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Granted neither you nor I have the cash or the clout to convince a basketball coach to come to N.C. State, but that shouldn't stop us from speculating, right?

Let's just try not to speculate wildly. And kids, get your parents' permission before trying this.

I put together a list of possibilities for the Sunday paper. Here's a slight modification of it, with a name or two dropped and a name or two added.

1) Rick Barnes, Texas
The top choice. He's from Hickory, he can recruit, he's personable and he once got into a fight with Dean at the ACC tournament. What's not to like for a Wolfpack fan? His family ties and childhood memories of the State glory years will likely be enough for him to listen to a State offer. But it will take a large hunk of cash to uproot Barnes from Austin.

2) Frank Haith, Miami
If you can't get Barnes, then maybe you go after his former top assistant. Haith, a Western Alamance grad, has the local ties. He's got the recruiting chops. He's young and he reportedly definitely would take the job if offered. But he only has two years as a D-I head coach and there's that sticky matter of moving within the ACC.

3) Dereck Whittenburg, Fordham and Monte Towe, New Orleans
These two are grouped together because frankly, it's hard for either to merit serious consideration. Other than being alums who would provoke some nostalgia for State's two national titles, neither has been red-hot in coaching circles. Both had losing records this season. Each might get a courtesy interview, but nothing more.

4) Dave Odom, South Carolina
This name makes many Wolfpack fans cringe, but apparently it's being discussed by folks close to the selection process. Granted Odom's teams have spent far too much time in the NIT lately, but he does have those two ACC titles while at Wake. That's two more than State has had since 1987. Figure Odom as the ultimate Plan B in this search.

5) Sean Miller, Xavier
He's a young coach, he just took his team to the NCAA tournament and he has ties to N.C. State, having served as an assistant under Sendek. It's hard to tell at this point though, whether ties to Sendek would get you more just the animosity of a portion of the fan base. He looks unlikely.

6) John Calipari, Memphis
Calipari has the ego needed to think he can compete with, and move ahead of, Duke and UNC. Plus, while Memphis is doing well right now, it's still in Conference USA. But it would likely take a truckload of cash to bring Calipari to Raleigh, and he's a guy that has a rep for being just a little too slick. It's hard to see him meshing well with Fowler and Co.

7) Tubby Smith, Kentucky. The High Point grad has the North Carolina ties. And the thinking is that Smith might finally be so fed up with Kentucky fans and their constant sniping that he'd be willing to jump ship. Of course, State fans also have a rep for pretty high expectations. And then there's the matter of Tubby's salary, which is currently reported to be around $1.9 million. Yikes.

I could go on for some time, but I'll leave further conjecture to you. Feel free to chime in with other names that deserve consideration or if you have an issue with any of the names I've listed.

And to save you the trouble of asking, no, I'm not interested in the position.