Let’s Speculate! Potential IUPUI 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 IUPUI, coached by Byron Rimm II for the last two years (on an interim basis).

• Byron Rimm II – IUPUI interim head coach
  • He’s had the interim job for the last two seasons and while he hasn’t won many games, the uncertainty around his job standing and the program in general may have had something to do with that. Rimm was previously the head coach at Prairie View A&M and would maintain continuity, if that is something IUPUI is interested in (given the 15-35 record in the last two years).
• Stan Gouard – Southern Indiana (D-II) head coach
  • Gouard had a very successful at tenure D-II Indianapolis, leading the Greyhounds to the NCAA Tournament seven times in twelve seasons, and parlayed that into a job at USI last year, going 12-5 (11-4) this past year. Southern Indiana is his alma mater, where he won a D-II title playing for Bruce Pearl in 1995, so he may not want to bail after just one season. But he’s already embedded in the Indianapolis scene and would come to IUPUI with all the necessary connections and relationships ready to go, and he has some D-I experience, spending three seasons as an assistant at Indiana State (2005-08).
• Brandon Brantley – Purdue assistant
  • An assistant to Matt Painter at Purdue since 2013, Brantley was a key player for Gene Keady on three Big Ten champion Boilermakers teams in the mid-90s. Brantley has deep recruiting connections in the state – especially in Indianapolis and Northwest Indiana (Gary, East Chicago, etc) – and has been instrumental in developing post players at Purdue. He started his coaching career at Ben Davis HS in Indianapolis and later worked with collegiate and pro players in the Indianapolis Pro-Am Summer Leagues. A number of Painter assistants have gone on to become head coaches, include Micah Shrewsberry and Steve Lutz just this year, and Brantley seems poised to join that group in the near future.
• Terry Johnson – Ohio State assistant
  • Johnson is another Big Ten assistant with local ties, having spent twelve years at Butler before following Chris Holtmann to OSU in 2017. He played at IPFW had two stints as an assistant coach at his alma mater, including one season on Dane Fife‘s staff. Also worked under Brad Stevens for six seasons at Butler and was part of the Bulldogs’ back-to-back NCAA Runner-up finishes. Mid-major programs have turned to power conference assistants for years and Johnson checks a lot of the right boxes for IUPUI.
• Greg Lansing – former Indiana State head coach
  • IUPUI is probably not going to find someone from outside the program with this much D-I head coaching experience willing to take the job. Lansing was recently let go after eleven years as the head coach at Indiana State, during which time he was 181-164 and went to the postseason four times (including the 2011 NCAA Tournament). He’s an Iowa-native who has been coaching and recruiting in the Midwest since 1996, so there is a lot to like about this choice.
• Matt Crenshaw – Ball State assistant coach
  • Crenshaw is former IUPUI player who has been at Ball State since 2018 after spending 12 years as an assistant at his alma mater. He played for Ron Hunter at IUPUI after six years in the Navy and finished his career as the program’s all-time leader in assists. His game-winning shot in the 2003 MCC Tournament final led the Jaguars to their first-ever NCAA Tournament. Crenshaw has had a long career now coaching and recruiting in the state and is definitely in a position to make the jump up to head coach, and the opportunity to take over at IUPUI makes a lot of sense for both parties.
• Michael Lewis – UCLA assistant
  • Lewis may be in LA now, but he’s an Indiana-native who played for Bob Knight at IU from 1997-2000. Before joining the UCLA staff in 2019, Lewis worked at Nebraska for three years, Butler for five and Eastern Illinois for six. He was also one of Knight’s grad assistants at Texas Tech at the start of his career. Lewis is a guy who has paid his dues, worked under some great coaches and has the local connections to be successful in Indianapolis (and now has a Final Four on the resume).
• Carlos Knox – Cincinnati (women’s) assistant coach
  • The former Jaguars’ great has been in coaching since 2001, when he spent as season as an assistant at his alma mater (where he was instrumental in recruiting George Hill). His career has taken him far and wide, with head coaching stints as far as Saudi Arabia and as close as Anderson, Indiana (Indiana Alley Cats of the CBA). He’s currently at Cincinnati as an assistant with the women’s program and given his legend status at IUPUI, he is someone who should be on the short list.