Will Greg Marshall leave Wichita State for Alabama?

With Wichita State looking to make it back to the Elite Eight for the first time in two years, rumors are swirling that head coach Greg Marshall could leave the program — but will he?

The Wichita State Shockers are trying to make it out of the Sweet 16 and eventually back to the Final Four for the first time since 2013 and a lot of their moxie has to do with head coach Greg Marshall and the way he’s carried the team under his leadership.

More from March Madness

But as is the case with all big name coaches at small time programs, Greg Marshall is being lured away by another school — at least, that’s the rumor of the weekend. On Wednesday, Marshall responded to rumors that Alabama was trying to lure him away from Wichita State by basically dismissing them as bogus claims.

Marshall may have denied the rumors, but that doesn’t mean they’ll go away — or that they’re false.

Wichita State isn’t a huge program, but it’s a growing one under the leadership of Marshall. That’s important to note, as all great coaches have taken programs and made them their own. Coach K did it at Duke, Jim Boeheim did it at Syracuse and John Wooden most famously did it at UCLA.

Marshall has a real chance to take a small time program and make it into his own powerhouse — so would he leave that for big money at another startup program?

Alabama isn’t the powerhouse in basketball that it is at football, and their desperation to balance that out is being seen in their desire to hire Marshall away from Wichita State. If the money is good, and the offer is indeed ‘crazy’, then Marshall has to determine what he values more.

If he values making the most money possible and potentially falling into a mercenary coaching role that John Calipari has made so famous, then that’s his decision to make. But if he wants to become a coaching legend and wants to become an icon like the Coach K’s of the world, then he needs to simply use this Alabama rumor as leverage to hammer out a massive deal to stay at Wichita State.

Marshall staying at Wichita State is the story everyone wants to see happen, but there’s only one man who can made that decision and right now he’s busy trying to coach his team to a title. Wichita State is exactly that too — his team, and to leave it would be to make a giant mistake.

More from FanSided

Home/March Madness