2022 college basketball coaching carousel of progress

In general, I think they're in the upper half of the SEC. They're in that second tier with teams like Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, etc., who are decent most of the time and can win the conference title on occasion.
Rick Stansbury had them in the NCAA Tournament more often than not in the 2000s (five times in seven years) and won two SEC tournament championships. Then he left and Howland inherited a mess a few years later. So you can win there. Maybe not like you can at Kentucky or some of the other blue bloods, but it has been done.

I'd say Howland had them back around the level Stansbury was at, even if he didn't have the same kind of accolades to show for it. They won 104 games the past five years. He wasn't doing a bad job, he just wasn't doing a great job. His tenure at Mississippi State mirrors, in a lot of ways, what Andy Kennedy did at Ole Miss. They got those programs competitive on a perennial basis, but couldn't seem to find those extra three or four wins every year that turn an 18-win NIT team into a a 21-win NCAA team.

 

Didn't Stansbury cheat his ass off, even by SEC standards?

 

Archie Miller changed his Twitter bio to Rhode Island head coach so I guess that happened

 

Oregon assistant Chris Crutchfield to Nebraska-Omaha.

 

Sure did! Press conference is 10 a.m. Monday.

 

Shaheen Holloway just wrote his ticket to a whole lot of jobs, perhaps his alma mater if Willard leaves for Maryland (as is the buzz of late).

And speaking of St. Peter's-Kentucky, we're now seven years removed from the last time Calipari took a team to the Final Four. How much tolerance do those fans have for such a drought? Getting future NBA stars to stop by for a year is one thing, and Cal obviously is very good at making that happen, but one has to think those fans actually want him to do something with all that talent. He's also not getting any younger at 63, and I always thought he'd be good either in a TV studio or in the booth.

But I guess the question for Kentucky would be: Who would you hire to do better than what Cal has done?

 

Eh, I could understand moving on from him, just because it seems like there are diminishing returns with his methods. Yes, he can still recruit like a motherfucker, but the other Great Coaches are also now willing to go hard after one-and-done type players. Add in increased competition from peers, and that you're going to be losing more of those players to the G-League and developmental league as time goes on... In-game coaching and scouting non-five star prospects becomes more important, and I'm not sure if Calipari is great at either.

All that being said though, the truly elite coaches seldom move teams. I think you're more likely to get back to a Final Four with Cal than 95 percent of other coaches, and I don't think you fire him unless you're positive that you're getting like, Brad Stevens or some other master tactician.

 

There’s hope among a segment of the FSU fanbase that Gates will be the successor to Leonard Hamilton when Ham hangs it up.

He seems to be the best, most realistic name one could get from Hamilton’s tall coaching tree as Self and Enfield aren’t likely candidates.

But Xavier would be one of those schools it would be harder to get a coach to leave than, say, a South Carolina.

 

Helluva thread, re: Cal’s tactics.

 

Usually when a 15 beats a 2 it also has the crowd behind them. St. Peter's didn't have that advantage last night. With the game in Indy, at least half the place was filled with Kentucky fans. Of course, everybody else in the country, and the half of Kentucky that hates the Wildcats, was pulling for the Peacocks.

 

It's almost like Calipari made a deal with the devil where he'll get the finest of talent at all times and at all places but never win with them. The fact that he didn't win with the Memphis team because of free throws was insane.

 

Sounded on the radio like the Vols and Murray fans there were cheering pretty loudly for the Cocks.