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Michigan State Basketball: 3 candidates who could replace Dwayne Stephens

By Connor Muldowney

Mar 1, 2022; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Tom Crean reacts on the bench during the game against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2022; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Tom Crean reacts on the bench during the game against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Stegeman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dwayne Stephens has accepted the Western Michigan head coaching job, leaving a vacancy at assistant coach for Michigan State basketball.

For the second straight year, Tom Izzo is tasked with finding a new assistant coach to join his staff and while there are a number of potential candidates, three stick out to me.

There will always be the fans who want younger blood and I tend to agree because the program has lacked juice over the past couple of seasons, but Izzo has guys like Austin Thornton and Matt McQuaid already on the staff to provide that. I wouldn’t mind seeing McQuaid get a shot at assistant coach, but I doubt he’s ready after such a short time on staff.

Tum Tum Nairn would also be an interesting candidate as he was an assistant under Izzo before taking the head coaching job at Sunrise Christian Academy.

Izzo will probably look at a handful of candidates before making a decision and I believe these three would be the best options.

3. Charlie Bell

This is probably the most outside-the-box option even though it would make sense and Charlie Bell would both provide that youthfulness/juice that the program needs as well as a knowledge of how things are supposed to run in East Lansing.

Bell played for Izzo back during the incredible run of three straight Final Fours from 1999-2001 and helped lead the Spartans to their only national title under the Hall of Fame coach. He was an All-American, former NBA player, and defensive standout, so he knows what it takes to excel on both ends of the floor and he even parlayed that into a long professional career and assistant coaching jobs in the G-League and for Flint United.

Now that he’s no longer the coach of Flint United, the 43-year-old could come back to East Lansing where he started his career and help lead Izzo back to the promised land.

Bell is young, has plenty of energy, and can probably add some juice to the recruiting trail.

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