College basketball coaching rumors: Here’s who Louisville, UConn, Pitt are looking at

Dan Hurley is popular at the moment, plus news on Sean Miller, Chris Mack, and David Padgett

Although the college basketball season isn’t officially over, the coaching rumor mill is firing on all cylinders. Tom Crean has already taken over the reigns at Georgia, but with big openings at Louisville, Pittsburgh, and UConn, there will be a lot more moving pieces as the off-season ramps up.

Who will end up at Pitt?

The Kevin Stallings experiment did not go well for the Panthers. Pitt decided to part ways with Stallings after just two seasons, the latter of which saw the Panthers go an abysmal 0-18 in the ACC. They will owe Stallings $9.4 million, and nine of the team’s current players have asked for releases to transfer, as did their two incoming recruits for 2018. So, not exactly the best situation for a coach to come into.

Early Wednesday, rumors started swirling about Arizona’s current head coach Sean Miller (who played for Pitt from 1987-92) returning to his alma mater.

Those were quickly refuted by Miller, who hasn’t been relieved of his duties at Arizona yet, in an official statement.

Miller’s name isn’t the only one linked to Pitt in the last week.

Which leads us to...

Does UConn have the money to play?

On March 10, UConn fired Kevin Ollie with “just cause”, citing his NCAA recruiting violations. By claiming as such, the Huskies would be exempt from paying the $10 million buyout on his contract. This could be a huge impact on their ability to entice a replacement. Case in point: Dan Hurley. As mentioned above, Hurley, the current head coach of Rhode Island, has gotten attention from Pitt and UConn along with the Rams trying to keep him home.

UConn will not be able to pay Hurley as much as Pitt can, but Hurley could also elect to stay at Rhode Island. He’s a huge piece of a big puzzle this off-season.

Could Chris Mack be headed to Louisville?

It’s been an intense year for the Cardinals as they’ve dealt with scandal after scandal, leading to the firing of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich, and the NCAA eventually vacating their 2013 national championship. After not making the NCAA tournament, they ended their season with an embarrassing 79-56 NIT loss to Mississippi State. Interim head coach David Padgett did an admirable job stepping up, but he will not be promoted into the role full time.

Now, it appears as Louisville’s new (interim) athletic director Vince Tyra has his sights set on Xavier’s Chris Mack.

Mack has been at Xavier since 2004 (which was actually his second stint with the Musketeers), and was promoted to head coach in 2009. He’s amassed a 212-96 (68%) record in his nine seasons, and has had a winning record each year.

I’ve never related more to David Padgett, to be honest.

Before getting into the new search, however, Padgett is taking some time to reflect.