Oklahoma Basketball: 6 candidates to succeed Lon Kruger as head coach

Craig Smith

Every year the coaching carousel spins and the same names pop up for basically all the jobs. While he doesn’t quite have the resume of a Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens back in the day, there’s nothing not to like about what Smith has done to this point in his coaching career.

A native of Minnesota, Smith’s career began with coaching stints in the Dakotas, including a brief stint leading Mayville State, an NAIA school. He coached under Tim Miles at three different schools, including two seasons on his staff at Nebraska. He developed success in four years leading South Dakota and became the head man at Utah State back in 2018. His three years with the Aggies have been phenomenal, inheriting a program in ruin and leading them to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and a pair of MWC Tournament titles.

Smith would be a fantastic hire at Oklahoma and has certainly proved at Utah State that he’s ready to handle any challenge. While he’s never worked in the Sooner State, he had never coached in Utah prior to turning the Aggies back into one of the Mountain West’s top programs these last few seasons.

Smith has the ability to maintain this Oklahoma program as one of the best in the Big 12. Either way, he’s going to get a shot at the power conference level in the coming years.