The college basketball coaching carousel is still moving, and the latest head coaching hire comes at Green Bay where the Phoenix are reportedly set to hire Doug Gottlieb to replace Sundance Wicks.
Wicks left just a few days ago to take the head coaching position at Wyoming in the Mountain West, a position vacated by Jeff Linder who went to Texas Tech to be an assistant coach in the Big 12.
Gottlieb is unquestionably an out of the box hire, coming to Green Bay as a well known figure in the sports media industry – with stops as a broadcaster at FOX Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, and the Pac-12 Network.
He does have some coaching experience, leading Team USA at the 2017 Maccabiah Games and again in 2022 when they won gold. He also has stops at AAU and was a consultant for his alma mater Oklahoma State.
The 48-year-old does not have any head coaching experience at the collegiate level, however, and it’s unusual to say the least to see someone transition from the media space into coaching who has not previously been a head coach.
Green Bay went 18-14 last year and 13-7 in the Horizon League under coach Wicks, a huge improvement after winning just 11 games combined in the previous two seasons.
The Phoenix will hope Gottlieb, who interviewed for the job last year before Wicks was brought in, brings enough name recognition to the position to keep the positive momentum going in 2024-25.