kentucky and he may be looking for a change of scenery. Tubby has coached in Oklahoma before while at Tulsa and almost took the OU job before he decided on Georgia and OU hired Sampson. This would be the ultimate hire for the Sooners given his success with Kentucky, but probably the most unlikely of candidates.

Dana Altman, Creighton: Altman has done a superb job at Creighton, but has the whole fired from Kansas State thing working against him. Honestly, that fact alone might turn off OU fans to Altman because he got fired from his one major conference job. However, he did take the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament during his tenure and has done it multiple times in Omaha. I don’t think OU goes this route, but his name has been thrown around quite a bit.

Of course, the eventual coach could very well be someone we haven’t even identified as a candidate yet. When Castiglione hired Bob Stoops in 1999 the buzz was about anyone from Rick Neuheisel to Jim Donnan, but the Florida assistant got the job quietly. Be sure of one thing: Joe Castiglione has a reputation of being one of the best athletic directors in the business and won’t make a bad hire for his men’s basketball team. However, he needs to act fast as OU is lacking big men and signing day is just two weeks away. Let the speculation continue...it should be a fun week or so.

Big12-fans.com's Archived Articles