The Houston Rockets are exploring their options for a new head coach and could take a peak at two Big 12 basketball coaches.
With J.B. Bickerstaff out the door, the Houston Rockets are looking for a new man to lead their organization.
Related Story: Isaiah Taylor is a massive loss for Texas
Brad Stevens, Fred Hoiberg and Billy Donovan have recently made the jump from the college ranks to the NBA, so the Rockets must do their due diligence.
Can't speak to the NBA aspirations of either one, but sources say two college coaches who intrigue the Rockets are Shaka Smart and Bill Self
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 5, 2016
If this tweet is accurate, then this would radically change the college landscape.
A bit about the Houston Rockets for those who aren’t in full NBA playoff mode:
Houston snuck into the playoffs as the eighth seed, but got bounced in five games against the Golden State Warriors. They have an superb offense with James Harden in charge, but they also possess a bottom-third defense and multiple lackadaisical supporting pieces.
Outside of Harden, center Dwight Howard is the other star. He doesn’t seem to want to stay with the organization long term. That means this team is set for a complete blowup if they land a collegiate coach like Shaka Smart or Bill Self.
Now, what do the two Big 12 candidates bring to the table?
More from Big 12
- Kansas Basketball: Impact of Arterio Morris suspension for Jayhawks
- Kansas State Basketball: Will McNair Jr. continues late roster building
- Big 12 Basketball: Ranking all 16 programs after adding Arizona, ASU, Colorado and Utah
- Texas Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24 season
- Kansas Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24 season
Self carries a 76% winning percentage during lead stints at Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Illinois, and Kansas. The 53-year old coach has pushed his teams to a combined 18 NCAA appearances in 23 seasons. He has produced NBA players including, but not limited to, Deron Williams, Mario Chalmers, the Morris twins, Andrew Wiggins, and Jeff Withey.
His forceful personality would help reign in the Rockets’ egos and try to keep them competitive in the always brutal Western Conference.
However, losing that same force on the sidelines would radically change Kansas. With the vast majority of the hot names already hired, KU would either have to poach away someone like Gregg Marshall of Wichita State, or look internally.
Assistant Kurtis Townsend has been with the team since 2004 and was a lead recruiter for NBA names such as Wiggins, Ben McLemore, and Brandon Rush. He clearly has the pedigree to assume the mantle of leadership, but a 13th straight championship in Lawrence would become vastly more difficult without Self working the sidelines.
More from Busting Brackets
- NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 4 teams for PF Jaxon Johnson
- NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top 5 teams for top-100 SG Larry Johnson
- Oregon Basketball: Projected starting lineup and depth chart for 2023-24
- Big East Basketball: Ranking all head coaches going into 2023-24 season
- Florida State Basketball: Is Seminoles roster good enough to win in 2023-24?
If Houston goes with Shaka Smart, they would lean in favor of potential over an astounding track record. The 39-year old former VCU Rams coach leads the Texas Longhorns at the moment, so moving down to South Texas wouldn’t be a big change.
Smart has been a head coach for seven seasons and made the NCAA tournament six times. He hasn’t yet produced a consistent NBA player, but that will change sooner rather than later. One interesting possibility is that Smart could join the Rockets, and then steer them towards grabbing his former star point guard Isaiah Taylor.
Houston needs a better ball handler than Patrick Beverly to let Harden move to his natural shooting guard spot.
If Smart goes, the coaching landscape is such that UTÂ would likely tap either David Cason or Darrin Horn from their existing assistant coaches.
If either coach leaves, it would alter not just the Big 12, but potentially much of college basketball for next year. Both schools have top 100 players that could choose to bolt and lead to epic re-recruiting showdowns.
It would also open up two prime coaching spots and there are likely names we haven’t considered that would leap at the chance to coach a top-25 program.
If I’m Houston, I am likely leaning towards coaxing Self out of Lawrence based on previous success (although Smart might be a better fit for the current organization).
Next: Wichita State Shockers enter a new era
Of course, this is all pure speculation at this stage while the playoffs take place. More development will take place in the days and weeks with these two names, so keep your eyes peeled.
Add us as a preferred source on Google