Analyzing the candidates to replace Andy Enfield as USC basketball coach

As this USC men's basketball season went off the tracks with the Trojans finishing with their worst record since 2014-15 (15-18) and ending a streak of three straight NCAA tournament appearances, speculation mounted as to longtime coach Andy Enfield's job status.

Well, Enfield made the final call on that, choosing to leave USC after 11 seasons for the head coaching job at SMU, as was officially announced Monday.

Athletic director Jen Cohen announced a national search is already underway, as she'll make her first high-profile coaching hire since arriving at USC last year.

The Trojans are getting a bit of a late start on the coaching carousel as most power conference programs have already made such decisions for the year ahead. But there are plenty of intriguing candidates worth putting a call into, nonetheless.

Here's our list of the 10 calls we would make as part of the search ...

Resume: Wright retired in 2022 after 21 seasons at Villanova -- a run that included two national championships and two other Final Four appearances. Wright has a career record of 520-197 and is already a Hall of Famer.

Why he'd make sense for the job: Wright would be a grand slam hire if he had any interest in returning to coaching and could be coaxed to the West Coast.

Why he might not be a fit: Wright seems comfortable doing TV work and admitted he was on the brink of burnout during his last season at Villanova.

Analysis: Nobody thought Lincoln Riley was a viable target for USC when it had a football opening a couple years ago -- the only way to know for sure is to make the call. It would be inexcusable for Cohen and USC to not at least make the call and gauge Wright's interest (or lack thereof). There's no other hire that would make a bigger impact within the fan base or within college basketball. Wright is only 62, and these days it's rare for one of the greatest coaches in any sport to leave it behind for good at that age. Also, if Wright were to want back in for one more run, he might like the idea of not doing it in the shadow of his own program (or casting a shadow over it).

Resume: Calipari has been one of the biggest names in college basketball for decades now. An 813-260 career record, six Final Fours and a national championship says it all.

Why he'd make sense for the job: There were rampant questions about whether Kentucky would retain Calipari after this season, following the Wildcats' first-round NCAA tournament loss to No. 14-seed Oakland. He hasn't gotten the program past the first weekend of the tournament since 2019 now and it could be time for a fresh start for both sides, even though Kentucky announced Calipari would return next season.

Why he might not be a fit: Maybe at 65 years old Calipari prefers to try to launch another surge at Kentucky to close out his career?

Analysis: Again, a longshot, but also why couldn't this work? His job security is in peril at Kentucky and he looks like a coach who could benefit from a fresh start and a final chapter to his storied career. He would certainly be able to recruit in Los Angeles and would have total fan support rather than Wildcats diehards calling for his job after every loss. Make the call, at least.