After two seasons, John Brannen is out as men's basketball coach at the University of Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Director of Athletics John Cunningham announced Friday that Brannen has been "relieved of his duties effective immediately."
With Brannen no longer on the bench and the UC program in a holding pattern with four scholarship players on its roster, who does Cincinnati, which failed to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010, turn to next to jolt the program back in the right direction?
"Tim Morris will serve as Interim Head Coach while we conduct a comprehensive nationwide search for a new leader of our men’s basketball program," Cunningham wrote in a letter to Bearcats fans.
The announcement came after Cunningham conducted a review of unspecified allegations related to Brannen and the men's basketball program after six of Brannen's players entered the transfer portal in a three-day span following UC's season-ending loss to Houston on March 14 in the American Athletic Conference tournament championship game.
"We will work quickly but judiciously in finding a new head coach," Cunningham said. "With a passionate fan base, strong tradition and history, elite facilities, and a collective commitment to success, we are confident that we will have a deep pool of candidates. We will continue to engage with and support our student-athletes during this transition."
Here is our list of top candidates:
Nick Van Exel
A name on a lot of Bearcats fans' wish lists two years ago, the former UC point guard is no doubt the fan-favorite this time around.
Van Exel helped lead the Bearcats to the Final Four in 1992 and was the undeniable star of the Cincinnati team that reached the Elite Eight the following year.
After just two seasons with the Bearcats, Van Exel left campus as Cincinnati's then-all-time leader in 3-pointers made (147), 3-pointers attempted (411) and 3-point percentage (.358).
Following a 13-year NBA career, Van Exel has spent the better part of the past decade as an assistant for the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies. After getting a close look at what Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway is doing at his alma mater, American Athletic Conference rival Memphis, Cunningham could look to Van Exel to have a similar impact at Cincinnati.
Hardaway returned to Memphis in May 2003, 10 years after leaving school early and declaring for the NBA draft, to complete his degree in professional studies. Van Exel is still pursuing his degree.
Darren Savino
Another familiar name to UC basketball fans, Savino is the associate head coach at UCLA and longtime assistant to former Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin.
Savino spent nine seasons on the bench with Cronin at UC before the two moved to Los Angeles in April 2019.
A New Jersey native, Savino helped lead the Bearcats to two AAC regular-season titles in 2014 and 2018 and back-to-back AAC tournament championships in 2018 and 2019. They were the first back-to-back conference tournament titles for the Bearcats since winning the Great Midwest Conference and the Conference USA tournaments in 1995 and 1996 under then-coach Bob Huggins.
Fresh off of helping Cronin lead the Bruins to the Final Four, Savino could be the right coach to right the ship in Clifton. Like Van Exel, Savino has never been a head coach at the college level.
Erik Martin
Another longtime assistant looking for his first opportunity as a collegiate head coach is Martin, Van Exel's former teammate on the 1992 and 1993 UC teams.
Martin has spent the past 15 seasons next to Huggins, first at Kansas State and then at West Virginia. Martin is responsible for post-player development for Huggins and the Mountaineers as well as assisting with game scouting and recruiting.
Martin was Cincinnati's leading rebounder and second-leading scorer (trailing only Van Exel) during the 1992-93 season. The 6-foot-7 forward was one of the first players Huggins brought in at UC to provide the toughness that has become the longtime brand of the Bearcats program.
Archie Miller
Miller was fired last month after four underwhelming seasons at Indiana University. The 42-year-old coach may have only gone 67-58 (33-44 in Big Ten play) at the helm of the Hoosiers program, but Miller had things rolling up the road at the University of Dayton before that.
From 2011-17, Miller averaged more than 23 wins per season and led the Flyers to the NCAA tournament in each of his last four years with the program, including an appearance in the Elite Eight in 2014.
Dayton's 78 wins from 2013-16 matched the winningest three-year span in the program's history.
Sean Miller
If Archie doesn't fit at Cincinnati, maybe older brother, Sean, will.
Like Archie, Sean was also fired. Arizona parted ways with the 52-year-old coach on Wednesday after 12 seasons.
Miller led the Wildcats to seven NCAA tournaments and three Elite Eight appearances. Arizona won at least a share of five Pac-12 regular-season championships during Miller's tenure.
Miller's tenure also included several NCAA issues and entanglements, but if Cincinnati (and its fans) can stomach hiring a coach that was a thorn in its side while at crosstown rival Xavier (2004-09), it would be getting one of the better coaches on the market.
Miller led the Musketeers to four NCAA tournaments in five seasons, including an Elite Eight run in 2008.
Tim Morris
Morris, a longtime assistant of Brannen, has been dealt the task of steering the rocking ship until Cunningham wraps up his search for a new coach. But can the winding red and black road lead to Morris?
Morris followed Brannen across the river in 2019, joining the Bearcats after a three-year stint as an assistant at Northern Kentucky University.
Morris, an Atlanta native, played college ball at Stanford and the University of Washington before playing professionally overseas. Morris was named to Silver Waves Media's 50 Impactful High Major Assistant Coaches list in 2020.