4 mid-major stars who could be Syracuse basketball’s next coach

We kicked off our look at candidates to replace Adrian Autry on Tuesday. However, it feels like the program might be in need of a fresh perspective. Here are a few mid-major coaches that Syracuse should make a real effort to land.

Bryan Hodgson, South Florida head coach

It has been a rapid rise through the rankings for Hogdson. It should not come as a surprise. After nearly a decade as an assistant on Nate Oats’ staff at Buffalo and Alabama, Hogdson got his shot at a head coaching job with Arkansas State. A 45-28 record in two seasons was enough to earn him the gig at South Florida. In his first season with the Bulls, he is 21-8, and they have already claimed the American regular-season title.

Only three years into a head coaching career, this would be a rapid ascension, but it is hard to argue with the results. What’s more, Hogdson is an Olean, New York native who spent most of his early coaching career working as an assistant across the state.

He will have a decided edge in recruitment and seems to have no problem building a winning culture right off the bat. Both Arkansas State and South Florida won just 13 games the season before Hogdson took over.

Josh Schertz, Saint Louis head coach

Possibly the hottest coaching candidate in the country right now, Schertz has built Saint Louis into a force in just two seasons. He had success at the Division II level with Lincoln Memorial before jumping to Indiana State, where he capped his tenure by leading the Sycamores to the NIT final. After an uneven first season with the Billikens, he has St. Louis ranked in the top 25 and is closing in on an A-10 regular season title.

Schertz hails from Brooklyn, making him an ideal candidate to return to the Northeast. The only knock on his resume is a lack of Division I NCAA tournament success, but it is hard to argue with his results. He has won everywhere he coached.

John Groce, Akron head coach

While not the hottest candidate on this list, Groce does have experience coaching in the Power 5. He spent five years at Illinois, posting a 95-75 record. Lack of postseason success eventually led to his firing. He has rebounded nicely at Akron, where he has led the Zips to the NCAA tournament three of the past four seasons, with a chance to make it four out of five if they can knock off Miami (OH) in the MAC tournament.

Groce’s ties are in the Midwest, but he has shown that he is capable of building a winning culture. After nine seasons to rebuild his image, it feels like he is ready to make the jump back into Power 5 coaching.

Travis Steele, Miami (OH) head coach

Speaking of Miami (OH), if you want to go just based on this season alone, no coach is more qualified than Steele. He leads the only undefeated team left in Division I men’s basketball. His record over the past two seasons is 55-9. This is all happening at Miami (OH), which, before Steele’s arrival, had last won more than 20 games in a season in 1999. That was Wally Szczerbiak’s final season in Oxford.

While this has been an incredibly impressive stretch at a school that has not found sustained success in 25 years, there are some detractors for Steele. For one, the RedHawks rank 314th in strength of schedule. Additionally, Steele struggled mightily in his last Power 5 job, going 70-50 at Xavier, but only 31-37 in the Big East with no NCAA tournament appearances.

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