Age: 48

Hometown: Stephen, Minnesota

Alma Mater: University of North Dakota

Buyout: $1.25 Million (25% of his six-year $5.025 mil contract)

Coaching History: Maryville State Assistant (1996-1997), Northern State GA (1997-1998), Minot State (1998-2001), North Dakota State (2001-2004), Maryville State Head Coach (2004-2007), Colorado State Director of Basketball Operations (2007-2008), Colorado State Assistant (2008-2012), Nebraska Assistant (2012-2014), South Dakota Head Coach (2014-2018), Utah State Head Coach (2018-Present)

Coaching Record: 213-102 overall;

Maryville State - 2004-2007 - (72-29, 34-12 in conference)

South Dakota - 2014-2018 - (79-55, 37-25 in conference)

Utah State - 2018-Presnet - (72-22, 42-13 in conference)

NCAA Tournament Record: 0-1

Accolades: 2x Dakota Athletic Conference Champions, 2x Dakota Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, 1x NAIA D-II National Coach of the Year, 1x NAIA D-II Runner Up, 1x Summit League Champion, 1x Summit League Coach of the Year, 1x Mountain West Coach of the Year, 1x Regular Season Mountain West Champion (2018-19), 2x Mountain West Conference Tournament Champion (2018-19, 2019-20), 2x NCAA Tournament Qualifier

Why it makes sense: Craig Smith has won at every level he's been on, and he's been in charge of some impressive turnarounds. In his first year at Maryville State he won 17 games, then in years two and three he won 28 and 27-games. It years three and four at South Dakota he won 22 and 26 games. At Utah State, he's won 28 games and 26 games, and this year he has 14 wins and counting this season after losing his best player Sam Merrill to the NBA.

He's a Minnesota native who brought Dan Jech (Rochester Mayo HS), Jack Stensgard (Simley HS), and Tyler Peterson (Centennial HS) to South Dakota, so he's recruited the state and developed relationships in Minnesota before.

Why it doesn't make sense: Smith has an impressive coaching resume and wins have followed everywhere he's gone. But like a lot of coaches on this list, he hasn't done it at a high-major level yet as a head coach. He has recruited Minnesota before, but arrival of any coach is going to come with expectations of keeping (at least some of) the top kids home. Smith has yet to recruit at this level, and he doesn't have a long track record of sending guys to the pro's just yet. Yes his upbeat personality, Midwest roots, and track record show it might be a great fit for both sides, but can Craig Smith recruit four and five-stars to Minnesota, AND compete in the Big Ten?

Age: 47

Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Alma Mater: University of Minnesota

Buyout: $937,500 (25% of his five-year, $3.75 mil contract)

Coaching History: Macalester Associate Head Coach (1997-1999), Furman Assistant Coach (1999-2006), Minnesota Assistant (2006-2007), Colorado State Assistant (2007-2013), Furman Head Coach (2013-2017), Drake Head Coach (2017-2018), Colorado State Head Coach (2018-Present)

Coaching Record: 128-125 overall;

Furman - 2013-2017 - (62-71, 33-37 in Southern Conference)

Drake - 2017-2018 - (17-17, 10-8 in Missouri Valley)

Colorado State - 2018-Present - (49-37, 32-22 in Mountain West)

NCAA Tournament Record: 0-0

Accolades: 1x Southern Conference Coach of the Year, 1x Mountain West Coach of the Year (2021)

Why it makes sense: At Furman, Niko Medved took a team that won 9 games his first season, and increased that win total every year until winning 23 games and a Southern Conference Championship in 2016-17. In his one season at Drake, he took a team that finished 7-24 before he got there and went 17-17 while having a winning record in conference play. That caught Colorado State's attention and he brought them from 12-20 in year one, to the inverse 20-12 in year two. Now in year three, Medved has the Rams fighting for a Mountain West Title and just won Coach of the Year honors in the conference.

One constant on his staff since his days coaching at Drake has been legendary Minnesota high school coach Dave Thorson, and it is possible he could return with Medved to Minnesota if he were to get the job. In the 2019 recruiting class, Medved brought Breck HS star David Roddy to the Rams, and he chose them over and offer from the Gophers. Between Medved and Thorson, there are plenty of relationships in the talent rich state of Minnesota to keep some kids home.

Why it doesn't make sense: Again, similar to many names on this list, he just hasn't done it at this level yet. His success has been evident in the short term, and his ability to turn around programs in a short period of time is head turning, but he hasn't done that in high-major basketball yet. Also, he's yet to recruit at this level as a head coach, and even as an assistant, he was only at Minnesota for one year. His resume is impressive, but will it lead to local four and five-stars thinking Minnesota is a serious option for them to win and get to the NBA?

Age: 61

Hometown: Alpena, Michigan (Bloomington Jefferson HS Grad)

Alma Mater: University of Minnesota

Buyout: $1 Million (This number is SPECIFIC TO THE MINNESOTA JOB)

Coaching History: Illinois Grad Assistant (1983-1985), South Dakota State Assistant (1986-1988), Michigan Associate Head Coach (1989-1998), San Diego State Associate Head Coach (1999-2017), San Diego State (2017-Present)

Coaching Record: 93-30 overall;

San Diego State - 2017-Present - (93-30, 47-18 in Mountain West)

NCAA Tournament Record: 0-1

Accolades: 1x Mountain West Tournament Champion (2018), 2x Mountain West Regular Season Champion (2020, 2021), 1x Mountain West Coach of the Year (2020), 1x Mountain West Tournament Champion (2021)

Why it makes sense: Brian Dutcher has been around a long time and paid his dues as an assistant. He was at Michigan in 1989 during Steve Fischer's National Title, and is credited majorly for helping bring in Michigan's famous Fab-Five recruiting class. He's also credited for Kawhi Leonard's recruitment to SDSU while he was an assistant for the Aztecs. Not only has he recruited, but he's won. His 87-30 record at San Diego State has included 20+ win seasons in his first three seasons (in year four right now), and his team last year was 30-2 and looking like a high-seed in the NCAA Tournament before it got cancelled.

He's coached the Fab-Five, Kawhi Leonard, and got Malachi Flynn to transfer to San Diego State, helping turn him into a first-round NBA Draft Pick in the 2019 Draft. Not only has he coached big time talent and had great success as San Diego State's head coach, but he might WANT to be in Minnesota. His contract would normally include a $7 million buyout, but with the Gophers, that number drops to $1 million.

His father, Jim Dutcher, coached Minnesota to the Big Ten title back in 1982.

Why it doesn't make sense: The 2020 Mountain West Coach of the Year has the Aztecs competing into March yet again, as he's done every year at the helm. But like the names listed above, he hasn't done it at this level before. He's been all around college basketball, and won a National Championship as a Big Ten assistant, but he'd be building his own program for the first time. It's a step-up, and at 61, has his window to follow his father's legacy and become a Big Ten Champion at Minnesota already closed?

Age: 41

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Alma Mater: California (1998-2002)

Buyout: $1.2 Million

Coaching History: Marquette Grad Assistant (2003-2004), Florida State Grad Assistant (2004-2005), California Assistant (2005-2007), Northern Illinois Assistant (2007-2009), Nevada Assistant (2009-2011), Florida State Assistant (2011-2019), Cleveland State Head Coach (2019-Present)

Coaching Record: 30-28 (23-15 Horizon League)

NCAA Tournament Record: 0-0* (In 2021 NCAA Tournament)

Accolades: 2x Horizon League Coach of the Year, 1x Horizon League Regular Season Champion (2021), 1x Horizon League Tournament Champions

Why it makes sense: Dennis Gates worked under Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton from 2011-2019, and in that time was credited with some extremely impressive recruiting wins including recent lottery pick Jonathan Isaac, Dwayne Bacon, and Malik Beasley. Gates has had a ton of success in his just two years of experience as a head coach. With his team projected to finish last in year one, last year, at Cleveland State, Gates led a team that people thought would be lucky to win a game, to an eight place finish in the conference. This year, Gates led his team to be co-conference champions, a Horizon League Tournament Championship, and an NCAA Tournament Bid.

He's recruited at a high-level, and he seems to know what he's doing as a head coach. He took a team, who fired their last coach because of a team GPA of around 2.0, to over a 3.0 team average. He's recruited at the highest level, and he's beginning to turn heads all around the country. Is Dennis Gates a future star in college basketball?

Why it doesn't make sense: Maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to hire a young coach who's only track record as a head coach is minimal successful years at a small school. Sounds like anyone familiar? There are almost no similarities between Pitino and Gates' coaching careers, and Pitino is still younger despite being a head coach for the past nine years of his life. At the same time, maybe they want to go with a hire with more than two-years of head coaching experience this time around.

Age: 48

Hometown: Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania

Alma Mater: Lebanon Valley College (Pa.)

Coaching History: Randolph-Macon College Assistant Coach (1996-1999), Randolph-Macon Head Coach (1999-2009), VCU Assistant Coach (2009-2011), VCU Associate Head Coach (2011-2014), Rice Head Coach (2014-2017), VCU Head Coach (2017-Present)

Coaching Record: 127-94 at D-I; 197-76 at D-III

Randolph-Macon College - 1999-2009 - (197-76 in D-III)

Rice - 2014-2017 - (47-52, 26-28 in Conference USA)

VCU - 2017-Present - (80-42, 43-24 in A10)

NCAA Tournament Record: 0-1

Accolades: 1x Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (2019), 1x Atlantic 10 Regular Season Champion

Why it makes sense: Rhoades had a disappointing 18 win 2019-20 season after winning 28 games and making the NCAA Tournament the year before. This year, VCU is back to their winning ways at 17-5 and tied for first in the Atlantic 10 conference. Rhoades record at Rice may not be too impressive overall, but turned them from a 7-23 program to one that went 23-12 in just three seasons at the helm.

Rhoades has done well recruiting at VCU. Most recently, he brought in top-100 recruit Nah'Shon Hyland who is now averaging 19 points per game as a Ram. He's done well as a recruiter in the Atlantic 10, it's likely he would do even better at a Big Ten University.

Why it doesn't make sense: Rhoades is like everyone else on this list. He's yet to win an NCAA Tournament game, and he's yet to coach and recruit at a high-major level. Not only as head coach, but he has never been a high-major assistant, either. While he's had success at the lower level stops he's been on, the question of whether or not he can do it in the Big Ten remains relevant. Also, he doesn't have connections in Minnesota like some of the others mentioned, so he would be starting from the ground up.

Age: 35

Hometown: Buffalo, New York

Alma Mater: University of Arizona

Coaching History: Student Manager and Assistant Video Coordinator under Lute Olson at Arizona (2008-2012), Rice Assistant Coach (2012-2013), Harvard Assistant Coach (2013-2014) Vanderbilt Assistant Coach (2014-2016), Stanford Assistant (2016-18), Stanford Associate Head Coach (2018-Present)

Why it makes sense: Cohen is described as a "top-notch" teacher, and has made a strong impact on several NBA guys in his time as an assistant coach. His track record as a talent developer has been solid, and he's done so with two Minnesota natives at PG with Siyani Chambers (Hopkins) at Harvard, and Tyrell Terry (De La Salle) at Stanford. Not from Minnesota on this list recently is first round pick Wade Baldwin IV from Vanderbilt and second round pick KZ Okpala of the Miami Heat.

Cohen is also described as the lead recruiter for Stanford, and they've had a ton of success at a school with rigorous academic standards. Their 2020 class ranked 12th in the country according to Rivals, and brought in five-star Zaire Williams.

Minnesota is fertile recruiting ground, and Cohen has successfully dipped his toes in the water in the state already. Not only did he help get a commit from Minnesota, but he helped turn him into an NBA Draft Pick in a years time. After his experience with Chambers, Baldwin, Okpala, Terry, and soon to be Zaire Williams, you can bet that kids from Minnesota and elsewhere will listen when he picks up the phone.

Why it doesn't make sense: Cohen might have a bright future as a head coach one day, but that first opportunity will likely be at a mid-major. Although he could very well end up being a good hire if the decision was made, the risk of his unknown ability is too large for a Big Ten school like Minnesota to take a shot. Richard Pitino is 38 in his eight year at Minnesota, does it really make sense to hire someone younger?

Age: 36

Alma Mater: Fairfield University

Coaching History: Quinnipiac Director of Basketball Operations (2007-2008), Post University Assistant Coach (2008-2009), Xavier Assistant (2009-2010), Wagner College Assistant Coach (2010-11), Towson Assistant Trainer (2011-2013), Rhode Island Assistant Coach (2013-2015), Xavier Assistant Coach (2015-2018), Louisville Assistant Coach (2018-Present)

Why it makes sense: Murray has also been the recruiting coordinator for the Cardinals while serving as an assistant, and he's done a tremendous job while there, helping bring in top-10 recruiting classes two of the last four years. He was listed among the top ten coaches in the nation under 40 years old by ESPN, and was named to The Athletics 40 under 40 list as well.

Chris Mack has been very complimentary of his attention to detail, his work with perimeter players, and says, "He's one of the most organized, detailed, and high-energy recruiters that I've been around. He leaves on stone unturned when searching for the next University of Louisville great."

Not to mention, he's the son of all-time great comedian Bill Murray.

Why it doesn't make sense: The off-spring of a comedy legend is like Cohen in that he's lacking the experience to make this a hire that isn't engulfed with risk. I think Luke Murray will be a head coach in college basketball someday, but there are too many more qualified candidates for the job that make more sense. This hire is a risk to some extent, and Minnesota is not in position to take one right now.

Age: 68

Why it might work: If Jon Beilein wants to come back to coach in the Big Ten, and he thinks Minnesota is the place to do it, there's a good chance he's going to do the job very well. While at Michigan, Beilein was phenomenal as a coach, recruiter, and culture sustainer. He knows the game as well as anyone and if he believes he can build a winner at Minnesota, then you have to believe that he can build a winner at Minnesota.

Why it might not work: Does he want to come back to the college game for sure? The Big Ten would make sense, but I would think it would need to be the perfect situation for Beilein to step back into the game. Is Minnesota that perfect situation? It's not a bad situation, but I'm not sure it moves the needle enough to

Age: 56

Why it might work: Eric Musselman is a very good college basketball coach. He showed that at Nevada, and he's showing it again in his short stint at Arkansas. He's nailed it in recruiting, he's a fan favorite, and his energy brings eyes to the program. Oh yeah, and he's winning basketball games wherever he goes. He has family in Minnesota, and his father Bill Musselman was the coach at the University back in the early 70's. Although his tenure didn't end on the best terms, he significantly improved attendance for Minnesota and made them relevant again locally. Maybe Eric Musselman is the one who can bring the states fandom back to the heights his father reached?

Why it might not work: That $5 million dollar buyout the University of Minnesota athletic department is steep, and COVID-19 made that even steeper. His buyout drops to $1.5 Million on May 1st, but that is a long time to wait for a head coach.

Age: 34

Why it might work: Ryan Saunders is a native of Minnesota, attended the University of Minnesota, and has more Minnesota in his blood than any candidate possibly ever. He's young, and he's been known for his ability to connect with players and develop extremely strong relationships with everyone he interacts with along the way. It's likely that this skill would carry over in recruiting, especially with the talent pool that's always plentiful in-state. Along with that, he's worked with some of the best players in the world in the NBA as both an assistant and head coach.

Why it might not work: Ryan Saunders has never recruited, most of his career is at the NBA level, and his short stint as the Wolves head coach didn't last too long because of his performance with the team on the court. At age 34, there are likely plenty opportunities for Saunders to be considered for this job. Right now, is probably not the right time.