Oklahoma basketball: Will Porter Moser replace retiring Lon Kruger?

Porter Moser is the hottest head-coaching candidate around, and he could replace the retiring Lon Kruger as the face of Oklahoma basketball.

Loyola basketball head coach Porter Moser doesn’t have to go anywhere he doesn’t want to.

Fresh off another trip to the Sweet 16, Moser can stay put at Loyola to make the Ramblers’ men’s program into what Mark Few has done at Gonzaga. Moser is more than capable of turning Loyola a mid-major powerhouse in the middle of the country. However, he could be getting a Godfather offer he could not refuse: Replacing the retiring Lon Kruger as the face of Oklahoma basketball.

Oklahoma basketball is an underrated, but equally challenging Big 12 job

With jobs opening up at Indiana, Oklahoma and now Texas with Shaka Smart fleeing Austin for a sleeping giant job at Marquette, Moser has to be at the front of the line for any of those openings. Indiana may have the greatest tradition, but the Hoosiers are the hardwood equivalent of Nebraska football. Their glory days are so behind them, and everybody but their fan base knows it.

Texas is a good job because of the resources at hand. However, Smart bolting not long after getting embarrassed by Abilene Christian could signify Texas hoops is in rougher shape than we could ever realize. And that leaves us with Oklahoma. Kruger had been quietly winning games in Norman for a decade, getting to a Final Four for the second time in his coaching career in 2016.

What makes Oklahoma a good job is a quality coach can consistently win there without a ton of pressure placed on him. You won’t be as scrutinized as you would in Bloomington and head football coach Lincoln Riley will be more under the gun than you would ever be in Norman. You may not be able to win the Big 12 at Oklahoma, but you can win enough to get into the tournament.

The downsides of going to Oklahoma are Moser would have to leave his native Illinois and he’d be arriving in the conference that belongs to Kansas. Not only that but programs like Baylor, Texas Tech and West Virginia are humming under their current coaches as well. This will be a major step up in competition, but this feels like a job that will not eat Moser alive as others would.

Ultimately, it really comes down to if Moser is able to recruit the type of guys he needs to build his type of program. There is a ton of talent in that part of the country, but the last thing Moser needs is for guys who aren’t his type of players forced on him. The good news is Oklahoma is not a blue-blood job like Kansas where that comes with the territory. Maybe Moser does leave for Norman?

There are far worse jobs for Moser to choose from than to possibly succeed Kruger at Oklahoma.

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