5 best (realistic) head-coaching candidates for Michigan basketball

Jerome Tang

We'll spend the last part of this article looking at some of the dark-horse candidates. Jerome Tang of Kansas State is starting to gain momentum.

The Wildcats lost out in the NIT on Tuesday night but last season, he coached Kansas State to the Elite 8 after dealing with a bunch of turnover when he took the job. That should give hope to Michigan basketball fans. He's only got two years of head-coaching experience but was an assistant on the Baylor coaching staff and the Bears defense hasn't been the same since he left.

The Wildcats, on the other hand, have had top-25 defenses in each of the past two seasons. Sign me up for that, plus a dude who won three NCAA tournament games in his first trip. I know some Michigan fans are down on Tang, but don't count me among them.

Amir Abdur-Rahim

The South Florida head coach is also starting to generate some interest according to Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider. He's only been at South Florida for one season but led the Bulls to a regular-season conference championship.

Abdur-Rahim has a 70-81 career record which includes his time at Kennesaw State where he coached a total of four seasons and led the Owls to the NCAA tournament. He also had a season where he won just one game but that shows he can build. He's got history as an assistant at Texas A&M and Georgia, plus his brother played in the NBA.

Abdur-Rahim is known as an elite recruiter, which would be nice to have with Michigan basketball, but this feels like a longshot if some other candidates don't work out.