Mississippi State parted ways with men’s basketball coach Ben Howland on Thursday after Howland led the Bulldogs for the past seven seasons.
Howland went 134-98 in his time in Starkville, leading the Bulldogs to a No. 5 seed in the 2019 NCAA tournament. Mississippi State finished the 2021-22 regular season with an 18-15 record before losing to Virginia in the first round of the NIT.
With a national coaching search underway, here are five candidates who could take over for Howland in Starkville.
Matt McMahon, Murray State, seventh season
Record: 154-66
Overview: McMahon will surely be on the watch list of every school in need of a coach this season. The 43-year-old has led Murray State to a 30-2 record through the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, including a league championship and a perfect 18-0 record in conference play, to win the OVC coach of the year award. And it’s hardly even a breakout for the Racers, who made the NCAA tournament in 2018 and 2019, upsetting fifth-seeded Marquette in 2019. McMahon led Murray State to the OVC regular-season title in 2020 before losing to Belmont by a point in the conference championship game. He has won 23 or more games in four of his seven seasons with the Racers and is under contract through the 2022-23 season.
Chris Jans, New Mexico State, fifth season
Record: 122-31
Overview: Jans, 52, has New Mexico State back in the NCAA tournament, playing Saturday night against Arkansas in the second round. New Mexico State won 30 games that season after 28 wins the prior season, and in 2020, the Aggies went 25-6 and 16-0 in the Western Athletic Conference before the NCAA tournament was canceled. Before coming to Las Cruces, Jans spent a year as the head coach at Bowling Green and two seasons as an assistant under Gregg Marshall at Wichita State. He received a six-year extension in April 2021.
Bob Richey, Furman, fifth season
Record: 111-46
Overview: Furman missed out on the Southern Conference’s NCAA tournament bid because of a last-second 3-point heave by Chattanooga, but the Paladins finished the SoCon tournament with a 22-11 record. Richey, 38, has won 22 or more games in four of his five full seasons at the helm since taking over for Niko Medved before the 2017 CIT. He nearly led the Paladins to a comeback win Dec. 17 at Humphrey Coliseum, but Mississippi State held off Furman for a 69-66 win. Richey, who received a contract extension from Furman in September 2020, has finished second or third in the SoCon every season so far.
Jeff Linder, Wyoming, second season
Record: 39-20
Overview: Linder, 44, is in just his sixth season as a head coach and his second at Wyoming. He previously spent four years at Northern Colorado, winning the 2018 CIT and going 80-50 in his tenure in Greeley. He won seven Mountain West Conference games in his first season with the Cowboys just a year after Wyoming won only two conference contests. This season, Linder took Wyoming to a 25-8 record and a play-in berth in the NCAA tournament against Indiana, which the Cowboys lost 66-58 to the Hoosiers. Linder previously served as an assistant at Weber State — Howland’s alma mater — as well as San Francisco and Boise State.
Scott Nagy, Wright State, sixth season
Record: 131-62
Overview: Nagy has won either the Horizon League regular-season title or the conference championship in each of the past five seasons with Wright State. The Raiders won the conference tournament this season and beat Bryant in Wednesday’s First Four game to book a date with No. 1 seed Arizona. Nagy, 55, won 25 games in 2018 and again in 2020. He guided South Dakota State through the transition from Division II to Division I, coaching the Jackrabbits for 21 seasons and making the Big Dance three times. Nagy has a career record of 540-302.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 39 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 39 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion