March Madness Coaching Carousel: Will Wade, Sean Miller, Others Land High-Profile Jobs

With only 16 teams remaining teams in the men’s field, there’s been no shortage of news off the court.

Specifically speaking, we’ve seen several head coaching vacancies suddenly filled in short order in correspondence with various squads seeing their seasons coming to an end.

Sean Miller: Xavier to Texas

This one was a bit of a surprise. Ironically enough, Xavier defeated Texas in the No. 11 vs. No. 11 play-in game to enter the 64-team field. On the surface, the move does make some sense. Miller recruited the state of Texas well during his tenure at Arizona. While things didn’t end well in Tucson, he was able to reset his career with some time off, and reestablish it at Xavier. Now, Miller seems rejuvenated ahead of taking over this high-profile program. Things won’t be easy in the SEC — though landing Miller appears to be a nice upgrade over the departed Rodney Terry.

Will Wade: McNeese to NC State

This one had been rumored even before McNeese upset Clemson in Round 1. Wade has won everywhere he’s been, and his fast-paced uptempo style of play consistently has worked well with the athletes available to him in ACC/SEC country. This should be no different at NC State — though we can envision Wade having even more success considering the ACC being far less competitive than the SEC, the Big Ten, and the Big 12. This is a home run hire, and potentially a Grand Slam one should Wade hit the ground running in bringing back the Wolfpack to the days of Jimmy Valvano.

Niko Medved: Colorado State to Minnesota

This was a no-brainer hire for Minnesota. The Gophers reportedly hired Medved to a multi-year deal. The former CSU head coach was born and raised in Minneapolis, and graduated from Minnesota. He also was an assistant at the school nearly 20 years ago. It all made sense for him to make his way back home. With the Rams, Medved built Colorado State into a Mountain West power. CSU had five seasons with at least 20 wins under Medved’s leadership. He also led the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Ben McCollum: Drake to Iowa

Fran McCaffery was let go after 15 years on the job. Striking quickly, Iowa focused its efforts on Drake head coach Ben McCollum. McCollum had been one of the hottest coaching candidates on the market. The 43-year-old from Storm Lake, Iowa put together a phenomenal run at Northwest Missouri State. This past year, he jumped from the D2 ranks to D1 with Drake. Bringing a handful of players from his former D2 school, Drake had a magical season — going 31-4. This included a R1 win over SEC team Missouri. A 4-time National Championship winner on the D2 level, McCollum is ready to bring the Hawkeyes a title of their own on the biggest stage within the sport.