Vanderbilt Basketball Must Throw A Ridiculous Amount Of Money At Gregg Marshall Immediately

Whenever there’s a coaching vacancy at a school in a top conference, the Wichita State Shockers’ Gregg Marshall seems to be the first person fans – and the school – put at the top of their list. Marshall has been nothing short of spectacular in his time with the Shockers, even making it to the Round of 32 in the 2016 NCAA tournament after winning a first-round game over the Vanderbilt Commodores and a second-round game over the Arizona Wildcats in a slightly down season.

Ironically, it’s the Commodores who come knocking at his door now, as longtime head coach Kevin Stallings bolted for a job with the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Vanderbilt is one of the sleeper programs in college basketball with the potential to be a staple in the NCAA tournament at least three out of every four years. Nashville is a wonderful city, Vanderbilt is a top academic university and the area is rich in terms of recruiting potential and pipelines to other close fertile recruiting grounds. The school also has a ridiculously high endowment and should be able to pry away nearly any coach in the country outside of the elite programs for the right price.

Marshall is one of the best coaches in the country; few informed college basketball fans will argue against that. He commands around a whopping 15 percent of Wichita State’s overall athletic budget and has complete freedom to do whatever he wishes. Because of this, Vanderbilt must throw a huge chunk of money at the former Final Four coach.

Marshall is the type of coach who will come into an above average program and make it elite. At the moment, the Commodores are not there. Years and years of underachievement under Stallings have led to even the fans expecting less of a program that is capable of so much more. Bringing in Marshall could change that mentality almost immediately and cause this team to start building towards becoming a consistent top SEC team like the Florida Gators and Kentucky Wildcats.

Do I honestly believe that Marshall will leave for Vanderbilt right now? No. The power he has at Wichita State is too good to pass up just yet. Marshall is practically a god to the Shockers with what he has done in recent seasons, and, from his past reactions to coaching offers, he seems to love it there.

But do I think Vanderbilt should do everything they can to bring him to Nashville? 100 percent yes. Marshall is just what this program needs to get to the top and get there quickly.