Top 5 Candidates For Marquette Coaching Job

As Buzz Williams is being welcomed in by Virginia Tech Hokies, the Marquette Golden Eagles are left scrambling for a replacement. The news broke out Friday afternoon, when it was announced that Buzz took a 7-year $18 million deal with the Hokies. With a strong 2014 recruiting class, Marquette needs to find a quality replacement sooner than later. These are my top 5 candidates for the Marquette coaching job.

Brad Autry

Currently an assistant coach at Marquette, Autry would be a great fit for the Golden Eagles. If he does gets hired, he would already be in-synch with everything Marquette was doing with Buzz Williams, whether it be with the recruits, the players, the league, or the game of basketball. After six years of being at Marquette, he should be rewarded with a promotion to the head coaching position.

Brian Wardle

The third-leading scorer in Marquette history and current UW-Green Bay Head Coach Brian Wardle would be a great fit for the Marquette coaching job. In his first year with Green Bay, they went 14-18 and took 7th place in conference. Four years later, he lead Green Bay to a 24-7 record and became Horizon League Regular Season Champions. Wardle can use his great season with Green Bay to jump into the head coaching position at Marquette.

Ben Howland

This former UCLA head coach has been on the big stage before. From 2006-2008, Howland led UCLA to the Final Four three consecutive times, and only two other active coaches (Izzo and Kryzewski) have done that. Howland would be a great coach at Marquette; not only because of his ability to recruit very talented players but also to coach again at a basketball-first school.

Shaka Smart

For the those who follow the NCAA tournament, Shaka Smart, a Wisconsin native, has became a household name in the past few years. Shaka has lead the Virginia Commonwealth Rams to the Final Four in 2011 and also births in the NCAA tournament in 2012 and 2013. He has proven to be a successful coach that would be able to step into the coaches role at Marquette very easily.

Saul Phillips

Phillips, also a Wisconsin native, would be a great addition to the Marquette program. Currently with North Dakota State University, Phillips coached the Bison to an upset against 5-seed Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament in a legendary game. In 2009, Phillips led NDSU to the NCAA Tournament in their first year eligible for it, a first since Louisiana-Lafayette in 1972. His Wisconsin ties could possibly bring him back to his home state and coach at Marquette.