With Saturday's announcement that BYU had parted ways with head coach Amber Whiting, there are now three head coaching openings in the Big 12, as Arizona State (Natasha Adair) and Houston (Ronald Hughey) have also moved on from their old coaches over the past few days.
There are a number of options who should be considered for these openings, from head coaches at mid-majors to current assistant coaches.
Let's look at who some of the top options should be for each of the Big 12's open jobs.
Best coaching candidates for Arizona State women's basketball
Molly Miller - Grand Canyon HC
Molly Miller wouldn't have to move far if she became the next Arizona State head coach.
The current Grand Canyon head coach has led the Lopes to a 28-2 record so far this season and has turned the program around since taking over in 2020, winning 20-plus games in four of her five seasons in Phoenix. The only thing missing from her resume is an NCAA Tournament appearance, which could come this season as the team has the No. 1 seed in the WAC tournament.
Nikki Blue - Los Angeles Sparks assistant
Aside from a brief stint as the Mercury's interim head coach, Nikki Blue lacks head coaching experience, but she's served as an assistant coach since 2008, exclusively out west.
In fact, from 2019 to 2022, Blue was an assistant coach at Arizona State, taking the job after a stint as a Grand Canyon assistant. Add in two years as a Mercury assistant and it's clear there's a connection between Blue and the state of Arizona that could lead her back to Tempe.
Best coaching candidates for BYU women's basketball
Lee Cummard - BYU assistant
One of the big questions about BYU is whether or not the administration will focus on hiring a head coach who belongs to the LDS church. It's not a requirement to coach at BYU, but it sure helps.
Lee Cummard is a former BYU player, one of the best men's players in program history, and since 2016 he's coached in Provo, first on the men's side and since 2019 on the women's side.
Cummard has bided his time at BYU, serving as an assistant for the past two head coaches. Maybe it's time for BYU to see if he can be the head coach.
Morgan Bailey - Utah assistant
Amber Whiting was a former BYU basketball player. Morgan Bailey is also a former BYU basketball player. Could the team turn to another former Cougar for the head coaching job?
Bailey is currently in her first year as an assistant coach at Utah after two seasons as a BYU assistant — you can't say she's not familiar with the program! At some point, Bailey's going to make the jump to a head coaching position, so why not now, when her alma mater has an opening?
Best coaching candidates for Houston women's basketball
Aqua Franklin - Lamar HC
Aqua Franklin needs to be the first call that Houston makes for this opening.
The former Texas A&M star has served as the head coach at Lamar University since 2019. After some struggles in her first few years that were aided by the university's decision to leave the Southland for the WAC and then, one season later, head back to the Southland, Franklin has turned the Cardinals into winners over the last two seasons, going 18-2 and 17-3 in conference play while leading one of the Southland's best offenses and best defenses.
Franklin did something with nothing at Lamar. She'd be the perfect fit to rebuild a Houston program that is in complete disarray right now.
Jason Burton - North Texas HC
I talked to Jason Burton not long after he took the job at North Texas and he referred to it as a dream job, one of the only jobs that would have got him to leave Texas A&M - Commerce (now known as East Texas A&M).
I bring that up to say that Burton leaving UNT for Houston is probably unlikely, but it would be malpractice for the Coogs to not at least put feelers out.
Burton took over a Mean Green team that finished 10-20 against Division I competition in Jalie Mitchell's final season and has now led the program to back-to-back 20-win seasons. He's done that while the program moved from Conference USA into the more competitive American Athletic Conference.