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Potential candidates for men’s basketball head coaching position

Former Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey has interviewed for USF but no official offers have been made. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/GETTY IMAGES

Shortly after Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Kelly announced the firing of coach Brian Gregory on March 10, many names have surfaced as potential candidates to fill the newly-opened position.

Gregory’s dismissal occurred less than 24 hours after the Bulls lost 73-58 to ECU in the first round of the AAC tournament.

A daunting task lies ahead for the newest USF coach. Not only will the roster open up after five graduating seniors, but the Bulls also have not had an NCAA tournament appearance since 2012.

Here are some current prospects for the new Bulls coaching position:

Mike Brey

Previously the head coach for Notre Dame, Mike Brey has already interviewed for the position but has not had any formal offer made at the time of publication, according to an article from the Tampa Bay Times.

Brey comes from coaching the Fighting Irish since 2000. In his 23 years, he has marked 481 wins and 13 appearances in NCAA tournaments.

On Jan. 19, Brey announced that he would be stepping down from Notre Dame after two decades, but he would still continue coaching. 13 days after finishing his last game with the Fighting Irish, Brey interviewed with the Bulls.

Considering his bolstered resume, Brey is a top candidate for USF. His son, Kyle Brey is the head football coach for IMG Academy in Bradenton.

Chris Capko

Associate head coach Chris Capko of University of Southern California was also interviewed for the position, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Like Brey, there have only been discussions and no offers have been made.

Capko was promoted on Aug. 30, 2021 after serving as assistant head coach since 2016.

While Capko has no prior head coaching experience, he is a USF alum which makes him an appealing candidate. Capko was a guard for the Bulls from 2004-2006. In his last season, Capko started 23 of 29 games.

Josh Pastner

On March 10, Josh Pastner was fired from his head coaching position at Georgia Tech. His dismissal was followed a second straight losing season for his team. During his seven years with the Yellow Jackets, he racked up a 109-114 record.

In the 2020-2021 season, Pastner brought Georgia Tech to an ACC tournament win and went 17-9 overall. The victory was the Yellow Jackets’ first tournament triumph since 2010.

Before that, he was the head coach at Memphis from 2009-2016 and successfully led that team to five postseason berths.

While Pastner has experience coaching basketball in the AAC and has made appearances in post season tourneys, he is rumored to be a candidate for New Mexico State. No official offers have been made.