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College basketball coaching carousel: Latest buzz, candidates, analysis

Rick Pitino was one of the major dominoes of the coaching carousel cycle. Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

With Texas Tech officially announcing Grant McCasland's hire Friday afternoon, the high-major coaching carousel has just about stopped spinning for the 2023 cycle.

It has been a few months in the making, with Texas suspending Chris Beard back in December and ultimately firing him in January, and Mike Brey announcing in January he planned to step down from Notre Dame at the end of the season. And then there was the sudden bombshell from central New York at the ACC tournament, when Jim Boeheim retired after 47 years as Syracuse's head coach.

The Orange moved quickly, tabbing longtime assistant coach Adrian Autry as Boeheim's replacement -- but neither the Longhorns nor the Fighting Irish conducted quick searches. Ole Miss jumped in and hired Beard a couple of weeks after firing Kermit Davis, while Georgia Tech landed Damon Stoudamire days after parting ways with Josh Pastner.

The Big East had most of the drama of the coaching cycle, with Rick Pitino taking over at St. John's, Ed Cooley leaving hometown Providence for conference rival Georgetown (replacing Patrick Ewing) and the Friars landing George Mason's Kim English as Cooley's replacement.

We then had to wait for Texas' season to end and Penn State's Micah Shrewsberry to make a decision. Ultimately, the Longhorns gave interim head coach Rodney Terry the full-time job and Shrewsberry opted to leave for Notre Dame. Penn State quickly hired VCU's Mike Rhoades as Shrewsberry's replacement.

The high-major carousel finally stopped spinning after the NIT Final Four. California and Texas Tech were waiting for Utah Valley and North Texas to finish playing, so they could hire Mark Madsen and McCasland, respectively. Madsen opted not to wait around for the job at his alma mater, Stanford, to open, instead going to rival Cal, while McCasland emerged as the favorite for the Red Raiders almost as soon as Mark Adams was dismissed from Lubbock.

What's left? Utah State is the highest-profile opening after Ryan Odom replaced Rhoades at VCU -- but the NBA coaching cycle is yet to start spinning, and college basketball is always good for a surprise retirement or two. Remember, Mike Krzyzewski didn't announce his retirement until June 2021, and Jay Wright shocked the sports world with his retirement announcement last April.

With smaller jobs yet to be filled, here's how the carousel played out over the past few weeks.

Last updated: 5:15 p.m. ET, March 31, 2023

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