National Coach of the Year | The Boneyard

National Coach of the Year

bballnut90

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Who ya got?

My top picks would be Brenda Frese, Gary Blair, Kim Barnes-Arico, Jose Fernandez, and Wes Moore. Blair would be my choice today, no one expected A&M to be doing so well.

Also HM to Geno and Tara for breaking Pat's record and having great seasons too.
 

DefenseBB

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Wow, I can't believe I am about to say this but, "Yes, I agree 100% with @bballnut90". Now I will call my doctor to see what medication he can prescribe me for apparently losing my mind... :)
 
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To me it's a toss up between Brenda Frese and Gary Blair.

Blair: 4 out of top 6 players are transfers and only one defeat.
Frese 4 out of top 7 players are transfers and two defeats. (plus lost their top player for over 80% of the season)

Texas A&M have defeated more quality teams. If they can defeat South Carolina this weekend or win the SEC, he should win.
 
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This year, I think coach of the year selection should happen after the NCAA Tournament.
 
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I'd throw Kevin McGuff in. Hard for players to be motivated in a Covid year when your school pulls the rug out from you and decides you won't be in the postseason. Until the past week, they were playing at a very high level and were possibly the top team in the BiG.

But yeah i think it's Gary Blair.
 
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My vote would be for Geno. How many of these Coach of the Year awards has he received? And this may be the weakest team he has ever coached into a #1 ranking in his career. Certainly the most inexperienced - 7 freshmen, 2 Sophmores(one out injured), one gimpy redshirt transfer junior, one scared spitless at times and overconfident at other times junior and one too often too shy to mix it up junior and no(zip, zero, nada) seniors! That’s a pretty rag-tag bunch to have pulled into a #1 ranking in just a little over a dozen games.

If I had ten votes, they would all go to Geno and his staff.

And before anybody(or everybody!} jumps on me regarding my comments about the Juniors, let me say I believe they are the hardest working and most loyal juniors in wcbb. E is an absolutely fabulous “team Mother” and has made huge contributions of rebounds, assists, steals and points all season. Christyn is working hard to get past the obstacles in her road and now seems to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And Olivia is getting stronger and tuffer(thank you Tony} and more aggressive by the game.
 

DefenseBB

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I'd throw Kevin McGuff in. Hard for players to be motivated in a Covid year when your school pulls the rug out from you and decides you won't be in the postseason. Until the past week, they were playing at a very high level and were possibly the top team in the BiG.

But yeah i think it's Gary Blair.
Wait what? I thought this “self-imposed” ban was due to Kevin not properly managing one of his assistant coaches over inappropriate texts the assistant sent. The program should be held accountable ie Kevin McGuff so I am not other empathetic for these players who chose tOSU.
I guess kudos to them for playing instead of using Covid as an excuse but make no mistake this was very much McGuff’s own fault.
 
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Wait what? I thought this “self-imposed” ban was due to Kevin not properly managing one of his assistant coaches over inappropriate texts the assistant sent. The program should be held accountable ie Kevin McGuff so I am not other empathetic for these players who chose tOSU.
I guess kudos to them for playing instead of using Covid as an excuse but make no mistake this was very much McGuff’s own fault.
Ah ok hadnt paid attention to the details!
 

HuskyNan

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To me it's a toss up between Brenda Frese and Gary Blair.

Blair: 4 out of top 6 players are transfers and only one defeat.
Frese 4 out of top 7 players are transfers and two defeats. (plus lost their top player for over 80% of the season)

Texas A&M have defeated more quality teams. If they can defeat South Carolina this weekend or win the SEC, he should win.
Let’s see - Good guy Gary Blair or Brenda “What recruiting rules?“ Frese...hmmm, let me think...
 

Bigboote

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To me it's a toss up between Brenda Frese and Gary Blair.

Blair: 4 out of top 6 players are transfers and only one defeat.
Frese 4 out of top 7 players are transfers and two defeats. (plus lost their top player for over 80% of the season)

Texas A&M have defeated more quality teams. If they can defeat South Carolina this weekend or win the SEC, he should win.
Well, if you include transfers (who by definition have played college basketball) - - Geno Auriemma, 55% of minutes played by freshmen and transfers and only one defeat.

I'd probably go with Blair, possibly Jose Fernandez or Geno.
 
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Let’s see - Good guy Gary Blair or Brenda “What recruiting rules?“ Frese...hmmm, let me think...
So in your mind, the selection of coach of the year comes down to how you think a coach recruits. I wonder if the selection committee is taking into consideration how a coach recruits in order to determine how they coached during the year.
 
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Well, if you include transfers (who by definition have played college basketball) - - Geno Auriemma, 55% of minutes played by freshmen and transfers and only one defeat.

I'd probably go with Blair, possibly Jose Fernandez or Geno.
Maryland lost 73% of its scoring, 67% of its rebounding, and its entire starting five from a 1-seed team. Then it lost a potential All-American (Angel Reese) in early December. Then its top reserve (guard Channise Lewis) tore her ACL in mid-January.

With three sophomores (Ashley Owusu, Diamond Miller, and Mimi Collins), a 7.5 PPG scorer last year (Chloe Bibby) and an undersized Ivy League transfer (Katie Benzan), Maryland will likely finish the season as at least a 2-seed team.

With all due respect to Jose Fernandez, not having Frese as top three is crazy.
 
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For the sake of comparison, A&M lost 45% of its scoring and 30% of its rebounding.
 
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The top 3 right now are:

Brenda Frese
Gary Blair
Tara VanDerveer

**Brenda-replaced all 5 starters and her freshman stud, should still win the B1G, and the team is good.

**If A&M wins the SEC, he should win it.

**Stanford played for 9 weeks on the road and still won the Pac-12.
 
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Dillon77

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Can't argue with most of the suggestions made. I'll add/comment a few coaches who I've made a note of.

B1G
  • Teri Moren of Indiana U because she always seems to do a bit more with seemingly a little less, or at least a little unknown. She lost upperclassmen guards Bendu Yeaney (to Arizona) and Jaelynn Penn before and during the season, respectively, and meshed in George Mason guard transfer Nicole Cardano-Hillary, the 5'6" spitfire from Madrid. But really, Ali Patberg is the only name most people knew and she/her staff have recruited and developed two absolute gems in forward MacKenzie Holmes and guard Grace Berger.
  • Others: Kim Barnes-Arrico of Michigan, Kevin McGuff of Ohio State, C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers. Arrico relies on Naz Hillmon, Amy Dilk and Kayleigh Brown a bunch while OSU gets contributions from different people every game. Don't look now, but Rutgers has won six straight.

ACC
  • Wes Moore, NC State. Man, that team is smooth and does not ruffle easily. Cool Hand West. Having that center helps a bit, too.
  • I like what Nell Fortner has done, by and large, at Ga. Tech. But that loss to BC (neither team got out of the 40's) was not pretty. She runs a good sideline in the games I've watched.

SEC
- Joni Taylor, Georgia. 17-4. Uber competitive coach which translates to her team. Go Jen Stati (another person who spent a year in College Park)! And she's got two McDonald's All Americans coming in 2021.

Big East
  • Geno, UConn. Remember when a large amount of people were understandably upset when Aliyah Boston went to S. Carolina? What impresses me most about Geno this year is what he's done since then getting players: eating cafeteria food in Minnesota; finding some gems in Europe and Canada. Yes, I know he and CD will mesh it better than most but it's the return to scouring the earth that impressed me.
  • Megan Duffy, Marquette. The opposite here. When Carolyn Kieger left Marquette (for Penn State), so did five starters and virtually all the scoring. What happened next? A 20-win season. This year, 17 wins and counting. The woman can coach what she has into an effective team. Here and previously at Miami of Ohio.

Pac-12
- Tara, Stanford. Time to appreciate fine wine, particularly when it's not at home for most of the season.
Nice mid-season adjustment getting Brink into the starting lineup and letting Belibi loose from the bench.

Other
- Would like to see FGCU in the NCAA's before making final pronouncement on Karl Smesko this year. Not enough sample size outside of conference. Ditto Aaron Johnson of South Dakota State.
 

bbsamjj

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Great list Dillon. I will say I have great respect for Coach Moren (I could have easily seen Indiana in the Sweet 16 last year), though pushing back a bit on the idea that her roster is made up solely of under the radar gems.
  • Grace Berger was rated as a five-star recruit by ESPN at No. 46 overall in the 2018 class … also ranked No. 43 overall by Dan Olson, No. 70 overall by All-Star Girls Report, No. 76 overall by ProspectsNation.com and No. 79 overall by Preferred Athlete Scouting Service
  • MacKenzie Holmes was rated as a five-star prospect and the No. 53 recruit by ESPN Hoopgurlz, … played AAU with the Maine Firecrackers.
  • Jaelynn Penn (who has you mentioned is now out) ranked No. 48 overall by Prospects Nation, No. 23 by the All-Star Girls Report and No. 41 by Dan Olson Collegiate Girls Basketball Report … the second-highest rated recruit amongst the Big Ten entering 2017-18.
  • Gulbe has been a star for the Latvia national team
  • While a transfer, Nicole Cardano-Hillary is a former A10 player of the year
In short, Coach Moren has recruited well AND developed her players well. But she has real talent on that roster.

And while I know this is a UConn board, and the team is young, I laughing a little bit at any notion that this year' team is a rag-tag group of players. Four of your five starters were ranked in the top 5 nationally coming out of HS--two of them were ranked #1. Paige is looking more and more like a once in a generation type of player. And there are additional McDonalds All Americans on the bench. Geno has done a very nice job, but he's not exactly working with tier 2 players, even for UConn.
 
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Preseason: MD - #12 (395 votes) USF - unranked (1 vote)

Today: MD - #8 (539) (+144) USF - #13 (398) (+397)

I'm biased because I always liked USF's style of play and think they got ignored because a) they couldn't beat UConn and b) their roster doesn't come from HS/AAU play.
 

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