Let’s Speculate! Potential Bucknell 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 Bucknell, coached by Nathan Davis since 2015 (fired on Thursday).

• Dave Paulsen – Fordham assistant coach
  • The former Bucknell (and George Mason) head coach seems like a super logical candidate to bring back to Lewisburg. Paulsen was 134-94 as head coach from 2008-15, winning four Patriot League titles and going to two NCAA Tournaments. He’s spent the last two years at Fordham, during which time the Rams have gone 40-23 and are serious contenders in next week’s A-10 Tournament.
• George Halcovage – Villanova associate head coach
  • The long-time Villanova staff member is primed to be the next member of the Jay Wright coaching tree. Halcovage has been with the Wildcats for 15 years and was elevated to associate head coach in 2021, so he has been a part of two National Championships and seven Big East titles. He’s also originally from Pottsville, PA, which is only about 55 miles away from the Bucknell campus.
• Steve Curran – St. Bonaventure associate head coach
  • Another long-time staff member looking to make the move to head coach, Curran has been at St. Bonaventure since 2010 (in his current role since 2018). Before that, he had stints at Central Connecticut, Siena, Robert Morris, New Hampshire and at his alma mater, Merrimack. Curran has been part of four NCAA Tournaments and two NITs as an assistant.
• Adam Fisher – Penn State associate head coach
  • The Pennsylvania-native and former Penn State manager has been back at his alma mater as an assistant since 2021 after spending a number of years working at Miami (FL). He had an earlier stint in Happy Valley, but has also worked at Boston University and was a graduate manager at Villanova when the Wildcats when to the Final Four in 2009.
• Zak Boisvert – George Washington assistant coach
  • Boisvert arrived at GW last year after stints at Indiana State, Army, Maine, Fairleigh Dickinson and Iona. The Portland, ME native started out as a student assistant at Fordham and has been grinding it out as a D-I staffer for more than a decade.
• Charles Lee – Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach
  • Lee is the only former Bucknell player and assistant on this list. He played for Pat Flannery and then returned to his alma mater to start his coaching career after an overseas career, spending two seasons on Paulsen‘s staff. Lee has spent the last nine seasons working in the NBA and got a championship ring in 2021 as a member of the Bucks’ coaching staff.
• John Gallagher – former Hartford head coach
  • Gallagher resigned prior to this season after spending twelve years as the head coach at Hartford. The program went Independent ahead of their controversial move all the way down to Division III, so Gallagher jumped off the sinking ship and will certainly be considered for jobs this cycle. The Pennsylvania-native and former Saint Joseph’s player went 169-207 at Hartford, culminating with a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 (the first in the program’s D-I history). He coached in his home state at Penn, La Salle and Lafayette, also giving him Patriot League experience from the latter.
• Will Brown – former Albany head coach
  • Brown spent twenty years as the head coach at Albany, winning 315 games, two America East titles and going to the NCAA Tournament five times. He’s low on the list here because he is more likely to get a job in the America East, but he brings a lot of coaching experience – and success – to the table.