Ranking the Big East Coaches

[nelsonmuntz]

Nearing the end of UConn's first Big East season in 8 years, my take on the Big East coaches:


Best of the best:

1) Jay Wright, Villanova - he has 2 more rings than the rest of them combined.


Very good:

2) Greg McDermott, Creighton - at least he was #2 until he started making offensive comments in his post-game pep talks. We will see what happens.

3) Mike Anderson, St. Johns - He is good, and will build this program quickly. NYC should be a lot easier to recruit to than Arkansas. Too bad St. Johns couldn't have gotten him 10 years ago.

4) Hurley, UConn - Team plays hard and he is doing well on recruiting trail. He has one of the more talented teams in the country this year. Time to deliver.

5) Kevin Willard, Seton Hall - I would have liked to see last year's team in the tournament, because I think they could play with anyone. He has turned Seton Hall into a perennial tournament team, but he has not been able to make the next step.

6) Ed Cooley, Providence - I like Cooley, but he has got to recruit better. On the other hand, Providence is a tough place to win and this may simply be as good as PC can get.

Unproven:

7) Patrick Ewing, Georgetown - clearly knows his X's and O's, and the players play hard for him. He has to deliver on the recruiting trail.

8) Lavall Jordan, Butler - solid game coach and they play hard for him, but the talent is pretty thin for a coach in his 4th year at a program.


Not working out:

9) Travis Steele, Xavier - small time. This is the second team in 3 years at Xavier that should have been a lock for the tournament and will not make it. Steele is an assistant pretending to be Head Coach.

10) David Leitao, Depaul - likely getting fired whenever his BET run ends, and it is hard to argue with results. He has been there 6 years and his best season is 7-11 in the Big East. Depaul has struggled since the late 80's, but Chicago is an incredible recruiting territory and there is no excuse for Depaul to be this bad. And honestly, watching Depaul play a few times this season, the talent is OK. He has .500 caliber players on a 4-13 team. They just play sloppy.

11) Wojo, Marquette - Can recruit and is a competitor, but he is in over his head running a big time program. 2 NCAA appearances in 7 years, and the team quit on him today. Marquette needs to find a big time coach.

 

[crazyUCfan23]

Was Mike Andersen fired at Arkansas or did he leave for the St Johns job?

 

[HooperScooper]

Was Mike Andersen fired at Arkansas or did he leave for the St Johns job?

Arkansas fires Mike Anderson after eight-year tenure

Arkansas fires men's basketball coach Mike Anderson after Razorbacks cap 18-16 season with NIT loss

www.usatoday.com

 

[crazyUCfan23]

Arkansas fires Mike Anderson after eight-year tenure

Arkansas fires men's basketball coach Mike Anderson after Razorbacks cap 18-16 season with NIT loss

www.usatoday.com

Interesting. In my opinion, he appears to have done pretty well at Arkansas, not sure what more they can really expect. Glad he's part of the Big East now.

 

[superjohn]

Was Mike Andersen fired at Arkansas or did he leave for the St Johns job?

Fired, interesting stat on Anderson is that he's 1 of 4 active coaches who has coached at least 15 seasons and never had a losing season. Boeheim, Izzo, and Few are the three others. Anderson is not a cultural fit for the Johnnie's in terms of recruiting the region and being a Southern guy but for once the Johnnie's did the smart thing and hired the best coach available.

 

[auror]

I like Cooley better than Willard. He's usually doing some fun things like junk D, the press against us, or tonight benching the squad and playing a walk-on to motivate. The tight flex stuff he runs isn't en vogue, but it works.

This team is just a bit in trouble because Duke and Reeves aren't as good as most thought they'd be and they have no bench (I guess that's on him). But Willard hasn't done much at all when he didn't have Myles Powell.

And Hurley > Anderson. Hurley is going to kill everyone but Wright in recruiting and that counts a lot.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Arkansas fires Mike Anderson after eight-year tenure

Arkansas fires men's basketball coach Mike Anderson after Razorbacks cap 18-16 season with NIT loss

www.usatoday.com

Arkansas has made 6 NCAA tournaments since 2000. There is no natural recruiting region, and the program history is really Nolan Richardson's history, not Arkansas.

Richardson and Tarkanian took advantage of the ridiculous enforcement around Prop 48, which funneled a lot of top players into JUCO's, where UNLV and Arkansas could scoop them up. By the late 90's, the top players were getting better support in high school and the top colleges had caught on to what Richardson and Tarkanian were doing, creating more competition for the JUCO's.

Richardson's success at Arkansas is a historical anomaly. It is probably the toughest job in the SEC. St. Johns is a much better platform. Even a moron like Steve Lavin was moderately successful at St. Johns.

 

[ZenConn]

Mike Anderson coached under Nolan Richardson and always loved how their teams played.

40 minutes of hell with Scottie Thurman, Corliss Williamson and co. beat Dook in the national championship game. Just for that, they get a nod in my book.

 

[crazyUCfan23]

Fired, interesting stat on Anderson is that he's 1 of 4 active coaches who has coached at least 15 seasons and never had a losing season. Boeheim, Izzo, and Few are the three others. Anderson is not a cultural fit for the Johnnie's in terms of recruiting the region and being a Southern guy but for once the Johnnie's did the smart thing and hired the best coach available.

I saw that. Seems to me Arkansas had rather unrealistic expectations. He already has St. Johns trending in the right direction. It would be awesome for the Big East if St. Johns and Georgetown could return to form.

 

[bendm]

leitao and woj have top 25 recruiting classes coming in so theyve both got 1 more year to do something, at least

 

[nelsonmuntz]

leitao and woj have top 25 recruiting classes coming in so theyve both got 1 more year to do something, at least

Marquette has to cut its losses with Woj. He has been bringing in good recruiting classes since he arrived, and look at them.

I want Leitao to succeed, but I believe he has no buyout and there is a new AD at Depaul. That is a bad combination for a coach with his record.

 

[Hoophound]

I love Anderson and SJU, but he is no Hurley. He can’t recruit like Dan can. I’d say it is Wright (for now), McDermott, Hurley, Anderson, Cooley/Willard....then the rest.

Cooley is safe at PC, but he’s a bit overrated. Willard needs the right players but he can coach if he has the talent.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Is the argument for Anderson experience? Cause Hurley has out recruited and now finished higher in the big east than him.

 

[uconngb]

Cooley just dropped to the bottom after that abomination

 

[UConn Esq]

I put Hurley and Willard ahead of Anderson

 

[auror]

People talk about teams quitting on coaches. I think tonight was the first time I ever saw a coach quit on a team (Cooley). I kinda respect it. He clearly hated this team.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

People talk about teams quitting on coaches. I think tonight was the first time I ever saw a coach quit on a team (Cooley). I kinda respect it. He clearly hated this team.

You respect it? A team he put together and he coached.... if a player had walked off the court before the buzzer they’d be eviscerated here and for a full-grown adult coach to do it is way worse to me. Lost a lot of respect for him because of that.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Is the argument for Anderson experience? Cause Hurley has out recruited and now finished higher in the big east than him.

It was a while ago, but Anderson has an Elite 8 and a Sweet 16, in addition to winning a major conference title.

I know a lot of people think what some nerd on the internet says about a 17 year old is the final word on a coach's value, but I think wins and losses are more important.

 

[auror]

You respect it? A team he put together and he coached.... if a player had walked off the court before the buzzer they’d be eviscerated here and for a full-grown adult coach to do it is way worse to me. Lost a lot of respect for him because of that.

I was having a bit of fun, but I do think that a coach can only do so much sometimes. Ask a teacher how often they've fantasized about just walking out of the classroom and heading to the teacher's lounge on a particularly tough June day. They might call him a hero.

I'm sure Leitao understands that feeling.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I was having a bit of fun, but I do think that a coach can only do so much sometimes. Ask a teacher how often they've fantasized about just walking out of the classroom and heading to the teacher's lounge on a particularly tough June day. They might call him a hero.

I'm sure Leitao understands that feeling.

I know what you mean. Some teams just piss off coaches. I get the sense that this PC team was that way with Cooley.

 

[VCE]

Nearing the end of UConn's first Big East season in 8 years, my take on the Big East coaches:


Best of the best:

1) Jay Wright, Villanova - he has 2 more rings than the rest of them combined.


Very good:

2) Greg McDermott, Creighton - at least he was #2 until he started making offensive comments in his post-game pep talks. We will see what happens.

3) Mike Anderson, St. Johns - He is good, and will build this program quickly. NYC should be a lot easier to recruit to than Arkansas. Too bad St. Johns couldn't have gotten him 10 years ago.

4) Hurley, UConn - Team plays hard and he is doing well on recruiting trail. He has one of the more talented teams in the country this year. Time to deliver.

5) Kevin Willard, Seton Hall - I would have liked to see last year's team in the tournament, because I think they could play with anyone. He has turned Seton Hall into a perennial tournament team, but he has not been able to make the next step.

6) Ed Cooley, Providence - I like Cooley, but he has got to recruit better. On the other hand, Providence is a tough place to win and this may simply be as good as PC can get.

Unproven:

7) Patrick Ewing, Georgetown - clearly knows his X's and O's, and the players play hard for him. He has to deliver on the recruiting trail.

8) Lavall Jordan, Butler - solid game coach and they play hard for him, but the talent is pretty thin for a coach in his 4th year at a program.


Not working out:

9) Travis Steele, Xavier - small time. This is the second team in 3 years at Xavier that should have been a lock for the tournament and will not make it. Steele is an assistant pretending to be Head Coach.

10) David Leitao, Depaul - likely getting fired whenever his BET run ends, and it is hard to argue with results. He has been there 6 years and his best season is 7-11 in the Big East. Depaul has struggled since the late 80's, but Chicago is an incredible recruiting territory and there is no excuse for Depaul to be this bad. And honestly, watching Depaul play a few times this season, the talent is OK. He has .500 caliber players on a 4-13 team. They just play sloppy.

11) Wojo, Marquette - Can recruit and is a competitor, but he is in over his head running a big time program. 2 NCAA appearances in 7 years, and the team quit on him today. Marquette needs to find a big time coach.

Ewing’s issue isn’t on the recruiting front. It’s roster management and team cohesion with a lot of knowing the team’s strengths when it comes to playing style. Taking three centers in a single class, losing half of last year’s roster to transfer losing 15 point leads, inbounds plays.

Our man D often looks like zone or pack line with how often we leave shooters open.

I will agree that he’s unproven at best, but I doubt you’d find many Ewing detractors (I am one) who would cite recruiting acumen.

 

[TheChamps990411]

St. Johns and Gtown are coming and i love it. Gtown has a good recruiting class coming in that includes a 5* guard and Dikembe Mutombos son a 4* with serious upside. Theyve got that frosh PG Harris whos really starting to come on after a tough start and Wahab in the middle is a load. I see them improving next year but `23 they could really make some noise.
St. Johns has a very good coach and the only question will be can he recruit NY. If he does SJs is going to fun to watch with his version of 40 minutes of he`ll

 

[metsfan2323]

Cooley needs to be dropped to a new column call "Ho-Hum".

Cooley has 1 tournament victory in 10 seasons at Providence, Danny Hurley had 2 tournament victories in 6 season at URI.

 

[willie99]

Hurley has one of the most talented teams in the country? I'm going to suggest a lot of people might disagree with that statement

Time to deliver? His third year? And his second year was stopped short just as his team was jelling

I like our team, I like the job Hurley is doing, I'm looking forward to this post season

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Ewing’s issue isn’t on the recruiting front. It’s roster management and team cohesion with a lot of knowing the team’s strengths when it comes to playing style. Taking three centers in a single class, losing half of last year’s roster to transfer losing 15 point leads, inbounds plays.

Our man D often looks like zone or pack line with how often we leave shooters open.

I will agree that he’s unproven at best, but I doubt you’d find many Ewing detractors (I am one) who would cite recruiting acumen.

I agree. Roster management is a better way to describe Ewing's weakness.