Just read that Golding is a JUCO guy. He has a good reputation for making a nice glass of lemonade when lemons are given to him.
We know Barbee is a build from scratch guy but then again, the transfer portal didn't exist in it's totality back then. Barbee is known for finding hidden gems, especially in SEC country. Stone was another hidden gem from California with not even a whiff from (SoCal) D1 Cali schools. I keep bringing this up but I clearly remember this site going ballistic Culpepper's first year (we can laugh about it now). The first year will have some pain. Barbee plays in your face defense and an aggressive offense and works his player's arses off.
BG: Master X's and O's coach. Surrounds himself with not just good, but great assistants. Sadler was one such assistant and road B.G.'s coat tails to Huskers Nation. Just was not a great fit for UTEP. Anyways, it's "floor it!" style play for Billy and UTEP fans loved it. It was exciting and sold tickets. Unlike Barbee who recruits very athletic players who can potentially play pro later, Billy is a player specific to his offense to the detail. Omar Thomas was not on any first or second round NBA radar but he and Fili ran BG's offense with efficiency and aggressiveness. Billy can pluck a prized recruit from the power schools like Rick Stansbury at WKU. Billy is also not afraid to go overseas, too. Many coaches stay within the country.
Marvin Menzies: The thorn in UTEP's side for years. One player, Pascal Siakam kept UTEP fans and Tim Floyd up at night. I personally thanked the Big Man upstairs when he finally exhausted his eligibility. Also like Barbee, the coach can flat out recruit, period. No name players with no stars and no local town write up's on them and he won. Also like Barbee, he moved on UNLV and it didn't go well.
Chris Jans: Good coach and you have to believe with major jump in salary and facilities at UTEP he has too be at least sleeping on it. KDBC CBS 4 sports anchor says Senter reached out to Jans which has not been verified. One major black spot is that Jans totally mismanaged the pandemic and during strict quarantine at a secluded Arizona resort......twice! NMSU AD Moccia wrote a fat check for money they did not have to salvage the season and even got the NM hard line Gov to sign off. Jans squandered it. Do we want another coach who makes costly decisions? What I mean is that it costed the Aggies critical play which costed them the title against Grand Canyon who had a 24 game season with more game experience. UTEP has gone thru two coaches (Floyd and Terry) who have made questionable decisions that soured seasons while having solid athletic players. This is blemish that Senter should not take lightly. If he makes it to a final few, UTEP fans will not let Senter forget if Jans turns out to be another Rodney Terry.
Kyle Keller. How this coach is not at a power conference staff is a mystery? Keller has been on record saying he doesn't need the bigger programs. Runs a defense that is very aggressive. A big plus, he is a community oriented coach and some say is a very humble man. UTEP fans eat that stuff up. Bad side, UTEP has had really nice, humble men in major revenue sports as coaches but fans want "W's", now. Let's be honest, UTEP basketball players and staff are under constant watchful eye and the pressure can be a bit much. I don't think he would be interested. I have him scratched off early.
Senter likes experienced head coaches. His top will be Golding and Jans and a coach out of left field no one expected because, well......he is Senter. UTEP fans like Barbee. The local media believes he can win here. His style of coaching and development is an on-paper-fact with UTEP. But Athletic Directors have ego's and he will not reach out to Barbee for a second time. No one saw Terry nor Dimel coming and there is nothing for me to believe otherwise that Senter will not pull that trigger again.
Jans will be the man is where my money is at but I think it will be another questionable Senter hire like Dimel and Terry. NMSU has no money, they can't make much of a counter offer and with NMSU''s biggest booster Stanley Fulton's Sunland Park Casino taking a brutal beating with no horse racing from Covid and hard line governor, I'm sure he will tell Moccia to let him go.