NCAA Basketball: 5 potential college landing spots for John Beilein

1) Texas Longhorns

All of that said, this is the job. Texas is the most likely landing spot for Beilein, bar none.

Shaka Smart is all but done in Austin and is expected to be fired as soon as the season ends. Texas is prepared to pay his buyout and simply needs to move in another direction after yet another year that is likely to end without an NCAA Tournament appearance.

It’s a program that, while there’s not sky-high expectations, expects to make the NCAA Tournament every year, and they should. They have all the resources a coach could want and have a phenomenal recruiting base, all things that would appeal to a legendary coach like Beilein.

At Texas, he has everything he needs to compete for championships in the Big 12 and nationally without having the pressure of that being expected. Remember, the Longhorns have only been to one Final Four since 1947 (2003) and haven’t won a conference title since 2008. The program is second to football – sometimes even third to baseball – and those are waters Beilein knows how to navigate, too.

Now, Texas is expected to heavily pursue Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard, who is a Longhorns alum. However, he has given no signs that he intends to leave Lubbock, and the Red Raiders have said they’ll do whatever they need to in order to keep him. If Beard does stay put, Beilein isn’t a bad second option to have.

While Beilein’s decision to leave the NBA comes at an unorthodox time, it does open the door for a return to the college game. He should have his pick of jobs, and Texas is clearly the most likely landing spot as of now.