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Kevin Stallings leaves Vanderbilt for Pittsburgh

Adam Sparks and USA Today Sports

Kevin Stallings’ exit from Vanderbilt at least appeared mutual.

Stallings, the winningest coach in Commodores history, landed a new job Sunday in the ACC as the Pittsburgh men’s basketball coach and a six-year contract, according to ESPN.

Vanderbilt got to part ways with the most successful coach in program history without firing him or dragging him through a lengthy hot-seat situation. And the Commodores get a new start, tipping off their first men’s basketball coaching search in this century.

In a statement, athletics director David Williams called Stallings “a great coach and a true gentleman” who “won more games than any coach in our program’s history, and he always did it the right way.” (Full statement)

POLL: Who should replace Kevin Stallings at Vanderbilt?

Stallings coached the Commodores from 1999-2016, as the longest tenured coach in both Vanderbilt history and among the SEC’s active coaches. In 17 seasons, he compiled a 332-220 overall record, 138-142 SEC mark and seven of the program’s 14 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Stallings replaces Jamie Dixon, who left Pitt last week to take the job at TCU. In a statement, Pitt athletics director Scott Barnes said, “Coach Stallings and I share the same vision for Pitt — playing in the Final Four.”

Stallings had not made a deep NCAA Tournament run at Vanderbilt in nearly a decade, and he became a victim of his own early success. After Sweet Sixteen runs in 2004 and 2007, his teams suffered an opening loss in four of the next five NCAA Tournament trips. The last one hurt quite a bit, as the Commodores fell 70-50 to Wichita State in a play-in game in Dayton two weeks ago to cap a frustrating season.

Who could replace Kevin Stallings at Vanderbilt?

The 2015-16 Vanderbilt squad carried lofty preseason expectations, touted two projected NBA draft picks in Wade Baldwin and Damian Jones, and climbed as high as No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches poll. But inconsistency plagued the team, which barely made the NCAA Tournament field, and Stallings carried the tag of a coach who couldn’t capitalize on premier talent,

The only public comments from Vanderbilt players on Sunday were of gratitude and congratulations on Twitter. Baldwin tweeted, “All Love to Coach Stallings.” Riley LaChance, on Twitter, thanked Stallings for “giving me the opportunity to live out my dream. Wish him and his family the best at Pitt!”

How did David Williams' Vanderbilt coach hires pan out?

Williams thanked Stallings for “his tireless efforts in running a first-class program, where he emphasized academic achievement and graduation.” In his own statement, Stallings cited the “University of Pittsburgh’s tremendous reputation as an elite academic institution added to the appeal of this position,” but he made no mention of Vanderbilt in the Pittsburgh news release.

Vanderbilt has had only four basketball coaches in the past 35 years, about half of those under Stallings.

“We will begin a national search immediately and are confident in our ability to find an outstanding person,” Williams said.

There are some likely preliminary candidates for the Commodores job, including Virginia Commonwealth’s Will Wade, Monmouth’s King Rice and Belmont’s Rick Byrd.

Wade is a 33-year-old Nashville native who guided VCU to an NCAA Tournament win over Oregon State last week. Rice, a former Stallings’ assistant, kick-started Monmouth this season with a string of quality wins. Amaker has a resume similar to Stallings. He touts 351 wins in 19 seasons, including four straight NCAA Tournament trips at Harvard.

Byrd, a close friend of Stallings, has built the Belmont program from its foundation to a mid-major power and a seven-time NCAA Tournament participant. Byrd has not indicated any interest in another job, but this offers him a unique chance to coach in the SEC without changing his address.

Other hot names among coaching searches could be possibilities, such as Xavier’s Chris Mack, Dayton’s Archie Miller and Virginia Tech’s Buzz Williams.

Reach Adam Sparks at 615-259-8010 and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

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SEC COACHES WITH 300 WINS AT ONE SCHOOL

Coach (School), Record

1 Adolph Rupp (Kentucky), 876-190

2 Billy Donovan (Florida), 467-186

3 Dale Brown (LSU), 448-301

4 Harry Rabenhorst (LSU), 340-264

5 Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt), 332-220