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Top 50 Coaching Hires since 2000

LOL at Pearl at auburn not making the list. Auburn hadn’t been in the tournament at all from 2003 to 2017. Since then Pearl has 2 sec titles, a final 4, and 3 consecutive tournament appearances with 25 plus wins. . Yes I count the Covid cancelation last year as an appearance.
 
All things considered, Bryce Drew is the best coaching hire in college basketball. Roy Williams was great and did a great job at North Carolina, but it was North Carolina. They could have hired a bunch of other guys that while not doing as well as Roy, still would have won a lot of games there.

Bryce Drew made Baylor one of the elite programs in college basketball at a place that was a total dumpster fire and hadn't been that good in 65 years. Not only could no other coach they hired done what he has done, but almost guaranteed had they hired someone else, they would have completely bombed.

Jay Wright has done a great job, but again, Villanova is an elite basketball school. While he was a great hire, other coaches could have found success there too albeit not as much. Steve Lappas won a bunch of games there. Brad Stevens did an incredible job taking Butler to back to back final fours, but again Butler albeit a mid-major has a lot of basketball success. He was inheriting a team fresh off a Sweet Sixteen birth. To me, Bryce Drew has accomplished the most relative to where he was. He reminds me of Bill Snyder at K-State in football. Baylor probably immediately goes back to being garbage after Drew leaves.
 
All things considered, Bryce Drew is the best coaching hire in college basketball. Roy Williams was great and did a great job at North Carolina, but it was North Carolina. They could have hired a bunch of other guys that while not doing as well as Roy, still would have won a lot of games there.

Bryce Drew made Baylor one of the elite programs in college basketball at a place that was a total dumpster fire and hadn't been that good in 65 years. Not only could no other coach they hired done what he has done, but almost guaranteed had they hired someone else, they would have completely bombed.

Jay Wright has done a great job, but again, Villanova is an elite basketball school. While he was a great hire, other coaches could have found success there too albeit not as much. Steve Lappas won a bunch of games there. Brad Stevens did an incredible job taking Butler to back to back final fours, but again Butler albeit a mid-major has a lot of basketball success. He was inheriting a team fresh off a Sweet Sixteen birth. To me, Bryce Drew has accomplished the most relative to where he was. He reminds me of Bill Snyder at K-State in football. Baylor probably immediately goes back to being garbage after Drew leaves.
This potato mixes up white brothers like it’s nothing. Must be racist.
 
No Mike White on this list who was hired in the 2015-16 season after a 4-year stint at Louisiana Tech?

After following a college basketball legend in Billy Donovan, Mike White who is still learning on the job (or not learning a lot according to some fans) has taken Florida to 4-straight NCAA Tournaments. It would have been 5-straight NCAA Tourneys if not for the cancellation of the 2020 season.

Last season, Florida had a loaded line-up of Andrew Nembhard (now at Gonzaga), Keyontae Johnson (pre-season 2021 SEC poy), Kerry Blackshear (pre-season 2020 SEC poy), Noah Locke (now at Louisville), Omar Payne (now at Illinois) and two reserve Micky D's (both declared for the NBA) in Scotty Lewis & Tre Mann. There was no telling what that group would have done in the 2020 NCAAs.

In 4-straight trips, the Gators have advanced to at least the Round32 including the 2017 Elite8. We Gator fans think it could have been better but it is what it is. White has a modest but successful 6-4 NCAA record and recruits relatively well without the shadiness associated with high school/AAU-recruiting. White has been very successful with the graduate transfers and the transfer portal.
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White has done better than many other coaches on this list who were hired around the same time period:
- Archie Miller who was also considered for the Florida job could not bring Indiana back to the NCAA Tournament in his last four seasons there which is surprising.
- Shaka Smart who did take Texas to three NCAA Tourneys in six seasons but could not get the Longhorns to win one game in the NCAA Tourney has left for the Marquette job (probably before he could be fired)
-Chris Mack had done very well at Xavier but in his new job at Louisville, Mack has taken the Cardinals to only one NCAA tournament in three seasons. I'm sure that his team will bounce back next season.
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Now in the SEC, many programs have hired veteran coaches and some up & coming ones, too. A lot of them are on this top 50 list but no Mike White here. Mike White has done better in the NCAA Tournament on average than many of them (see below).

In the SEC, White's Florida teams best finishes would be 2nd once, 3rd once, 5th twice, 8th twice. This is where White has struggled the most at Florida which is in the conference season - often losing to teams with lesser or equal records. White has failed to win an SEC conference title.

- Eric Musselman in his 2nd year at Arkansas had a similar result to Mike White's 2017 Florida team which is a 2nd place SEC finish and an E8 NCAA trip. In the 2021 season in the elite8, the razorbacks would lose to the eventual national champions, the Baylor Bears! https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/arkansas/

- Bruce Pearl: Took Auburn to a school first 2019 Final Four but are now in some NCAA hot water. In seven seasons at Auburn, Pearl (5-2 at AU) took the Tigers to only two NCAA tourneys compared to White's 4-straight NCAA trips. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/auburn/

- Ben Howland: Has only one NCAA trip (one & done) in the last six seasons compare to White's 4/5 straight NCAA trips. The Mississippi St job can be a difficult one to turn around.

- Rick Barnes: Took Tennessee to three NCAAS in six seasons. Barnes best finish was a SW16 in 2019. (3-3 NCAA record at Tenn). Tennessee did win the 2019 SEC regular season title.

- Frank Martin: Has only one NCAA trip at South Carolina in nine seasons which was the Gamecock's first and only Final4 (2017). https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/south-carolina/

- Nate Oats: In his second season at Alabama, he has completely turned the Tide around who had won both the regular and conference tourney SEC titles. In the 2021 season, Alabama made it to the SW16 before losing to 11th seed UCLA. Oats has a highly regarded recruiting class to re-load for the Tide.

Of all the SEC coaches in the similar time frame (2015/16 to 2020/21) that White coached in the SEC, only Kentucky's John Calipari has a better NCAA record (two E8's, 1 SW16, 1 RD32 equals 9-4) than what White (one E8, three RD32 equals 6-4) had done at Florida.
 
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What a great addition to the discussion. I'd call you stupid, but that is already a given based on your post.

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Archie hired by Dayton. Shaka hired by VCU. Howland went to multiple Final 4s at UCLA. All of this is stated in the article. Learn to fvcking read.

(See my post above)

At their next school (i.e, Indiana, Texas, Miss St), those same coaches have really struggled to turn those programs around. Can Archie Miller and Shaka Smart (Marquette) bounce back in their third non-P5 stop?

I still believe that what Ben Howland achieved at UCLA has been stellar. The Miss St program has been down for a very long time.
 
(See my post above)

At their next school (i.e, Indiana, Texas, Miss St), those same coaches have really struggled to turn those programs around. Can Archie Miller and Shaka Smart (Marquette) bounce back in their third non-P5 stop?

I still believe that what Ben Howland achieved at UCLA has been stellar. The Miss St program has been down for a very long time.
It doesn't matter what they did at their next stop. Its about that hire for that school. Christ.
 
All things considered, Bryce Drew is the best coaching hire in college basketball. Roy Williams was great and did a great job at North Carolina, but it was North Carolina. They could have hired a bunch of other guys that while not doing as well as Roy, still would have won a lot of games there.

Bryce Drew made Baylor one of the elite programs in college basketball at a place that was a total dumpster fire and hadn't been that good in 65 years. Not only could no other coach they hired done what he has done, but almost guaranteed had they hired someone else, they would have completely bombed.

Jay Wright has done a great job, but again, Villanova is an elite basketball school. While he was a great hire, other coaches could have found success there too albeit not as much. Steve Lappas won a bunch of games there. Brad Stevens did an incredible job taking Butler to back to back final fours, but again Butler albeit a mid-major has a lot of basketball success. He was inheriting a team fresh off a Sweet Sixteen birth. To me, Bryce Drew has accomplished the most relative to where he was. He reminds me of Bill Snyder at K-State in football. Baylor probably immediately goes back to being garbage after Drew leaves.
Agreed. Hard to argue.
 
Interesting they didn't mention Huggins taking WVU to a Final Four and also

Beilein's hire at WVU might be more impressive than at Michigan. He took over a WVU team that was facing sanctions, had a coach in Dakich who backed out and 1 tournament appearance in the last 6 years. In his 3rd season he lead WVU to a Big East Championship game and Elite Eight upsetting #2 Wake Forest lead by Chris Paul and was a few plays from beating Pitino and Louisville to reach the Final Four.

IMO his coaching job at WVU was masterful and the main reason Huggins reached a Final Four.

Beilein is a better coach too. Though Huggins is a definite Hall of Famer.
 
Archie hired by Dayton. Shaka hired by VCU. Howland went to multiple Final 4s at UCLA. All of this is stated in the article. Learn to fvcking read.

I read it. Those coaches suck. It’s a bad list.
 
All things considered, Bryce Drew is the best coaching hire in college basketball. Roy Williams was great and did a great job at North Carolina, but it was North Carolina. They could have hired a bunch of other guys that while not doing as well as Roy, still would have won a lot of games there.

Bryce Drew made Baylor one of the elite programs in college basketball at a place that was a total dumpster fire and hadn't been that good in 65 years. Not only could no other coach they hired done what he has done, but almost guaranteed had they hired someone else, they would have completely bombed.

Jay Wright has done a great job, but again, Villanova is an elite basketball school. While he was a great hire, other coaches could have found success there too albeit not as much. Steve Lappas won a bunch of games there. Brad Stevens did an incredible job taking Butler to back to back final fours, but again Butler albeit a mid-major has a lot of basketball success. He was inheriting a team fresh off a Sweet Sixteen birth. To me, Bryce Drew has accomplished the most relative to where he was. He reminds me of Bill Snyder at K-State in football. Baylor probably immediately goes back to being garbage after Drew leaves.
Drew cheats though so f*** him. Zero credit.
 
Hoiberg should probably be a little higher considering he resurrected Iowa State and had them consistently competing with the top teams in the Big 12, so much so that he even left Steve Prohm with a solid stable to feed off of for a few years until those players were gone.
 
All things considered, Bryce Drew is the best coaching hire in college basketball. Roy Williams was great and did a great job at North Carolina, but it was North Carolina. They could have hired a bunch of other guys that while not doing as well as Roy, still would have won a lot of games there.

Bryce Drew made Baylor one of the elite programs in college basketball at a place that was a total dumpster fire and hadn't been that good in 65 years. Not only could no other coach they hired done what he has done, but almost guaranteed had they hired someone else, they would have completely bombed.

Jay Wright has done a great job, but again, Villanova is an elite basketball school. While he was a great hire, other coaches could have found success there too albeit not as much. Steve Lappas won a bunch of games there. Brad Stevens did an incredible job taking Butler to back to back final fours, but again Butler albeit a mid-major has a lot of basketball success. He was inheriting a team fresh off a Sweet Sixteen birth. To me, Bryce Drew has accomplished the most relative to where he was. He reminds me of Bill Snyder at K-State in football. Baylor probably immediately goes back to being garbage after Drew leaves.

Scott
 
Interesting they didn't mention Huggins taking WVU to a Final Four and also

Beilein's hire at WVU might be more impressive than at Michigan. He took over a WVU team that was facing sanctions, had a coach in Dakich who backed out and 1 tournament appearance in the last 6 years. In his 3rd season he lead WVU to a Big East Championship game and Elite Eight upsetting #2 Wake Forest lead by Chris Paul and was a few plays from beating Pitino and Louisville to reach the Final Four.

IMO his coaching job at WVU was masterful and the main reason Huggins reached a Final Four.

Beilein is a better coach too. Though Huggins is a definite Hall of Famer.

Beilein made WVU brand what it is today.

He killed it at Michigan also. Two national runner ups.
 
Drew is dirty asf...can’t put him over dudes like Bennet and Wright...sorry, but I just can’t
 
Interesting they didn't mention Huggins taking WVU to a Final Four and also

Beilein's hire at WVU might be more impressive than at Michigan. He took over a WVU team that was facing sanctions, had a coach in Dakich who backed out and 1 tournament appearance in the last 6 years. In his 3rd season he lead WVU to a Big East Championship game and Elite Eight upsetting #2 Wake Forest lead by Chris Paul and was a few plays from beating Pitino and Louisville to reach the Final Four.

IMO his coaching job at WVU was masterful and the main reason Huggins reached a Final Four.

Beilein is a better coach too. Though Huggins is a definite Hall of Famer.

Beilein took over a program that hadn't made the tournament in 9 seasons and played for two national titles at Michigan.

beilein-michigan.jpg
 
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