Cincinnati Basketball: 5 candidates to replace John Brannen as head coach

Nick Van Exel

As previously mentioned, when only two years pass between extensive head coaching searches, then some of the same names tend to pop up. Two years later, there are still some intriguing mid-major names to consider, though Brannen’s failures may draw the Bearcats away from repeating the same mistakes. However, there’s still a former Bearcat star with NBA experience to consider.

Van Exel starred at Cincinnati in the early 90’s and spent 13 years playing in the NBA. The former guard has only briefly been a head coach (in the G-League) but has spent time in college and on NBA coaching staffs. He’s most recently worked on the staff of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Van Exel has limited collegiate experience but would bring that level of excitement back to the Cincinnati program. However, in recent years many NBA players and coaches have struggled at the college level, with the exception of Juwan Howard. Van Exel would be tasked with fixing what Brannen broke in this program, and that’s no easy task.

We’ve closely examined five candidates to succeed John Brannen and rebuild this Cincinnati program; who do you think will be the Bearcats’ next head coach?