Who are your Coach-of-the-Year candidates at this point?

[Rooster C.]

Illinois? Ole Miss? Miami? Ohio State? LSU? Suggestions?

 

[JstVisiting]

Dawn Staley.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Dawn's to lose. Undefeated and even more difficult to deal with than last year. The depth is overwhelming for almost anyone.

But Ole Miss and Miami have had amazing tournament runs. Miami is having a cinderella type post season, I don't think anyone could have seen it coming. Coach Yo has really turned Ole Miss around and fielded one of the toughest teams in America to face with their defense and confidence. LSU went much further than anyone thought going into this season in Kim's 2nd year, given they have 9 new players and going 15-1 in SEC looks more impressive by the day


But Brenda should really be commended for fielding the team she has losing the talent she did. They had an outstanding transfer class between Briggs, Alexander, Meyers that have all complimented each other in addition to the talent they did return.

Lots of great coaching all around this year. I get we can only get one coach of the year but all should be commended.

 

[bovwa10]

Has to be Staley if they go undefeated

 

[Blueberries]

Dawn Staley.

Why? She has the most talent by far. SC is expected to be #1. I think of this as an award for someone who has gone above and beyond expectations.

 

[bovwa10]

Why? She has the most talent by far. SC is expected to be #1. I think of this as an award for someone who has gone above and beyond expectations.

No matter how talented the team is, going undefeated in this hyper-competitive era would be the most impressive coaching job of the season

 

[JstVisiting]

Why? She has the most talent by far. SC is expected to be #1. I think of this as an award for someone who has gone above and beyond

1. Undefeated is undefeated. There’s a reason it’s rare, and it will be even more rare going forward.

2. One of the primary responsibilities of a coach is to accumulate “the most talent by far.”

 

[bballnut90]

Why? She has the most talent by far. SC is expected to be #1. I think of this as an award for someone who has gone above and beyond expectations.

Geno's won it almost every year his squads went undefeated, and they were usually #1 preseason. Going undefeated usually reaps rewards.

 

[GamecockFam]

Yeah, I agree with the crowd. It's Dawn's to lose.

 

[Bigboote]

I agree it's Dawn's to lose.

Based on how far the teams have gotten in the Dance, I'd add Kenny Brooks and Brenda Freese to the list. Prior to the dance, I'd say Teri Moren.

 

[Rooster C.]

Here's something to chew on (and I usually get grief for claiming Top-100 recruits matter). Of the top 7 players (starting 5 plus main 2 reserves) on each team:

1)South Carolina has 7 Top 100 (#2,#3,#4,#5,#10,#11,#47)
2)Ohio State has 6 Top 100
(#23,#24,#33,#42,#44,#59)
3)Louisville has 6 Top 100
(#7,#18,#19,##30,#35,#66)
4)Maryland has 6 Top 100
(#17,#22,#48,#49,#54,#86)
5)LSU has 5 Top 100
(#2,#20,#24,#26,#48)
6)Tennessee has 5 Top 100
(#2,#5,#37,#43,#45)
7)Iowa has 3 Top 100
(#4,#45,#84)
8)Virginia Tech has 3 Top 100
(#33,#41,#100)
9)Illinois has 3 Top 100
(#53,#65,#95)
10)Ole Miss has 2 Top 100
(#15 and #50)
11)Miami has 1 Top 100
(#79)

So which coach has done the most with the least to work with? I think the answer is obvious. While I agree that going undefeated is a rare feat having an abundance of top tier talent certainly makes it more achievable. Geno has said as much himself. I think Colorado and Utah are teams that should be considered as well for their coaching.

 

[pk1234]

Kenny Brooks gets my vote. Man has worked a masterclass at VT. Only 3 top 100 recruits as previous poster showed, nobody better than #33, and they are the 2nd best team in the country right now IMO and have been since Early February.

 

[KY Card Fan]

Kenny Brooks gets my vote. Man has worked a masterclass at VT. Only 3 top 100 recruits as previous poster showed, nobody better than #33, and they are the 2nd best team in the country right now IMO and have been since Early February.

Agreed. Brooks has done a great job.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

I would definitely say it's Dawn. Not only is she undefeated for the season but she took an already great team from last year and made it better.

Across the board this team has improved in FG%, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. Her bench production has dramatically improved from last year and her team is the only team that's Top 10 on both offense and defense. Getting that many quality players to buy in, sacrifice and improve is a feat in itself and worthy of COY.

Other deserving coaches I believe are Teri Moren and Brenda Freese. Indiana was #2 for much of the season and they played better than expected even when Berger went out with injury. My personal second place is Brenda. She added 8 new pieces and basically lost her starting lineup to the portal and she's still managed to have a top 10 team despite her team not having any real post players.

 

[JstVisiting]

Here's something to chew on (and I usually get grief for claiming Top-100 recruits matter). Of the top 7 players (starting 5 plus main 2 reserves) on each team:

1)South Carolina has 7 Top 100 (#2,#3,#4,#5,#10,#11,#47)
2)Ohio State has 6 Top 100
(#23,#24,#33,#42,#44,#59)
3)Louisville has 6 Top 100
(#7,#18,#19,##30,#35,#66)
4)Maryland has 6 Top 100
(#17,#22,#48,#49,#54,#86)
5)LSU has 5 Top 100
(#2,#20,#24,#26,#48)
6)Tennessee has 5 Top 100
(#2,#5,#37,#43,#45)
7)Iowa has 3 Top 100
(#4,#45,#84)
8)Virginia Tech has 3 Top 100
(#33,#41,#100)
9)Illinois has 3 Top 100
(#53,#65,#95)
10)Ole Miss has 2 Top 100
(#15 and #50)
11)Miami has 1 Top 100
(#79)

So which coach has done the most with the least to work with? I think the answer is obvious. While I agree that going undefeated is a rare feat having an abundance of top tier talent certainly makes it more achievable. Geno has said as much himself. I think Colorado and Utah are teams that should be considered as well for their coaching.

Thanks for sharing. Looks like Staley is lapping every other contender on the part of the job that’s 75% of winning - getting the best players.

Should make the vote even easier.

 

[bovwa10]

Here's something to chew on (and I usually get grief for claiming Top-100 recruits matter). Of the top 7 players (starting 5 plus main 2 reserves) on each team:

1)South Carolina has 7 Top 100 (#2,#3,#4,#5,#10,#11,#47)
2)Ohio State has 6 Top 100
(#23,#24,#33,#42,#44,#59)
3)Louisville has 6 Top 100
(#7,#18,#19,##30,#35,#66)
4)Maryland has 6 Top 100
(#17,#22,#48,#49,#54,#86)
5)LSU has 5 Top 100
(#2,#20,#24,#26,#48)
6)Tennessee has 5 Top 100
(#2,#5,#37,#43,#45)
7)Iowa has 3 Top 100
(#4,#45,#84)
8)Virginia Tech has 3 Top 100
(#33,#41,#100)
9)Illinois has 3 Top 100
(#53,#65,#95)
10)Ole Miss has 2 Top 100
(#15 and #50)
11)Miami has 1 Top 100
(#79)

So which coach has done the most with the least to work with? I think the answer is obvious. While I agree that going undefeated is a rare feat having an abundance of top tier talent certainly makes it more achievable. Geno has said as much himself. I think Colorado and Utah are teams that should be considered as well for their coaching.

Recruiting is a major part of a college coach’s performance. Staley shouldn’t be punished for having the best players

 

[triaddukefan]

Kenny Brooks

 

[bballnut90]

Depends on how much value you put into regular season vs NCAA tournament. Most thought Moren had it on lock but I don't think that's the sentiment now. I'd probably vote Dawn, but I think all of the Final Four coaches have done an outstanding job and have cases in their own right. Dawn's undefeated and her team is much improved offensively from a year ago, Bluder's put together the best offensive attack in the nation without highly touted kids aside from Clark, Brooks has gotten to a Final Four with unheralded kids, and Mulkey is in year 2 and got LSU to a Final Four which is extremely impressive. Of the Elite 8 coaches I'd give Brenda strong consideration when you look at how far the team has come since their Nebraska loss, all of the roster turnover, they have no true post player or PG, and yet they nearly got to the Final Four. All of them would be deserving if chosen. A number of really good coaching jobs this season.

 

[undersized]

If Frese gets credit for piecing together a roster from the transfer portal, she should also get penalized for running her program in a way that routinely loses as much talent as it attracts.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

If Frese gets credit for piecing together a roster from the transfer portal, she should also get penalized for running her program in a way that routinely loses as much talent as it attracts.

I think the problem with players Frese recruits in the top 10 is she recruits "me" players instead of "we" players. Many of the coaching staff and Faith Masonius stated that was the problem with the team last season. That's why I'm impressed with Dawn players. They are truly "we" players.

 

[JellyBean]

I still would give my vote to Dawn Staley.

 

[Rooster C.]

My order would be:

1)Dawn Staley(as many have stated her BENCH could be a Final Four team - it's one thing to get such talent and another thing to mesh them into a cohesive unit that has gone undefeated)

2)Kenny Brooks(managed to win at the highest level even after Owusu was no longer playing)

3)Katie Meier(Like Brooks, taking her team farther than they have ever gone before - but unlike Brooks had much less to work with)

4)Coach Yo(I have been a doubter of her coaching acumen for some time but no longer.(Upsetting a loaded Stanford on their home court and taking South Carolina to overtime in the same season is a serious accomplishment)

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Adding another name for consideration ...

UTAH: Lynne Roberts
Picked to finish fifth in the Pac 12, Roberts led the Utes to a share of the program's first Pac-12 regular-season title and a Sweet 16 appearance. In doing so, Utah beat Stanford, only the second win in 33 meetings against the Cardinal.

 

[Rooster C.]

I think Colorado and Utah are teams that should be considered as well for their coaching.

Yeah I added them in an earlier post because she should be on the list