Oklahoma Basketball: 6 candidates to succeed Lon Kruger as head coach
By Joey Loose
Paul Mills
Eight years ago, a situation much like this developed. Andy Enfield led Florida Gulf Coast to a very unexpected run to the Sweet Sixteen and soon after he was hired by USC. The leap was extraordinary and unexpected, but it’s paying off, as Enfield’s Trojans find themselves in this year’s Sweet Sixteen. Could the same situation happen with Mills?
The Texas native spent fourteen seasons on Scott Drew’s Baylor staff and certainly knows the Big 12 well. He was hired as head coach at Oral Roberts in 2017 and the recent results have been clearly outstanding. He’s become the second head coach to lead a 15-seed to the Sweet Sixteen and has certainly proven himself worthy of promotion.
In four seasons at Oral Roberts, Mills has never finished higher than 4th place in the Summit League; is he ready to coach in the Big 12? Can the Sooners really pull the trigger on someone solely based on the postseason success of these recent weeks? Mills is certainly familiar with the Big 12 and likely with the Oklahoma program, but it’s still a really big leap.
He’s definitely a name people are getting to know during Oral Roberts’ success, but could a coach with a record under .500 really warrant this big-time coaching job?