Top Coach Rankings

[Cballman82]

Top Coach Rankings

Retirements and overturn in the NIL era has left Dan Hurley at the top of the sport. Here are my rankings, thoughts?

1. Dan Hurley — 3 title games in 4 years in this era. Arguably 3 titles if the refs did their jobs. I also think he’s the highest-IQ coach in the sport. Also two of the most dominant title runs in the modern era.
2. Rick Pitino — 2 titles recognized in this era, 3 additional Final Fours. The job he is doing at St. John’s in the NIL era is impressive. He has also won 4 of the last 5 vs. Hurley.
3. Tom Izzo — Final Four king, though not as great when he gets there, but solid success in the NIL era.
4. Bill Self — 2 titles, 2 more Final Fours, but has struggled in the NIL era.
5. Todd Golden — One title, followed by a 1 seed. Analytics genius. An at-large bid at San Francisco is no joke.
6. Mark Few — Extremely successful coach. Elite, even if you factor in that he has not missed a tournament. 2 title games AT GONZAGA. The last 4 years are not too shabby either: Elite Eight, Sweet 16, and two second rounds are not insignificant AT GONZAGA.
7. Dusty May — Title, 2 Final Fours, but in a list of coaches, as I’m writing this on the Boneyard, I’m not sure he’s earned the label of a better coach than the names above with the team and money spent on that team this year. He had the players, and sorry but not sorry, if he didn’t have this reffing crew, Hurley beats him.
8. Nate Oats — Thought about putting Oats at 5. At-large bid at Buffalo in 2019 with a 32-4 record, and obviously solid success at Alabama. If UConn wasn’t 2024 good, he may have won the title. I absolutely thought they were better than 2024 Purdue. Another analytics genius. He’s Hurley without the extreme chip on his shoulder.
9. Kelvin Sampson — Houston struggles with NIL. With that, he’s done an incredible job. Remember, Houston was off the map when he arrived. Was elite at Oklahoma too.
10. John Calipari — I don’t think anyone below has a sniff of an argument to be higher. There has also been a lot of controversy and issues: Marcus Camby and Derrick Rose. Yes, I understand I put his coaching brother Pitino at 2, and he has obviously had his issues and a good amount of time at Kentucky, but the combined success of all his schools is greater. Probably an unpopular opinion, but I think the 9 guys above do better with Cal’s rosters than he does.
11. Scott Drew — He has the one dominant title and has done a terrific job rebuilding and maintaining Baylor. To be ranked higher, he would need to have more deep NCAA runs. One title and one Elite Eight does not compare to what’s above. Also, his success has consistently tailed off lately.
12. Matt Painter — Excellent and consistent coach. One Final Four win just doesn’t match up with the above, possibly Drew, but Drew has a title.
13. Tommy Lloyd — First Final Four at Arizona since 1997, though a poor performance once they got there. Consistent solid runs as well.
14. Brad Underwood — Like Tommy Lloyd, first Final Four this year and admirable performance vs. UConn. Nice success at SFA as well. Put him under Lloyd because of the 30-0 run, which showed a very talented but undisciplined team.
15. Fred Hoiberg — A Sweet 16 at Nebraska is incredible. Also built up Iowa State nicely.
16. Rick Barnes — Great and steady coach. My main knock on him is he has had elite rosters and has consistently underperformed, especially at Texas, where he was let go.
17. Sean Miller — Extremely intelligent coach. Very nice success at both Xavier and Arizona. Nice run at Texas too.
18. Jon Scheyer — Expecting pushback here. Young coach with exceptional resources, including Cooper Flagg. His last three NCAA losses — to NC State, Houston after leading by 14 with 8 to go, and UConn by 19 with the teams he has had — do hurt the ranking here.
19. Jamie Dixon — He was a legit rival of Jim Calhoun for 8 years and brought TCU back from the dead. If only Scottie Reynolds didn’t hit the buzzer-beater in 2009, and that foul vs. Butler in 2011. Like the above coach, he had a memorable loss to UConn once.
20. Chris Beard — The abuse allegations weigh in here. Before that, those two years at Texas Tech were incredible, where the only thing that stood between him and a national title at Texas Tech was Virginia destiny.
21. Shaka Smart — The VCU run was magic, as was the 2023 Big East run.
22. Mick Cronin — The miracle run of COVID in 2021 was terrific. Knows how to push the refs and did a nice job at Cincinnati.
23. T.J. Otzelberger — If Josh Jefferson wasn’t injured in the tournament, I had them making the Final Four and beating national champion Michigan.
24. Grant McCasland — If Walter Clayton Jr. didn’t do what he did to UConn late, he goes to a Final Four. Has done a great job at Texas Tech so far.
25. Will Wade — Success at NC State, LSU, and McNeese State. Solid coach who, if the current rules always existed, may have had a big run at LSU

Honorable Mentions

Pat Kelsey

Ben McCollum

Eric Musselman

Buzz Williams

Brad Brownell