Dick Vitale Names The Coach He Would Hire At Indiana

The Indiana basketball head coaching search isn’t a full week old, but the list of candidates seems to grow by the second. Scott Drew, Brad Stevens, Chris Beard and more have been mentioned, but the Hoosiers don’t seem any closer to making a new hire.

Earlier this weekend, Dick Vitale endorsed another different choice for the head coaching vacancy: Nevada’s Steve Alford.

“@IndianaMBB should hire a guy that knows the @B1GMBBall,” Vitale tweeted on Saturday night. “Someone that has a LOVE for that Jersey / someone that knows Indiana HS basketball inside& out. Yes since Brad Stevens is staying with @Celtics they should hire ex Mr Basketball – ex IU All American STEVE ALFORD !”

Alford’s ties to Indiana run deep after he grew up in the state and played for the Hoosiers from 1983-1987. Since then, he’s had a fairly successful coaching career, with stops at Iowa, New Mexico and UCLA before landing at Nevada.

The Wolf Pack are 34-21 with Alford at the helm over the last two years. In his prior stint with the Bruins, the Indiana native led his group to multiple Sweet Sixteen appearances.

There is one slight problem to Vitale’s suggestion: Alford has already committed to staying at Nevada, according to Jon Rothstein.

“Sources: Steve Alford is committed to staying at Nevada and will not pursue the head coaching vacancy at Indiana,” Rothstein reported much earlier this week, when speculation began. “Wolf Pack should have a chance to win the Mountain West next season.”

Although Alford might not be the man for the job, plenty of other options are still available. A report earlier on Sunday named former Ohio State coach Thad Matta and Mike Woodson as new candidates for the gig. After Porter Moser led Loyola-Chicago back to the Sweet Sixteen earlier on Sunday, many wondered if Indiana would make a run at him.

One thing is for certain: whoever the Hoosiers choose needs to be the coach that re-establishes Indiana as a worthy competitor in the Big Ten.

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