Good news for hardcore Utah Jazz fans: the franchise is expected to ask former player and NBA great John Stockton if he’s interested in re-joining the squad as head coach.

While Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey has neither confirmed nor denied the report, about 20 candidates will be interviewed in one form or another for the head coaching gig and Stockton is part of that group according to ESPN.com.

“All the speculation is very premature,” said Lindsey, who admitted that the Jazz aren’t ready to declare anyone as the top candidate.

Tyrone Corbin was sacked last April and will not return as head coach for the job. Corbin replaced long-time coach Jerry Sloan in 2011 and spent three years with the Jazz with a 112-146 win-loss record.

Other candidates rumoured to replace Corbin are Jim Boylen (San Antonio Spurs assistant and former coach of University of Utah), Adrian Griffin (Chicago Bulls assistant); Brad Jones (current Utah Jazz assistant); Quin Snyder (former coach for Missouri) and Ettore Messina (European coach) among many others.

Stockton also played under Sloan in all of his 19 years in the NBA. Though he has zero coaching experience, he is considered the “best pure point guard of all time” and his knowledge of the game can easily help him from being a successful former player to head coach.

The 52-year-old Stockton is the all-time assists leader (15,806) and the all-time steals leader (3,265) in NBA history. He was also inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

The Jazz have already taken in former Stockton buddies in Karl Malone (as development coach) and Sloan (team advisor) in recent years. Former teammate Jeff Hornacek is also back in the NBA as well leading the Phoenix Suns to a successful regular season in his first year as head coach.

Should the Jazz hire former the NBA legend as head coach?