The Next Maryland Basketball Coach Is...

On March 5th, Gary Williams retired after 22 seasons as the head coach of the Maryland's men's basketball team. Williams was 460-248 during his tenure at Maryland and he led the Terps to a Final Four in 2001 and he won a national championship with Maryland in 2002. Now, one of the most attractive coaching jobs in college basketball is available. The Terps have had a very successful program with an array of great players including Len Elmore, Len Bias, Joe Smith, Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, and most recently Greivis Vazquez. Maryland also has a great recruiting base with high school basketball powerhouses like DeMatha Catholic and Montrose Christian in the Maryland area. Maryland has reportedly set their sights on a number of extremely high profile coaches. So the question is... who will be the next Maryland basketball coach?

Sean Miller: Arizona head coach Sean Miller is another very attractive option for Maryland. Unlike all of the other coaches who are under Maryland's radar, Miller hasn't been coaching at his program for a long time. He is only going into his third year at Arizona. Miller is also an east coast kid. He grew up in Pennsylvania, played college ball at Pittsburgh, and was an assistant coach at NC State for 6 years. According to sources close to Maryland and Miller, there is mutual interest between the two. Miller has also admitted that he would listen if Maryland called. Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson and Miller are expected to meet in the next few days. Miller is speaking at a Nike Coaches Clinic in Las Vegas on May 7th and Kevin Anderson is expected to meet with the head coach there. The 42 year-old Miller would bring great energy to the Terps program.

Mike Brey: Notre Dame head coach Mark Brey looks to be at the top of Maryland's list of potential head coaches along with Sean Miller. Brey is a Maryland native, as he was born in Maryland and played basketball at DeMatha Catholic High School. Brey played in college at Geroge Washington and was the head coach at Delaware for 6 years and currently has a beach house in Delaware. So the move from Notre Dame in Illinos to his roots in Maryland doesn't seem out of this world for Brey. However, Notre dame is currently working on an extension with Brey to keep him in South Bend for several more years. Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said, "Mike is our basketball coach and I look forward to him being our coach for a very long time. There's just nothing to comment on [him going to Maryland]."

Tubby Smith: The rumors of Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith to Maryland have heated up. Like Brey, Smith is a Maryland native and one of his three sons currently is an assistant coach at Loyola University in Maryland. Maryland is a dream job for the 59 year-old Smith as he can return home and get an opportunity to once again coach at another major college basketball program (no offense Minnesota). Before Williams retired, a source close to Tubby said that there's a "99 percent" chance that he will stay at Minnesota for a couple of more years. However, he added that the only job Smith would leave Minnesota for in a heartbeat would be to go back to his home state and coach at Maryland. Although Smith may be interested in the coaching vacancy at Maryland, Maryland seems reluctant to hand over the keys to their program to a 59 year-old.

Jay Wright: Villanova head coach Jay Wright is another candidate for to replace the legendary Williams at Maryland although it seems he is uninterested in the job. Wright would fit well at Maryland because of his ability to recruit the best players in the country. Wright always recruits great point guards from Scottie Reynolds to Corey Fisher to Malikk Wayns. This year, Wright got point guard Tyrone Johnson to commit to Villanova. In fact, Jonhson is from Montrose Christian in Maryland. However, according to a source, the Wildcats' head coach is not going to leave Villanova to fill the coach vacancy at Maryland.

Jamie Dixon: Maryland may have an edge to lure Jamie Dixon away from Pittsburgh to coach Maryland although it seems pretty unlikely. From 2004 to 2010, Kevin Anderson was the athletic director at Army. He hired Jamie's late sister Maggie Dixon in 2005 to coach Army's women's basketball team. Jamie and Kevin have had a close relationship since Maggie's death, so it is likely that Anderson will make a call to Dixon about Maryland's coaching vacancy. Dixon will be attending the same Nike Coaches Clinic as Sean Miller, so Anderson will likely speak with him about the job there. However, it seems unlikely that Dixon will leave all that he has built at Pitt to come to Maryland. When a source close to Dixon was asked if Jamie would leave Pitt to come to Maryland he said, "Hell no."

Other possible replacements for Williams include Texas head coach Rick Barnes, VCU head coach Shaka Smart, Butler head coach Brad Stevens, and Texas A&M head coach Mark Turgeon. However, it appears that Sean Miller and Mike Brey are the favorites to take over the vacancy at Maryland.