Villanova coach Jay Wright and UConn coach Kevin Ollie are among those under consideration for the vacant Lakers job, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Wright won the NCAA championship in April when Villanova beat North Carolina in Houston, and Ollie led UConn to the NCAA title in 2014.
Shelburne’s initial list also included Luke Walton, Ettore Messina, David Blatt and Jeff Van Gundy. Byron Scott was let go on Sunday.
I Tweeted a poll Sunday night with four names — Walton, Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Mike Woodson — and with almost 1,000 votes in as of Monday morning, Walton leads Jackson, 54 percent to 24 percent.
Wright was linked to the Phoenix Suns vacancy before Earl Watson was hired.
“When you win a national championship, it gets blown up into you’ve been offered,” he told ESPN’s Dana O’Neill. “I have not gotten offered any jobs.”
He added that he hopes he can remain at Villanova.
“I can say right now that in my mind I plan to stay at Villanova,” “But I also don’t want to be a liar. I want to stay. I know I want to stay, but I just say I hope I can stay because I’ve learned from the past how crazy things can be. I hope I can stay at Villanova because this is where I want to be.”
Wright spoke with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2009 after leading Villanova to the Final Four, and it’s not too hard to imagine the Sixers coming after him again, perhaps in a year especially if the Wildcats do well again next year.
“When I went through it before, the offers were new and it was shocking,” Wright told ESPN. “Now I kind of know what they’re going to be, and I’m really comfortable. I want to stay. I really want to stay.”
Oliie, meantime, has been linked to numerous NBA jobs, including the Lakers two years ago and the Oklahoma City Thunder a year ago before Florida coach Billy Donovan was hired.
At the time, a source told SNY.tv that Ollie was “listening.“
Ollie ultimately withdrew from consideration for the Thunder job.
UConn had no comment on Monday on the Lakers report.
Meantime, Larry Brown, the Hall of Fame coach from SMU, told SNY.tv that Wright, 53, is in a good spot.
“I just think what Jay did and what he’s built and what he’s about, he’s in a perfect place,” Brown told SNY.tv at a coaches’ clinic at Roselle (N.J.) Catholic. “He’s making our game better.”
Brown said the same applies to Kentucky coach John Calipari, who has also been linked to numerous NBA jobs and also spoke at the clinic.
“They all talk to me about it,” Brown said. “What Cal’s built, what Cal’s about, he’s in a perfect place, he’s making our game better. They need guys like them coaching college kids so when they get up to the pros they’re prepared to play, that’s the problem. The young kids aren’t really ready to play…We need coaches who teach kids how to play.”
He added: “The Final Four was the greatest because they’re all seniors. There’s nothing wrong with one-and-done, but generally if you stay four years, or three years, when you do go to the NBA you’re going to be prepared to play. And the worst thing I think you can do is go to the NBA and not be prepared.”
Brown had a word of advice for any college coach considering making the jump to the NBA.
“I think generally the college coaches get a bad team and then everybody’s so impatient,” said Brown, the only coach to win an NCAA and an NBA title. “The only way I would go [to the NBA] is if you’re in charge. I don’t want somebody telling me who to draft, who to play, how to play. If they let a guy be in control of basketball and have people around him who love him and have a feel, it’s great.”
NVillanova coach Jay Wright and UConn coach Kevin Ollie are among those under consideration for the vacant Lakers job, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
