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Indiana basketball: Brad Stevens and 5 realistic candidates to replace Archie Miller

By Brad Berreman

Mar 11, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Archie Miller yells to his players in the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the first half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Archie Miller yells to his players in the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the first half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Steve Alford

Update: Alford is committed to staying at Nevada and will not be a candidate for the Indiana basketball job.

After a mostly disappointing tenure at UCLA, Alford has a 35-22 record over two seasons at Nevada. Including his time at SW Missouri State, Iowa, New Mexico and UCLA, he has a .651 winning percentage as a Division I head coach.

Alford was a victim of high and unrealistic expectations at UCLA. It would be much of the same at Indiana, with the added layer of Alford’s successful playing career as a Hoosier highlighted by a national title in 1987. He has oddly not been a hotly rumored candidate in the 20-plus years since Bobby Knight was fired, with the job coming open four times previously. The Indiana Star cited how Alford surfaced in 2017, but he was not seriously considered.

Alford is a candidate to take a step back up to a major conference job sometime in the next few years. What those options might look like this year, if he’d even entertain them in a broad sense, is unclear.

Does Indiana hold a special place for Alford? Would his ties to the alumni base and possible recruiting in-roads within the state of Indiana push him up the list of candidates to replace Miller? There are just enough questions to make Alford an intriguing candidate for Indiana, and some of those same questions lower the odds he gets the job to practically nil.