Texas Basketball: UT Makes List as Possible Landing Spot for John Beilein
Cavaliers head coach John Beilein has officially resigned from his position in Cleveland and speculation has already begun on what his next move will be.
Many are predicting a return to the college ranks, where Beilein served from 1978-2019 with stops at Erie CC, Nazareth (NY), Le Moyne, Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia and Michigan. It is his stop with the Wolverines that has many college basketball fans clambering for Beilein to head up their respective programs. He compiled a 278–150 record in 12 seasons as head coach of the Wolverines, including two trips to the national title game, two Big Ten titles and two Big Ten Tournament titles.
The Longhorns are currently No. 2 in betting odds to land Beilein according to Sportsline.
There is, of course, one major matter standing in the way of Texas hiring Beilein. Texas still has a head basketball coach in Shaka Smart.
Smart is currently 85-77 overall as the head coach of the Longhorns including a 35-49 mark in Big 12 play. The team likely needs to either run the table in the regular season or win the conference tournament or it will miss the Big Dance for the third time in Smart's five seasons as head coach.
Many had wondered where Texas could turn if they were to let Smart go. Hiring another college coach would probably mean buying out a contract, which coupled with Smart's buyout would be an expensive venture before even talking salary.
Beilein's sudden availability could allow Texas to make a splash hire without eating a nasty buyout.
Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte isn't going to make a move either way until after the season, but if he were to go after Beilein, expect things to move quickly once Texas wraps up play on the court.