BasketballLet's Speculate!Pac-12

Let’s Speculate! Potential Oregon State head basketball coach candidates

Welcome to Let’s Speculate! on Coaches Database, where we go through programs that are or may soon be looking for a new head coach and speculate who they may hire next.

Today’s program is Oregon State, coached by Wayne Tinkle since 2014 (on the hot seat).

  • Leon Rice – Boise State head coach
    • Rice is on the list of heirs at Gonzaga, where he spent eleven years as an assistant before taking the Boise State job back in 2010, but should be listening to other offers as well. In 12+ years with the Broncos, Rice has over 250 wins and has been to the postseason seven times (including three NCAA Tournaments). He’s originally from Washington and graduated from Wazzu before getting his start coaching at Oregon. In our opinion, Rice is the first call that Oregon State should make.
  • Darian DeVries – Drake head coach
    • In year five at Drake, DeVries should be one of the hottest names on the coaching carousel in 2023. He won a MVC title in his first year and has been to the postseason every year, including a NCAA at-large bid in 2021. He has never coached outside of the state of Iowa, but seeing what Mick Cronin has done at UCLA makes us question how important the geography is if a guy can coach.
  • Niko Medved – Colorado State head coach
    • Medved has had a similar ascension to DeVries, now in his fifth year at Colorado State after serving as head coach at both Furman and Drake. The Rams went dancing last year and are coming off three-straight 20+ win seasons, though there has been regression this year. Medved has been climbing the ladder and up next is a lower stakes P5 job like Oregon State.
  • Danny Sprinkle – Montana State head coach
    • It would make sense for Oregon State to look to the Big Sky for its next head coach, and one of the brighter stars in that league is Sprinkle, now in his fourth year at alma mater Montana State. After a couple seasons to get his footing, Sprinkle led the Bobcats to a Big Sky title and NCAA Tournament appearance last season. MSU is on a similar path this year, so Sprinkle’s name is going to start coming up more and more for bigger jobs.
  • Chris Victor – Seattle head coach
    • Victor and Seattle have turned a lot of heads in the last two seasons, winning a share of the WAC last year and in a battle for another in 2023. After getting pushed into the interim head coaching role just a week before the 2021-22 season started, Victor has the Redhawks playing great basketball and sustaining success beyond just last year.
  • Damon Stoudamire – Boston Celtics assistant
    • Rumored to have been a candidate back in 2016, Stoudamire is actually even more qualified now as the former head coach at Pacific. He left for the Celtics’ job back in 2021, but if he wants to get back into college coaching then Oregon State could be a nice landing spot for him. A big name in Pac-12 country, Stoudamire has also coached at Memphis and alma mater Arizona.
  • Kevin McKenna – Oregon assistant
    • Originally from the Midwest, McKenna has been in Eugene since 2010 and has been with the Ducks for five Sweet Sixteens and the 2017 Final Four. Besides the geography, McKenna brings a lot to the table: head coaching experience (Omaha 2001-05, Indiana State 2007-10), NBA experience (won a title with the Lakers in 1982) and recruiting ties in the area.