Texas Basketball: 5 potential replacements for Shaka Smart as head coach

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Shaka Smart of the Texas Longhorns gestures during the championship game of the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament against the Michigan State Spartans at the Orleans Arena on November 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Michigan State defeated Texas 78-68. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

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CLEVELAND, OHIO – JANUARY 23: Head coach John Beilein of the Cleveland Cavaliers (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

2. John Beilein

This one should be no surprise. Fired yesterday by the Cleveland Cavaliers, former Michigan head coach John Beilein is easily the top name on the head coaching market in college basketball.

Beilein was one of the top coaches in the nation before leaving UM, leading the Wolverines to a pair of National Championship game appearances in the 2010s.

Beilein has never been an excellent recruiter, but he has always had a knack for developing guards (Trey Burke, Nik Stauskas, Zavier Simpson) and international players (Moritz Wagner, Ignas Brazdeikis).

Both of which are areas where the Longhorns have struggled in the past several seasons. If Beilein were to be brought aboard, the Longhorns would expect to see improvement in both areas.

The biggest area in which Beilein excels is winning on the court. It sounds simple, but regardless of the state of his roster, Beilein has always been able to build a consistent winner.

That has been a rarity in Austin in the past decade, and landing Beilein would be a program-changing hire.

It wouldn’t be cheap, but as long as Beilein intends on returning to college basketball, the Longhorns should be the top destination for their top target.

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