Kansas State Basketball Coaching Search: ESPN Analyst Doug Gottlieb Interested In Position

Doug Gottlieb expressed interest in the vacant head coaching position with the Kansas St. Wildcats in a phone interview with the Manhattan, Kan., Mercury on Thursday. Though the ESPN analyst has no prior basketball coaching experience, he is confident he would succeed as the head of a college program.

"I'm pretty self aware and I understand that the idea is not necessarily out of left field, but it would not technically be the norm for an athletic director," Gottlieb said. "But I do believe if given the chance I would do it pretty well."

Gottlieb would join the likes of Steve Lavin and Mike Gottfried as former broadcasters turned sideline-pacers. Lavin and Gottfried took over, and have been successful, at St. John's and N.C. State, respectively.

"If you look at the last two analysts to leave here, and granted they had prior head-coaching experience," Gottlieb said. "But Steve Lavin and Mark Gottfried - not only have they won immediately when they went to their new schools, but they also landed top-five recruiting classes in areas of the country they had never recruited before."

While face recognition helped with recruiting, it should also be noted that both of those men had been head coaches of college programs before. Gottlieb would be trying to do something unprecedented, and so far there hasn't been any indication that the Wildcats are even warm to the idea.

For more on the Wildcats, check out the SB Nation blog Bring On The Cats.