UCLA Basketball: Outside-the-box head coaching candidates

Go Joe Bruin looks “outside-the-box” at a few different and intriguing head coaching options for the UCLA basketball team.

As we are getting closer to the end of hoops season, the conversation about the new UCLA basketball coach will start heating up.

There have been a lot of names thrown around in regards to the coaching search, but GJB takes a look at a few coaches that have not been considered or only slightly considered.

Luke Walton (Head Coach), Los Angeles Lakers

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Walton’s name has been batted around in the last month or so, and not just because he is a good coach that can play an exciting style of basketball, but more so because it seems his time with the Los Angeles Lakers might soon come to an end. Now that is not rousing referral but consider his situation.

He inherited a bad Lakers team that had the best player in the world thrust upon him and since they are not winning, many are looking his way to plant the fault. LeBron James has had nothing to do with the lack of chemistry or cohesion, so obviously, it’s all on Walton. But aside from that, Walton has already shown that he can coach at an uptempo pace and learned from one of the best in Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.

On top of that, he played at Arizona, so he knows what it takes to play at an elite program. But does he know how to recruit?

Geno Auriemma (Head Coach), Connecticut Huskies

Before you say “that will never happen”, consider what an opportunity like this could afford Auriemma. Not only is he one of the best women’s college basketball coaches ever but he owns the longest win streak in college basketball (111) regardless of gender. That streak beat out former UCLA coach John Wooden who still owns the longest men’s basketball streak of 88 games. Auriemma has a great basketball mind, knows how to recruit, and brings the best out of his players. Though some might worry about the transition from women’s to men’s hoops (I’m not one of them), the thing that worries me is that he is too comfortable at UCONN to consider another coaching gig… but can you imagine what kind of hype he would receive if he was the first coach to win a national championship with both a women’s and men’s program? That would be a huge accomplishment.

Cori Close (Head Coach), UCLA Bruins

Ok, let us address this up front. I have heard many UCLA fans suggest that the men’s program look at the women’s head coach. And why not? She is already here at UCLA, she develops her players on both offense and defense and knows how to recruit, especially in the Southland. Currently, Close has her Bruins playing with grit as they are one of the hottest teams in the nation right now and are looking to make a deep run in both the Pac-12 and NCAA tournament. The only problem, for me, is that the dynamic she has built with UCLA women’s basketball would be destroyed. I just couldn’t live with two rebuilds (three if you count UCLA football).

Kim Mulkey (Head Coach), Baylor Bears

Since we are looking at women’s basketball coaches, why not look at another coach that has been dominating the landscape? Though Auriemma and UCONN have been dominating the muscle in recent years, Mulkey has always had her squad playing at an extremely high level and even has two NCs to her name. Unfortunately, like Auriemma, Mulkey might be a little too comfortable in the castle she has built at Baylor.

Mike Brown (Assistant Coach), Golden State Warriors

Brown has had experience in the NBA, he has experience coaching elite athletes, and he knows how to be successful. Currently, he is working next to Steve Kerr up at Golden State so he knows what it takes to keep a program/franchise at an elite level. The only thing that concerns me is his lack of experience in college, especially with recruiting. Still, how many coaches can go into a recruit’s home and say that they coached Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Stephan Curry, and Kevin Durant? Not a lot.

Brad Stevens (Head Coach), Boston Celtics

I actually have to give credit for this selection to host and producer Tim Cates at AM570 in Los Angeles. He brought it to my attention a few weeks ago during his Postgame Bruin Talk. This might not actually be a bad idea. UCLA was looking at Stevens back when they were trying to find Ben Howland‘s replacement. Unfortunately, Stevens went to the Boston Celtics and UCLA, well, we all know what happened with their replacement.

Currently, he has Boston “competitive” in the NBA, but he does not exactly have them on track for any championships and that is not sitting well with fans of the most decorated NBA team in history. With his track record at Butler and his ability to coach at a high level in college, Stevens could be the perfect fit in Westwood.