Michigan Basketball: 11 candidates to replace Juwan Howard as Head Coach

T.J. Otzelberger

When Beilein was hired by the Wolverines way back in 2007 he was coming from West Virginia. Michigan is going to be looking at prominent coaches in other power conference leagues and seeing who exactly they can lure to Ann Arbor. If what we’ve seen in recent years holds up then Otzelberger would be a slam dunk hire if there’s mutual interest.

A former point guard at Wisconsin-Whitewater, he’s a Milwaukee native who worked as a high school coach before jumping into the major college game at Iowa State. Otzelberger assisted the Cyclones under three different coaches before beginning his own head coaching career. He had varying levels of success leading South Dakota State and UNLV before returning to Iowa State as head coach in 2021. Inheriting a team that won just two games before his arrival, Otzelberger took the Cyclones to the Sweet Sixteen in year one and has one of the nation’s best teams right now in year three.

While he has jumped around a fair bit in his coaching career, would Otzelberger really leave Iowa State right now? He spent nearly a decade in the past working for the Cyclones. He’s got this program rolling, standing out as one of the top teams in the Big 12. If the money is right, he’ll likely entertain any offer from the Wolverines and he’d be a fantastic addition based on what he’s accomplished early in his head coaching career.