It's virtually impossible to handicap a race before we know who's running, but the 76ers' president is compiling a list and checking it twice.
Ed Stefanski, the Sixers' president/general manager, needs a coach for next season. That became clear yesterday, when Tony DiLeo, 32-27 as the in-season replacement for the fired Maurice Cheeks, withdrew his name from consideration. Who might make it on to Stefanski's list?
* Doug Collins : Through John Langel, Collins' agent, it has become clear that Collins has a real interest in coaching here, in part because of his passion for the city in which he played his entire career and because he would be close to family members. Collins, regarded in the highest echelon of TV analysts, has coached the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards and has what some people believe to be a virtual photographic memory for game details.
* Eddie Jordan: The assumption is that Stefanski would be interested because he worked with Jordan when both were employed by the New Jersey Nets. Stefanski said yesterday that he didn't necessarily have to have a history with a candidate, but that he did have to have a comfort level. Jordan has been strongly rumored as a candidate to return to the Sacramento Kings.
* Mark Jackson: He's on the list because of his skill in directing teams as a point guard. He has shown a strong interest in coaching, even though he has remained in the TV booth.
* Mike Fratello: Pencil in his name because speculation has been that he would very much like to resume his coaching career. He was interviewed here once before, but showed little inclination to want to coach Allen Iverson.
* Jeff Van Gundy: Like so many coaches, he's a different person in the TV booth. Relaxed, affable. Like Fratello, when the Sixers looked into him before he was put off by the team's centerpiece. But like all former coaches, there's always the lure of coming back.
* Tom Thibodeau: He's respected as the defensive guru of the Boston Celtics, but even though the Celtics won a championship in 2007-08, Thibodeau - a young Sixers assistant during the long-ago John Lucas era - stayed in place.
* Avery Johnson: He's tough, demanding, controlling and would bring a different dynamic to the bench.
* Jay Wright: I'm not even comfortable writing in the name of the Villanova coach. Certainly not now. I think someday he'll take a look at the pros, but not now. *
