Poll: Best Coaching Coach (not named Geno):

[Shmermerer]

Vic Schaefer built back to back runner up teams with very few highly rated recruits. Scott Rueck built a F4 team with zero highly touted recruits. There's 2.

Doug Bruno has never made it beyond the Sweet 16 and has only made it 5x in 30 years. I cant recall his team ever pulling a big upset or being in the hunt for a Final Four. He is a good coach but doesnt belong on this list.

Also we beat Louisville in the NCAA tournament in 2016 and Duke in 2014. I would call those big games.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Brown, Siegner, McWilliams, Weisner, and Wiese.

2015-16 Women's Basketball Roster - Oregon State University Athletics

The official 2015-16 Women's Basketball Roster for the Oregon State Beavers

osubeavers.com

Thanks, I was forgetting McWilliams. Still, not all top 100 recruits are equal. That was not a collection of blue chippers. It was fairly stunning when that group won 3 straight Pac 12 titles when you look at the way Stanford and the LA schools recruit. And getting to the Final 4 was seriously overachieving. So they had 5 top 100, how many top 25/McD AA players were on the Baylor team they beat? I bet a whole lot more than 5.

Also, only 2 of those 5 were starters FWIW.

 

[Shmermerer]

Thanks, I was forgetting McWilliams. Still, not all top 100 recruits are equal. That was not a collection of blue chippers. It was fairly stunning when that group won 3 straight Pac 12 titles when you look at the way Stanford and the LA schools recruit. And getting to the Final 4 was seriously overachieving. So they had 5 top 100, how many top 25/McD AA players were on the Baylor team they beat? I bet a whole lot more than 5.

Also, only 2 of those 5 were starters FWIW.

I’m not taking away anything that he did. He did and still continues to do an incredible job. What I stated was facts though. And I don’t care what Baylor did with their all Americans. Someone was saying Doug didn’t deserve to be on the list and they brought up MSU and OSU and I came with facts. Sooooo I believe I’m right. Lol.

 

[triaddukefan]

Muffet, Tara, and Dawn are the only coaches I can think of that Vic has a losing record to, so I'll say one of them.

He has a losing record to Coach JP McCallie as well

 

[SimpleDawg]

He has a losing record to Coach JP McCallie as well

Yeah, I was gonna edit that. That's right.

 

[nwhoopfan]

He has a losing record to Coach JP McCallie as well

So you're saying she should also be in this poll?

 

[bballnut90]

OSU has 5 top 100 ranked recruits on that team.

MSU has 6 top 100 ranked recruits that year I think they both did amazing jobs and are amazing coaches. I’m saying Bruno has done more with less talent and well I just showed that. Lol.

Like I said DePaul has 1 who was I think Kelly Campbell. By the way she has the best assist to turnover ratio in the country at the moment.

Well, Bruno hasnt sniffed a final four so he hasnt done more with less. He's done less with less.

Neither MSU nor OSU had any top 20 kids on their F4 squads while most Final Four squads have rosters littered with top recruits. I stand by what I said, Doug Bruno has no business being on this list.

 

[bballnut90]

Also we beat Louisville in the NCAA tournament in 2016 and Duke in 2014. I would call those big games.

DePaul had 4 top 100 recruits play in the Louisville game and 3 in the Duke game. By your logic, being a Cinderella Sweet 16 team with 4 top 100 recruits is doing more with less making a Final Four with 5 top 100 recruits. Gimme a break.

 

[bballnut90]

I’m not taking away anything that he did. He did and still continues to do an incredible job. What I stated was facts though. And I don’t care what Baylor did with their all Americans. Someone was saying Doug didn’t deserve to be on the list and they brought up MSU and OSU and I came with facts. Sooooo I believe I’m right. Lol.

He doesnt deserve to be on a list of 5 coaches in contention for best coaching coach. If you want facts, his program has:
-never been in contention for a Final Four or title
-never advanced beyond the Sweet 16, nor have they ever been favored to
-he hasnt had any players he's developed into standout pros or high draft picks
-he's never even pulled an upset over a top 5 team as far as I know
-he's never been ranked in the top 5


Every other coach I've listed has accomplished this and has developed players who were not highly touted to become standout collegiate players or pros. That's top coaching.

Doug is a good coach and steadily makes DePaul a top program in a mid major year in and year out, but he has proven far less in these areas than all of the other coaches listed on here. He doesnt deserve to be on this list even if you cherry pick facts that barely support your claim.

 

[nwhoopfan]

-he hasnt had any players he's developed into standout pros or high draft picks

I think we have to give him credit for Allie Quigly.

 

[bballnut90]

I think we have to give him credit for Allie Quigly.

That's true. Although worth noting, Quigley while a very good player collegiately, wasnt pro-trade when she first entered the league. It took her 6+ years as a pro to develop her game to where she was a rotation player, and she has obviously flourished since then.

 

[DefenseBB]

I'm not a UCONN fan and he's not in the league of most coaches listed. Might as well throw Jen Rizzotti and Carla Berube on there if being associated with USA Basketball or friends with Geno gets you coaching points.

So don’t vote him.You have 6 other choices to go for or if your choice isn’t list, do a write up on why in your comments. Lighten up or move on to another thread.

 

[jonson]

He has a losing record to Coach JP McCallie as well

And Kelly Graves (at Oregon, anyway)>

 

[Figurehead]

Why is Doug Bruno on here? Especially over the likes of Kelly Graves, Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, Jeff Walz, Brenda Frese, etc?

Because it is like what the main stream media does in polling. Make the poll read the way you want it by intentionally leaving some off.

 

[LoTrader]

I wonder how Doug Bruno would do if he had the talent UCONN or ND seem to get year to year? Just a curiosity since this thread has turned into the Doug Bruno coaching thread

 

[mbr33ct]

This poll went over well.

 

[Bigboote]

I voted for Vic. He took his teams to the NCAA title game twice without a single McDonald’s all-American, and Victoria Vivians his only highly ranked recruit at #24 in hoopgurlz.

 

[triaddukefan]

So you're saying she should also be in this poll?

Willtalk has said that we Duke fans are too hard on our coach in these public forums.... so I will plead the 5th on that. I might go outside and gripe to my neighbors dog though.

 

[CL82]

Courtney Banghart is now the Head Coach at Univ. North Carolina. If she was still at Princeton, I'd be tempted to vote for her, but I'll wait until she gets more experience at a higher level. I voted for Tara.

She is a good coach and very personable and good with the players. I'm curious to see how she does at UNC as well.

 

[CL82]

God help me I ended up voting of Muffet. I don't particularly like her with the shots at Geno, not applauding for Stewie, etc., but she has very successful and has figured out to compete against UConn. I respect her coaching ability.

 

[DefenseBB]

I don't see Kim Mulkey. So I'm just moving along lol

Here's the issue with why from a "coach" perspective I chose not to put her in the top 7/8 that I listed:
With all the talent she accumulates, she has only made 1 Final Four (along with the 3 titles) despite the fact she's been a #1 seed six times plus she's been a #2 seed six times. That's 12 top 8 seeds and she's only made 4 Final Fours (33%). That's not elevating your coaching of your team.
My logic is overachieving your talent as a coach and she certainly has talent and in at least 4 years, had the success match the talent. In 8 other years, she underachieved. That said, yes she is a top coach (recruiting and coaching #3 or 4) and I really like and root for her (even despite her ignorance the Baylor football scandal). From a "coaching" only perspective, I just don't see it as top 10 per se'. Feel free to put her in as your write-in candidate.

 

[biobioprof]

Heck, I’m not sure I’d put our Gary Blair in the top 5 not Geno, but I think he is as deserving as some others being mentioned.

What about Walz? I confess to having a soft spot for coaches who contributed to early exits for Kim’s Baylor teams with Griner and Sims.

 

[DaBball]

OSU has 5 top 100 ranked recruits on that team.

MSU has 6 top 100 ranked recruits that year I think they both did amazing jobs and are amazing coaches. I’m saying Bruno has done more with less talent and well I just showed that. Lol.

Like I said DePaul has 1 who was I think Kelly Campbell. By the way she has the best assist to turnover ratio in the country at the moment.

DePaul has three: Kelly Campbell, Deja Church, and Dee Bekelja.

 

[bballnut90]

Here's the issue with why from a "coach" perspective I chose not to put her in the top 7/8 that I listed:
With all the talent she accumulates, she has only made 1 Final Four (along with the 3 titles) despite the fact she's been a #1 seed six times plus she's been a #2 seed six times. That's 12 top 8 seeds and she's only made 4 Final Fours (33%). That's not elevating your coaching of your team.
My logic is overachieving your talent as a coach and she certainly has talent and in at least 4 years, had the success match the talent. In 8 other years, she underachieved. That said, yes she is a top coach (recruiting and coaching #3 or 4) and I really like and root for her (even despite her ignorance the Baylor football scandal). From a "coaching" only perspective, I just don't see it as top 10 per se'. Feel free to put her in as your write-in candidate.

Worth noting, Kim won a title without a single HS AA on her 2005 team. Her teams have underachieved in the tournament for much of this decade, but theyve had darn good squads that she coached extremely well even if they come up short. Gotta get some points for always putting her team in a position as a favorite rather than being an underdog.

 

[domerduck]

I have always been impressed with Rueck and Schaeffer, but neither have won a championship. To me if it's not Geno (who also usually had the best players), I got to give it to Muffet or Kim, who have multiple championships this century. Tara is great and can put together a great game plan, which I've seen with recent big victories over Oregon, UConn, Baylor, and ND, but she doesn't seem to be able to get that second big game needed to win the NCAA tourney. at least thi century. Since you are not letting me vote for Kim, I will give it to Muffet. I'd probably still give it to her since she has the most wins against Geno at a time when very few coaches could beat him. Also what she did in 2018 with the injuries, so few players, & no 1st team All Americans, was incredible.

If her team can win tomorrow, I'd say she should get everybody's vote.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Big omission: Jeff Walz of Louisville. He has dealt with difficult players before, including the one player whom Coach Geno has admitted he wished he'd been able to coach: Angel McCoughtry. He also discovered and coached effectively Shoni Schimmel, who unfortunately was not coachable in the WNBA.

I think he's the best coaching coach in women's basketball not named Geno.

Big omission.

 

[domerduck]

Big omission: Jeff Walz of Louisville. He has dealt with difficult players before, including the one player whom Coach Geno has admitted he wished he'd been able to coach: Angel McCoughtry. He also discovered and coached effectively Shoni Schimmel, who unfortunately was not coachable in the WNBA.

I think he's the best coaching coach in women's basketball not named Geno.

Big omission.

I agree Walz is a very good coach, but putting him on the list won't get too many votes. He recruits better high school kids better than many pf these coaches, and has put together great game plans when he has lot's of time to beat teams like Baylor (with Greiner), UConn, ND, and Oregon on the 3rd game in 3 days. Still he has yet to win it all as his "coaching up" is not at the par of Muffet, Kim, Scott, Vic, and Wes or Geno for that matter (at least in my mind). I would say as a strategist and recruiter I see him similar to Tara, but she has at least won it all (in the 90's) and has been more consistent longer. Plus if you are not a fan of his team, he is definitely not that likeable (similar to Geno and Kim). They are uber competitive, but there are coaching antics I could do without. If I have to choose a coach who asn't won a NC, I'd take Scott or Vic anyday.

BTW I was surprised the original poster added Graves late in this survey after 53 votes had been already cast. I know this as a fact since I was #53 and Graves wasn't a choice when I voted. That was a little disinegenuous. He doesn't see him as a good recruiter or maybe a recent phenomenon with little data, just one good Sabrina class so he tried to add him late here to appear "objective & fair". Those who have watched Graves over the years would definitely question his in-game coaching, though I do think he coaches his players up since he finds several diamonds when he recruits and makes them much better (like Courtney Vandersloot & Ruthie Hebard). Don't complain too much because he might add Walz late and he won't get any votes, like Kelly is now.

 

[Mdoggie]

Brian Crichlow. Mt San Antonio College.

 

[Zanzman]

I agree Walz is a very good coach, but putting him on the list won't get too many votes. He recruits better high school kids better than many pf these coaches, and has put together great game plans when he has lot's of time to beat teams like Baylor (with Greiner), UConn, ND, and Oregon on the 3rd game in 3 days. Still he has yet to win it all as his "coaching up" is not at the par of Muffet, Kim, Scott, Vic, and Wes or Geno for that matter (at least in my mind). I would say as a strategist and recruiter I see him similar to Tara, but she has at least won it all (in the 90's) and has been more consistent longer. Plus if you are not a fan of his team, he is definitely not that likeable (similar to Geno and Kim). They are uber competitive, but there are coaching antics I could do without. If I have to choose a coach who asn't won a NC, I'd take Scott or Vic anyday.

BTW I was surprised the original poster added Graves late in this survey after 53 votes had been already cast. I know this as a fact since I was #53 and Graves wasn't a choice when I voted. That was a little disinegenuous. He doesn't see him as a good recruiter or maybe a recent phenomenon with little data, just one good Sabrina class so he tried to add him late here to appear "objective & fair". Those who have watched Graves over the years would definitely question his in-game coaching, though I do think he coaches his players up since he finds several diamonds when he recruits and makes them much better (like Courtney Vandersloot & Ruthie Hebard). Don't complain too much because he might add Walz late and he won't get any votes, like Kelly is now.

Nothing makes you happy does it blah blah blah

 

[Dwilliams02]

Here's the issue with why from a "coach" perspective I chose not to put her in the top 7/8 that I listed:
With all the talent she accumulates, she has only made 1 Final Four (along with the 3 titles) despite the fact she's been a #1 seed six times plus she's been a #2 seed six times. That's 12 top 8 seeds and she's only made 4 Final Fours (33%). That's not elevating your coaching of your team.
My logic is overachieving your talent as a coach and she certainly has talent and in at least 4 years, had the success match the talent. In 8 other years, she underachieved. That said, yes she is a top coach (recruiting and coaching #3 or 4) and I really like and root for her (even despite her ignorance the Baylor football scandal). From a "coaching" only perspective, I just don't see it as top 10 per se'. Feel free to put her in as your write-in candidate.

Good explanation. I respect it