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HCA: Could WSU’s next basketball coach come courtesy of Bill Moos?

Nebraska coach Tim Miles seems unlikely to be retained.

Nebraska v Michigan Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Since the firing of Washington State Cougars coach Ernie Kent last Friday, speculation has run wild on who athletic director Pat Chun will hire next. There have been at least 30 candidates thrown around the internet the last few days and who Chun is considering is really anyone’s guess. So let’s look at one of the juiciest bits of internet innuendo.

One that involves the man who hired Kent.

According to media reports, Nebraska Cornhuskers and former WSU athletic director Bill Moos looks likely to be parting ways with head coach Tim Miles at the the conclusion of the team’s run in the NIT.

Former Iowa State and Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg expected to be the frontrunner for the Nebraska job when Tim Miles is let go, source told @Stadium. Nebraska currently in NIT.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 18, 2019

If this comes to fruition, Miles would seem to be a top candidate for the Cougar job. Miles boasts a 398-333 record as head coach at Mayville State, SW Minnesota State, North Dakota State, Colorado State and Nebraska. He was the 2014 Big Ten coach of the year at Nebraska. He took CSU to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1990 in 2012. He then coached Nebraska to the first tournament appearance since 1998 in 2014. Even this year with his job in jeopardy, Miles has the Cornhuskers ranked 39th in the country on Kenpom.com. For comparison Washington ranks 53rd and WSU is all the way down at 209th. If Moos is desperate enough to jettison Miles for Hoiberg, the Cougars would be wise to pounce.

Miles is also proven recruiter who has landed the two most high profile recruits in Cornhusker history in guards Glynn Watson and Thomas Allen, according to bustingbrackets.com. He has also landed some high profile transfers as well. This could be attributed to Nebaskra upgrading their facilities, but Miles has turned around moribund programs wherever he has gone, which could make him the perfect fit for WSU. The bottom line is Miles is a builder of winning programs which is exactly what I think WSU needs. He even has his own coaching tree with Craig Smith finding success at Utah State and Niko Medved recently taking over Colorado State. Hopefully Chun will make a big push for Miles if he becomes available.

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