gene should call these coaches, in the following order, and offer them the job:
1. john beilein - beilein is out of coaching, but you know he won't be for long. he made a mistake exiting college for the cavs and now needs a compelling reason to get back into it. k-state can appeal to him: beilein loves to rebuild programs. he's been doing it his whole career - from le moyne to canisius to richmond to west virginia to michigan. this is a perfect opportunity. beyond that, he can bring his son, patrick, aboard and groom him to be the coach-in-waiting. patrick is a rising star who will need to rehab his image after resigning from niagara for "personal reasons."
2. rick pitino - this would be bob huggins part II. pitino used iona to rehab his image, and now we've all forgotten about the bad crap he did. would he leave iona for k-state given that he probably prefers to live in NY? maybe. but here's how to sweeten it: offer for his son, richard, to come aboard and become the head-coach-in-waiting. richard has a bright future despite "failing" at minnesota. the conference has been brutally hard and he's been very unlucky between signing one trainwreck recruiting class and then having bad luck with injuries. rick would love the opportunity to coach alongside his son at a school with a legit chance to go all the way.
3. sean miller - great recruiter and program builder. would orchestrate an immediate turnaround. can go toe-to-toe with bill self when it comes to cheating for recruits. very good chance he splits from arizona. this would be a huggins-like landing spot for him - a chance to rebuild his image while other schools will take a pass due to ncaa sanctions, fbi, etc baggage.
4. kelvin sampson - he took wazzu, okla, indiana and now houston to the ncaa tourney. capable of immediate turnarounds. willing to cheat. highly likely to say no, as he's 65 and has lived in houston for a decade now extending back to his time w the rockets. but at least reach out to see if he's interested in a return to the big 12.
5. porter moser - great coach and better person. has proven he can do more with less. k-state is not a catholic school however and moser values religion. he also previously turned down offers from UNLV and st john's. he will say no - but gene should make him say no.
6. kyle smith - big schools will come after him in a few years after he leads wazzu to a top-4 pac-12 finish and ncaa tourney appearance in 2022. k-state has a chance to be early before his stock surges and not have to compete with better schools willing to offer more money.
7. frank martin - i don't love this, as i think frank is an overrated coach. but as far as infusing energy into the program and having the fanbase go batshit crazy, it would be hard to argue against bringing him back. he loved k-state but hated john currie. he would be embraced and his time at south carolina is ending soon.