Indiana basketball coaching search 2025: Two names the Hoosiers must pursue, including Rick Pitino

As soon as the news that Mike Woodson would not be returning for the 2025-26 basketball season came down, our friends at Peegs.com released an initial version of the Indiana Head Coach Hot Board. 

Included on that list were names like Brad Stevens, Dusty May, Mick Cronin, Scott Drew, Chris Beard, Mark Byington Chris Collins and Grant McCasland.

Frankly, it’s still too early to know who will really have interest in the job because most of these guys are busy coaching their teams. So rather than come up with a completely different list of potential candidates or run through each and every one of these guys again, we have instead decided to discuss a few from the list that we like or dislike as coaches to sit in the first chair in Assembly Hall.

But here’s my take on the search, with two names — of vastly different pedigrees — who really intrigue me.

Ben McCollum, Drake

If the powers-that-be at IU want to take a chance on somebody, I really like the idea of somebody like Ben McCollum at Drake. I know there will be questions about whether he can recruit at the level that you need to at Indiana (this is his first season at Drake, who is 21-2; he was previously the head coach at Northwest Missouri State for 15 years). I wouldn’t be too concerned about his recruiting chops or newness to a grand stage.

What I would be more concerned with is how much he wins, how smart of a coach he is and how many other smart coaches turn to him for guidance. The 43-year-old McCollum is “your favorite coach’s favorite coach.” He could be Indiana’s hoops version of the gold they struck on the football side in Curt Cignetti. 

Rick Pitino, St. John’s

There’s one guy out there who isn’t on the initial Hot Board that I think Indiana should take a run at: Rick Pitino. I know, I know, he’s getting up there in age (72) and it’s tough to know how many more years he will want to do this. He’s also a perfect fit in the Big East and the Big Apple. 

I do know this, though — Pitino is still as good of a coach as there is, commands respect and he would make Indiana relevant the second he was announced as a head coach. I don’t need to list his accolades because anybody reading this knows them and his track record speaks for itself. Worried about past NCAA problems? Who cares. Do you want to win or worry about some missteps from over a decade ago? This is an elite coach who is highly motivated to win back the title that the NCAA took away from him. He could absolutely do that in Bloomington.

I can promise you this. No reasonable observer, basketball fan or media member would roll their eyes or think the Hoosiers are playing fast and loose if they were to go after Pitino. They’d think, “Those guys aren’t playing around.”

MORE: Inside Indiana’s looming roster crunch and recruiting dilemma