Mid-Major Madness Mailbag: What are the destination mid-major arenas?--Mid-Major Madness
Lance Hartzler: I generally agree with Sam, especially on
this stance; I prefer to avoid framing my beloved mids as stepping-stone
gigs. I’ll slightly reframe the question as well: my top five
under-the-radar / not-talked-enough-about coaches… Jace Coburn (Portland
State;
was in the running for the Arizona State gig before Randy Bennett was
hired), Alex Pribble (Idaho; led Idaho to the NCAA Tournament last season),
Kaleb Canales (Weber State),
Brian Wardle (Bradley), and Joe Pasternack (UC Santa Barbara).
Ian Sacks: Eric Olen (New Mexico) and Bob Richey (Furman)
are my first two picks here. They’ve both made immediate impacts and are
rising stars.
Ben Jacobson (Utah State)
is another name to keep an eye on. There’s something in the water in
Logan, Utah, and he’ll be the next to find that out. Phil Martelli Jr.
(VCU) has had a bunch of success at both Bryant and VCU.
Ryan Miller (Murray State)
is someone else to keep in mind. Showed a lot of promise in his first year
as a head coach. Alisa Kresge (Richmond) is a name to know on the women’s
side. She took over as the leader of the Spiders after a successful stint
with Vermont and was a baller at Marist.