Elite NCAA Basketball Coaches - Who's Next?

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhantomPain

The state of Kentucky is owning this thread!

I'm from Indiana.

Quote:

Countryboy, good call on Andy Enfield. Definitely someone to keep an eye out for. It's funny in college basketball though. You can have a guy like Shaka Smart who got hot a couple of times with a small school and moves through the rankings. But there is just as good of a chance he disappears into the nothingness as there is to being considered an elite coach. I am not suggesting that is what will happen with Smart, only that it happens all the time. Someone gets 15 minutes of fame then completely blows their chance at stardom. Almost sounds like I am speaking about Billy Gillispie!

Yeah we've definitely seen coaches fizzle out when they get to bigger programs. Enfield got his shot after the one year run at FGCU and his first two years at USC were rocky at best, but he did get it turned around in that magical third year and got them to the tournament. Now we'll see if they are competitive in the Pac-12 and can get past the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

[DamnYanks2]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

I'm from Indiana. Yeah we've definitely seen coaches fizzle out when they get to bigger programs. Enfield got his shot after the one year run at FGCU and his first two years at USC were rocky at best, but he did get it turned around in that magical third year and got them to the tournament. Now we'll see if they are competitive in the Pac-12 and can get past the 1st round of the NCAA tournament.

I didn't even realize Derryck Thornton transferred there from Duke, he's not eligible this year, but that's a nice transfer for Enfield, a five star recruit at that.

Enfield is a good sleeper pick.

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[phenom1990]

Quote: Originally Posted by DamnYanks2

Anyway, to answer your question. My list would be Sean Miller, Shaka Smart, (which you already mentioned) Jay Wright and Steve Alford. I think that's the obvious group. Should probably throw Mark Few in there too. Maybe the least obvious pick of that group is Alford. I'm not sure I'm sold on him yet, but I do know he can recruit, and he has the ability, and the school prestige to make UCLA a powerhouse again. My two up and coming picks have to be Tony Bennett and Kevin Ollie. I think Bennett is the most impressive. Ollie already has a title, which speaks volumes. But, who the hell ever heard of Virginia till Bennett got there? Virginia has been in the conversation with the elite teams these past few seasons, and if he can start getting some attention from top recruits, who knows, how far he can take that program. Those are my picks. Sent from my HTCD200LVWPP using Tapatalk

I would be surprised if Calipari is walking away from the game at the same time as some of the people mentioned there.

If you go away from coaches that I guess would be called the old guard, I would say this is a list of coaches to look at.

Bill Self, Jay Wright, Sean Miller, Thad Matta, Steve Alford, Mark Few, Gregg Marshall, Kevin Ollie, Shaka Smart and Tony Bennett.

Now there are other high quality coaches but they are different points in their careers compared to the list above. Coaches like John Belein, Bob Huggins, Jim Larranaga, etc.

Also coaches like Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan have left recently for the NBA.

I can ramble on coaches. So I'll save some of my other thoughts for another day.

[CC]

Were talking 10 years from now. So I'd think Mark Few eventually moves on to Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc.

Along with Ollie, Smart, Enfield, Bennett, Self and others mentioned, has anyone said Tom Crean?

Here's an under the radar one... Avery Johnson. He's landing some big time recruits.

[sportznut02]

Chris Mack is only 46 and has been to the tournament 6 out of 7 years. He has been to the sweet sixteen 3 times. I could see him getting a bigger job some day and taking it to the next level.

Archie Miller is just 38 years old and has already been to the elite 8. He's been to the tournament the last 3 years. It's only a matter of time before he gets a big time job.

Sean Miller 48, is eventually going to get over the hump and make it to the final four. If he keeps recruiting like he is, it should be sooner than later.