Notre Dame Basketball: 8 early candidates to replace head coach Mike Brey

Porter Moser

We could’ve spent time talking about John Beilein or Rick Pitino or any other big-name hire that Notre Dame could pursue, but we’re choosing to focus on the more realistic names. This isn’t to say that the Fighting Irish wouldn’t or couldn’t go in one of those directions, but it’s someone more like Moser who’s going to be pulled to South Bend.

A native of suburban Chicago, Moser bounced around a number of schools early in his career before having limited success leading Little Rock and Illinois State. After four years under Rick Majerus at Saint Louis, he engineered one of the most unexpected runs in recent college basketball memory, leading Loyola-Chicago to the Final Four in 2018. After a Sweet Sixteen run with the Ramblers three years later, he accepted the Oklahoma job and has had mild success in his first season and a half with the Sooners.

There are numerous reasons why a Moser marriage with Notre Dame would click. He’s from Chicago and just worked there for a decade, meaning he’d have recruiting pull there. He’s likely more of an ACC coach than an SEC one (Oklahoma joins that league in just a few years). His success with Loyola came from finding big man Cameron Krutwig, and it’s been those big men that have helmed so much recent success at Notre Dame. If Moser wants to head back to familiar ground, then Notre Dame might be the perfect move.