COACH OF YEAR RANKINGS
Feb 27, 2008 19:27:45 GMT -5
Post by Fastbreak on Feb 27, 2008 19:27:45 GMT -5
COACH OF YEAR RANKINGS
Feb 27, 2008
Since the weekly Player of the Year race feature has been so popular, I’ve received numerous requests to do something along the same lines for the Coach of the Year.
I did it a few weeks back, but this time I won’t take the easy way out.
Here are the top 20 candidates in order:
1) Matt Painter, Purdue – He’s done it with a freshman-laden group and has the Boilermakers in contention for the Big Ten regular-season crown.
2) Rick Barnes, Texas – The Longhorns head coach has done a remarkable job after losing National Player of the Year Kevin Durant.
3) Trent Johnson, Stanford – I know he’s got the Lopez Twins, but the Cardinal coach has done wonders hiding his team’s flaws and has Stanford second in the Pac-10.
4) Keno Davis, Drake – In his rookie campaign after his father, Tom, retired, the younger Davis has led his team to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference.
5) Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt – The Commodores were expected to be somewhere towards the bottom of the SEC East. They just beat the nation’s top team and have been a fixture in the Top 25 virtually all season.
6) Jim Calhoun, UConn – I wrote this team off after watching them struggle early in the season, but the Hall of Famer has done a terrific job as Hasheem Thabeet and A.J. Price have made dramatic progress this season.
7) Bo Ryan, Wisconsin – I don’t think anyone really thought that the Badgers, who lost Alando Tucker, would be in the mix for the Big Ten regular-season crown. I didn’t.
8) Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s – He should get the next quality Pac-10 opening. Bennett has done a tremendous job and has the Gaels battling with Gonzaga for West Coast Conference supremecy.
9) Herb Sendek, Arizona State – In just his second season in Tempe, Sendek has the Sun Devils in contention for an NCAA tournament berth. ASU has swept rival Arizona this season.
10) Bruce Pearl, Tennessee – The Vols coach is a master motivator and he led his squad to the program’s first No. 1 ranking in its 99-year history.
11) Sean Miller, Xavier – He’d be even higher on this list, except the expectations were high for the Musketeers. They’ve lived up to the hype and Miller is one of the hottest young coaches in the nation.
12) Dino Gaudio, Wake Forest – You want to talk about difficult circumstances. Gaudio replaced his best friend, Skip Prosser, who died of a heart attack late in the summer. The Demon Deacons weren’t supposed to be anywhere near NCAA tournament contention.
13) Mike Krzyzewski, Duke – You’ve got to give Coach K a ton of credit for altering his system and style of play at this stage of his career. The Blue Devils weren’t expected to be in the mix to go deep in the NCAA tournament.
14) Mike Brey, Notre Dame – The Irish head man has his team in contention for the Big East crown at a “football” school.
15) Jim Christian, Kent State – One of the most underrated coaches in the country, He wins 20 games each and every year and his squad cracked the Top 25 this week.
16) Bobby Braswell, Cal State Northridge – No one picked them to finish in the top half of the Big West. Braswell has his team in first place.
17) Lon Kruger, UNLV – Talk about underrated. The former NBA coach lost basically his entire team and the Running Rebels are still competing for the Mountain West title.
18) Anthony Grant, VCU – The Rams lost two starting guards from last year’s team, but Grant has proven he’s one of the best young guys in the business as VCU sits atop the Colonial.
19) Steve Donahue, Cornell – Usually, it’s Penn or Princeton atop the Ivy. Donahue has Cornell in the driver’s seat for the league title.
20) Brad Brownell, Wright State – Seriously, this guy can coach anywhere. He won at UNC Wilmington and now he continues to rack up the victories at Wright State.
20B) Jay Lawson, Bentley – I know it’s D-2, but no one has won more games in the last two seasons than Lawson.
community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2008/02/27/COACH_OF_YEAR_RANKINGS
Feb 27, 2008
Since the weekly Player of the Year race feature has been so popular, I’ve received numerous requests to do something along the same lines for the Coach of the Year.
I did it a few weeks back, but this time I won’t take the easy way out.
Here are the top 20 candidates in order:
1) Matt Painter, Purdue – He’s done it with a freshman-laden group and has the Boilermakers in contention for the Big Ten regular-season crown.
2) Rick Barnes, Texas – The Longhorns head coach has done a remarkable job after losing National Player of the Year Kevin Durant.
3) Trent Johnson, Stanford – I know he’s got the Lopez Twins, but the Cardinal coach has done wonders hiding his team’s flaws and has Stanford second in the Pac-10.
4) Keno Davis, Drake – In his rookie campaign after his father, Tom, retired, the younger Davis has led his team to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference.
5) Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt – The Commodores were expected to be somewhere towards the bottom of the SEC East. They just beat the nation’s top team and have been a fixture in the Top 25 virtually all season.
6) Jim Calhoun, UConn – I wrote this team off after watching them struggle early in the season, but the Hall of Famer has done a terrific job as Hasheem Thabeet and A.J. Price have made dramatic progress this season.
7) Bo Ryan, Wisconsin – I don’t think anyone really thought that the Badgers, who lost Alando Tucker, would be in the mix for the Big Ten regular-season crown. I didn’t.
8) Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s – He should get the next quality Pac-10 opening. Bennett has done a tremendous job and has the Gaels battling with Gonzaga for West Coast Conference supremecy.
9) Herb Sendek, Arizona State – In just his second season in Tempe, Sendek has the Sun Devils in contention for an NCAA tournament berth. ASU has swept rival Arizona this season.
10) Bruce Pearl, Tennessee – The Vols coach is a master motivator and he led his squad to the program’s first No. 1 ranking in its 99-year history.
11) Sean Miller, Xavier – He’d be even higher on this list, except the expectations were high for the Musketeers. They’ve lived up to the hype and Miller is one of the hottest young coaches in the nation.
12) Dino Gaudio, Wake Forest – You want to talk about difficult circumstances. Gaudio replaced his best friend, Skip Prosser, who died of a heart attack late in the summer. The Demon Deacons weren’t supposed to be anywhere near NCAA tournament contention.
13) Mike Krzyzewski, Duke – You’ve got to give Coach K a ton of credit for altering his system and style of play at this stage of his career. The Blue Devils weren’t expected to be in the mix to go deep in the NCAA tournament.
14) Mike Brey, Notre Dame – The Irish head man has his team in contention for the Big East crown at a “football” school.
15) Jim Christian, Kent State – One of the most underrated coaches in the country, He wins 20 games each and every year and his squad cracked the Top 25 this week.
16) Bobby Braswell, Cal State Northridge – No one picked them to finish in the top half of the Big West. Braswell has his team in first place.
17) Lon Kruger, UNLV – Talk about underrated. The former NBA coach lost basically his entire team and the Running Rebels are still competing for the Mountain West title.
18) Anthony Grant, VCU – The Rams lost two starting guards from last year’s team, but Grant has proven he’s one of the best young guys in the business as VCU sits atop the Colonial.
19) Steve Donahue, Cornell – Usually, it’s Penn or Princeton atop the Ivy. Donahue has Cornell in the driver’s seat for the league title.
20) Brad Brownell, Wright State – Seriously, this guy can coach anywhere. He won at UNC Wilmington and now he continues to rack up the victories at Wright State.
20B) Jay Lawson, Bentley – I know it’s D-2, but no one has won more games in the last two seasons than Lawson.
community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2008/02/27/COACH_OF_YEAR_RANKINGS
