Honestly, Oats felt like a long shot to me. It’s hard to flesh out realistic candidates. I put together a list on Friday that included the likes of Porter Moser, Shaka Smart, and Dusty May. Smart might not be attainable, but the interest was there in the past. May will be tough to land with other schools in the mix, but Moser seems ready to leave Oklahoma, and Michigan basketball feels like it would appeal to him.

Moser has coached a team to the Final Four — in fact, all three coaches listed above have. That’s not going to make it easy for the Wolverines to hire them. It’s also going to cost some money. Plus, it remains to be seen how aggressive (financially) Maneul will be in his pursuit of a new head coach.

There are plenty of good options. But one option off the board is Nate Oats.