College basketball insiders reveal four names to watch for Ole Miss basketball search

Kermit Davis is out as Ole Miss coach as of Friday morning. The school decided to part ways with the fifth-year Rebels coach as he was headed towards his worst season with the program.

So, with the Rebels beginning the process for finding a new head of the program, college hoops insiders Jeff Borzello and Jeff Goodman already have a few names for fans to keep an eye on as potential targets. Let’s discuss the four they named as possible replacements.

Chris Beard

Chris Beard needs Thomas Edison’s magnifying transmitter from The Prestige, because his hat is about to be thrown in every ring during the upcoming coaching carousel. Of course, Beard was fired at Texas in just his second season due to a domestic violence case against him that was ultimately dismissed, paving the way for him to likely rejoin the coaching ranks next season as one of the top names on the market.

According to Borzello’s “industry sources,” keep an eye on Beard for the Ole Miss gig. Though his legal troubles were taken care of, it’s unlikely an elite-level program goes after Beard so soon, which makes schools like Ole Miss a reasonable fit, since they’re a Power Five program that isn’t in the limelight but has the resources to be competitive. In the SEC, there’s enough money to turn any program around with the right coach and perhaps the Rebels go bold and cast their rod towards the carousel’s biggest fish.

Will Wade

Adding to Borzello’s reporting, Jeff Goodman listed Will Wade as an option for Ole Miss.

Beard may be a bold choice for personal reasons, but Wade is arguably bolder, considering his squabbles with the NCAA in recent years. Jon Rothstein calls him an “American Gangster” for good reason, because he ran the LSU Basketball program about as cleanly as Tony Soprano’s Waste Management company. However, new NIL rules paved the way for Wade to do what he did at LSU, but within the NCAA rulebook.

If he’s willing to play ball without violating NCAA laws, Wade could be a great option from a coaching perspective. He recruits at an elite level and coaches great offense. LSU ranked in KenPom’s Top-15 in offensive efficiency during the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons, while his final team in 2022 flipped the script and instead boasted a top-10 defense. Wade knows how to accumulate talent and fit them into a winning formula. The off-court drama is the only complaint, because he’s always been one heck of a ball coach.

Dusty May, FAU

May got his first head coaching job with FAU back in 2018 and has built the Owls into one of the top mid-major programs in the country this year. The 2022-23 team is currently 25-3 and looking like an NCAA Tournament lock so long as they don’t falter a few times down the stretch. Even if FAU was to lose out, 25 wins would set the school’s D1 record for wins in a season by four games. Clearly, the 47-year-old May can coach.

The downside? His only head coaching experience is at a small Conference USA program, where he’s only had one season that suggests he could compete in the SEC. Maybe the Rebels would catch lighting in a bottle and grab a blossoming coaching star before every program in the country wants him. Or, May’s job this year could be an aberration, since FAU hadn’t won 60% of its games in any of his seasons prior to 2022-23. Either way, a name to watch for Rebel fans, per Borzello.

Grant McCasland, North Texas

McCasland is in the same vein as May: a mid-major coach with less than 10 years of head coaching experience. Except McCasland has more depth of success than May. He’s been the head guy at North Texas for six years, where he’s improved on or matched his record in each season. Of course, the crown jewel of his resume is the 2021 NCAA Tournament, where the Mean Green picked off No. 4 seed Purdue in the round of 64. But he’s put together two even better regular seasons since, winning Conference USA last season while riding second behind Dusty May’s FAU club in the current standings

Perhaps the C-USA Tournament could decide the fate of the next Ole Mis basketball coach? Its two top teams have prime Rebel targets, per Borzello. Plus, the freshly-fired Kermit Davis also migrated to Oxford after a long tenure with C-USA power Middle Tennessee. The first two are the big swings, while the latter pair are safer choices from a PR perspective.