Texas Basketball: 3 assistant coach candidates to replace Ulric Maligi

Adam Cohen, Stanford associate head coach

Among the assistant coaches that could be a real home run hire for the Longhorns to replace Maligi this offseason is the Stanford Cardinal associate head coach and Arizona Wildcats alumni Adam Cohen. As one of the best recruiters of any assistant in the entire country, Cohen would definitely be a big splash hire for Beard and the Longhorns this offseason.

Cohen is commonly considered one of the best young assistant coaches among the major conferences. He’s an elite recruiter that has landed a half-dozen blue-chip commits just during his time at Stanford (over the course of roughly a half-decade). Among the blue-chip commits he recruited during his time at Stanford, nearly half were drafted (or are soon to be) into the NBA.

Bringing Cohen to Texas could help this program upgrade their results on the recruiting trail even compared to those produced by Maligi in the last calendar year. That says a lot considering the fact that Maligi was one of the best recruiters in the Big 12 for the 2022 cycle.

It would be a difficult task for Beard and the Longhorns’ athletic administration to try and lure Cohen from the Cardinal. He essentially holds the most prominent position among the assistant coaches with Stanford. And he’s got a good thing going on the recruiting trail over the course of the last few years.

Another difficulty Texas could face in getting Cohen from Stanford is the fact that he’s spent much of his life on the west coast. That appears to be where he is the most comfortable. Texas would definitely be getting him to move outside his traditional comfort zone if he were to make the move to come to the Forty Acres.

But the upside of hiring Cohen to replace Maligi would be too good to ignore if he would be interested in joining this coaching staff.