Seymore Cox
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http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basket...ArVoJiKQfMJaitqFqoEvFdhkVJJ4?urn=ncaab,162653
We've been through the SEC and the Pac-10. Next up? The Big 12, where basketball is fun for three or four teams and the rest of the conference is just hustling its way back to football season, thank you very much. The SEC takes a lot of guff for being a "football conference," but when you look up and down the Big 12, doesn't it deserve the same? Not that we should be using such ugly labels in the first place. But if that distinction doesn't go for the Big 12, it should go for the SEC. Just saying.
Anyway, enough about the conference at large. We're here for the coaches. Let's go to the tape.
THE AH WHATEVER, IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYWAYS
Jeff Bzdelik, Colorado; Doc Sadler, Nebraska: Much as they may loathe each other, leave it to me to give Nebraska and Colorado fans something to agree on: I'm probably being kind of mean. Sorry guys. But Nebraska and Colorado's programs are such that no matter how successful their respective coaches are -- Jeff Bzdelik, he of moderate NBA success with the Denver Nuggets, or Doc Sadler, former UTEP whiz with two NIT berths in three years at Nebraska thus far -- it seems pretty impossible that either program will ever become "elite." It actually seems unlikely that either will earn permanent competitive status. Oh, sure, a good year here or there. Why not? But the notion that either program will soon break free from their competitive doldrums -- well, good coaches or not, it's not likely.*
That said, Bzdelik and Sadler are OK coaches. It could be worse for both schools.
*Then again, I would have said that about Kansas State a couple of years ago, and then one Michael Beasley later, voila. In other words, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Ignore me.
THE TOO SOONERS
(Much like the SEC, this is a big category, so hold tight, and we'll make it through.)
Greg McDermott, Iowa State: McDermott's first three years at Iowa State have been decidedly mediocre, so perhaps he belongs in the aforementioned category, but it's hard to forget what he did in his last three years at Northern Iowa before he took the Iowa State job: three straight NCAA berths. That was no small feat in the then-murderous Missouri Valley. So far, Cyclones fans have seen none of that success transfer, but the acumen is still clearly there. Iowa State is, in the absence of talent, at least well-coached. Whether McDermott survives for a few more years will depend on whether he can finally convince some kids to come to Ames.
Scott Drew, Baylor: Maybe Drew's inclusion here is too friendly, too. What can I say? It's a sunny Monday here in Chicago, and I'm feeling the love. The real reason Baylor gets too-soon status is the situation he inherited. When Baylor took over, it wasn't just an ailing program akin to most coaching transitions. Baylor's Dave Bliss-related scandal rocked everything about the basketball program; it was the collegiate hoops equivalent of a natural disaster, and those things just don't go away overnight. So Drew's first four years were bad. But in year five, he took a very competitive Baylor team to the NCAA tournament, and in year six, 2008-09, Baylor finished as the NIT runners-up. Drew gets a longer window here. With the program on level ground again, 2009-10 will have to be another step forward. We'll see.
Pat Knight, Texas Tech: Because of the nepotistic way former Texas Tech coach Bob Knight gave his son his position in mid-season, and because Pat Knight has no college experience to draw from, it's hard to say what kind of coach he will be. He'll no doubt follow his father's principles -- man to man defense, motion offense, a dearth of three point attempts -- but will he be able to inspire and/or dominate his teams with sheer force of will the way his father could? I don't know. You don't know. Nobody really knows.
Frank Martin, Kansas State: Martin faces the "other guy's players" problem. In 2007-08, his first year at Kansas State, Martin coached a team recruited by Bob Huggins just before Huggins left for West Virginia. That team happened to include Michael Beasley, arguably the best player in the country that season. Kansas State was good but not great. In his second season, Martin and the Wildcats suffered from a Beasley-less drop off. So is Martin a good coach? Or just the beneficiary of being able to work an offense -- and a defense -- around one of the more complete college basketball players in recent memory? Martin's recruiting should help him answer that question; he has one of the best classes in the country signed for 2009.
Travis Ford, Oklahoma State: Travis Ford, despite his mere one year at the helm of Oklahoma State, is one of those coaches that exudes an aura of success. He seems like the kind of coach so insanely dedicated to winning that he won't fail to do so, regardless of the means by which it occurs, one of those coaches who expects the same intensity from his players as he expects from himself. So it's a bit too early to tell how well he'll do over the long term in Stillwater, but early returns -- a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament in his first season; three successful years at UMass before it -- bode well for those insane OSU fans. As with Martin, so does a top-rated recruiting class.
THE SOLIDS
(Not to be confused with band of same name that apparently exists.)
Mark Turgeon, Texas A&M: Not inexperienced or unproven enough to be a Too Sooner, but certainly not an elite coach -- yet -- Mark Turgeon has Texas A&M in good shape after two years at the helm. Formerly of Wichita State, where he made a host of NIT appearances and one run into the Sweet Sixteen, Turgeon is like his predecessor, Billy Gillispie, in that he seems to prefer guard-oriented play and man-to-man defense. (The preciptious decline of Billy Gillispie's stature means that maybe this isn't as friendly a comparison as it's meant to be.) In any case, Turgeon has proved a capable recruiter -- he even managed to land prized Gillispie recruit DeAndre Jordan in the transition two years ago -- and he has two tournament appearances under his belt to show for it.
THE ALMOST THERES
Jeff Capel, Oklahoma; Mike Anderson, Missouri: Is it unfair to Jeff Capel to wonder how well he'll do without Blake Griffin? The answer is probably not all that difficult: He still has prized point guard Willie Warren, who stepped away from the NBA draft to attempt to fill Griffin's large shoes. But the crucial factor in Capel's success thus far was his ability to land Griffin. Once that happened, he wisely realized his player's talent and organized an NBA-type scheme around him. Griffin thrived. Oklahoma surged. Capel earned himself a whole bunch of coaching capital. And in 2009, Capel has another great recruiting class coming in, including the No. 9-ranked player in the class, center Keith Gallon. There's no reason to think Capel won't be able to utilize Warren the way he used Griffin, and no reason to think Capel's program is headed anywhere but up.
Mike Anderson, meanwhile, has instituted his Nolan Richardson-esque 40 Minutes Of Hell style in Columbia to great effect. Mizzou gradually gained steam this year, and despite their lack of NBA stars, both competed for the Big 12 and drove deep into the heart of the NCAA tournament, making the Elite Eight and beating stacked Memphis at their own uptempo game before losing No. 1 seed Connecticut. Anderson's style would warm Malcolm Gladwell's basketball-confused heart: Anderson presses all game, for 90 feet; he traps and runs and traps and steals and does everything allowed within the rules of basketball to make your existence a living nightmare on the basketball court, and you know what? It works. With lesser talent, it works. It doesn't work like Gladwell thinks it does, but enough about that. Anderson is a very good coach. I would rather punch myself in the face 10 times than play basketball against his teams. And I love to play basketball.
THE ELITE
Rick Barnes, Texas: Rick Barnes is as good as a coach can be without an NCAA title to his name. He has made the NCAA tournament in each of his 11 years at Texas; he's gone to two Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights and one Final Four. He's recruited the best talent in the country and loosed them on an unsuspecting basketball populace (who remembers how good Kevin Durant was?). The only thing keeping him just a notch behind his more revered contemporaries -- and maybe that's fair, or maybe not, depending on how you feel about the transience of NCAA tournament success -- is his lack of a title. But in terms of keeping his teams contiuously competitive, year in and year out, Barnes is as good as a coach as anyone in the country.
THE SUPERELITE
Bill Self, Kansas: If it wasn't for Bill Self, Barnes would probably be held in even higher regard. If it wasn't for Bill Self, the Big 12's coaches would have a lot less of a headache altogether. If it wasn't for Bill Self, Kansas might well have slipped into something barely higher than mediocrity following Roy Williams' triumphant return to North Carolina. Instead, Self has proved he's one of the best coaches in the country. He won an NCAA title. He recruits the best players almost every year. He melds teams in ways that seem impossible in the beginning of the season, and yet, by their end, seemed inevitable. He's like Tom Izzo in that even when his teams don't have the sort of vintage talents coaches win NCAA tournaments with -- both coaches faced this situation in 2008-09 -- they seem to consistently improve to the point where it's just kind of ridiculous. Oh, and that defense. Good lord, that defense.
Anyway, Self is without question the ruler of the Big 12. Barnes nips at his heels. Anderson and Capel are hot on the trail. As it stands, that's not too shabby.
COMPLETELY ARBITRARY GRADE THAT WILL LATER BE USED FOR AN ONLY SLIGHTLY ARBITRARY RANKING: B-. Great coaches at the top of the conference. Solid coaches in the middle. A few potential risers. A couple of dead-ends in the bottom. If the Big 12 seems occasionally underrated, perhaps we just have discovered the reason why.
We've been through the SEC and the Pac-10. Next up? The Big 12, where basketball is fun for three or four teams and the rest of the conference is just hustling its way back to football season, thank you very much. The SEC takes a lot of guff for being a "football conference," but when you look up and down the Big 12, doesn't it deserve the same? Not that we should be using such ugly labels in the first place. But if that distinction doesn't go for the Big 12, it should go for the SEC. Just saying.
Anyway, enough about the conference at large. We're here for the coaches. Let's go to the tape.
THE AH WHATEVER, IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYWAYS
Jeff Bzdelik, Colorado; Doc Sadler, Nebraska: Much as they may loathe each other, leave it to me to give Nebraska and Colorado fans something to agree on: I'm probably being kind of mean. Sorry guys. But Nebraska and Colorado's programs are such that no matter how successful their respective coaches are -- Jeff Bzdelik, he of moderate NBA success with the Denver Nuggets, or Doc Sadler, former UTEP whiz with two NIT berths in three years at Nebraska thus far -- it seems pretty impossible that either program will ever become "elite." It actually seems unlikely that either will earn permanent competitive status. Oh, sure, a good year here or there. Why not? But the notion that either program will soon break free from their competitive doldrums -- well, good coaches or not, it's not likely.*
That said, Bzdelik and Sadler are OK coaches. It could be worse for both schools.
*Then again, I would have said that about Kansas State a couple of years ago, and then one Michael Beasley later, voila. In other words, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Ignore me.
THE TOO SOONERS
(Much like the SEC, this is a big category, so hold tight, and we'll make it through.)
Greg McDermott, Iowa State: McDermott's first three years at Iowa State have been decidedly mediocre, so perhaps he belongs in the aforementioned category, but it's hard to forget what he did in his last three years at Northern Iowa before he took the Iowa State job: three straight NCAA berths. That was no small feat in the then-murderous Missouri Valley. So far, Cyclones fans have seen none of that success transfer, but the acumen is still clearly there. Iowa State is, in the absence of talent, at least well-coached. Whether McDermott survives for a few more years will depend on whether he can finally convince some kids to come to Ames.
Scott Drew, Baylor: Maybe Drew's inclusion here is too friendly, too. What can I say? It's a sunny Monday here in Chicago, and I'm feeling the love. The real reason Baylor gets too-soon status is the situation he inherited. When Baylor took over, it wasn't just an ailing program akin to most coaching transitions. Baylor's Dave Bliss-related scandal rocked everything about the basketball program; it was the collegiate hoops equivalent of a natural disaster, and those things just don't go away overnight. So Drew's first four years were bad. But in year five, he took a very competitive Baylor team to the NCAA tournament, and in year six, 2008-09, Baylor finished as the NIT runners-up. Drew gets a longer window here. With the program on level ground again, 2009-10 will have to be another step forward. We'll see.
Pat Knight, Texas Tech: Because of the nepotistic way former Texas Tech coach Bob Knight gave his son his position in mid-season, and because Pat Knight has no college experience to draw from, it's hard to say what kind of coach he will be. He'll no doubt follow his father's principles -- man to man defense, motion offense, a dearth of three point attempts -- but will he be able to inspire and/or dominate his teams with sheer force of will the way his father could? I don't know. You don't know. Nobody really knows.
Frank Martin, Kansas State: Martin faces the "other guy's players" problem. In 2007-08, his first year at Kansas State, Martin coached a team recruited by Bob Huggins just before Huggins left for West Virginia. That team happened to include Michael Beasley, arguably the best player in the country that season. Kansas State was good but not great. In his second season, Martin and the Wildcats suffered from a Beasley-less drop off. So is Martin a good coach? Or just the beneficiary of being able to work an offense -- and a defense -- around one of the more complete college basketball players in recent memory? Martin's recruiting should help him answer that question; he has one of the best classes in the country signed for 2009.
Travis Ford, Oklahoma State: Travis Ford, despite his mere one year at the helm of Oklahoma State, is one of those coaches that exudes an aura of success. He seems like the kind of coach so insanely dedicated to winning that he won't fail to do so, regardless of the means by which it occurs, one of those coaches who expects the same intensity from his players as he expects from himself. So it's a bit too early to tell how well he'll do over the long term in Stillwater, but early returns -- a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament in his first season; three successful years at UMass before it -- bode well for those insane OSU fans. As with Martin, so does a top-rated recruiting class.
THE SOLIDS
(Not to be confused with band of same name that apparently exists.)
Mark Turgeon, Texas A&M: Not inexperienced or unproven enough to be a Too Sooner, but certainly not an elite coach -- yet -- Mark Turgeon has Texas A&M in good shape after two years at the helm. Formerly of Wichita State, where he made a host of NIT appearances and one run into the Sweet Sixteen, Turgeon is like his predecessor, Billy Gillispie, in that he seems to prefer guard-oriented play and man-to-man defense. (The preciptious decline of Billy Gillispie's stature means that maybe this isn't as friendly a comparison as it's meant to be.) In any case, Turgeon has proved a capable recruiter -- he even managed to land prized Gillispie recruit DeAndre Jordan in the transition two years ago -- and he has two tournament appearances under his belt to show for it.
THE ALMOST THERES
Jeff Capel, Oklahoma; Mike Anderson, Missouri: Is it unfair to Jeff Capel to wonder how well he'll do without Blake Griffin? The answer is probably not all that difficult: He still has prized point guard Willie Warren, who stepped away from the NBA draft to attempt to fill Griffin's large shoes. But the crucial factor in Capel's success thus far was his ability to land Griffin. Once that happened, he wisely realized his player's talent and organized an NBA-type scheme around him. Griffin thrived. Oklahoma surged. Capel earned himself a whole bunch of coaching capital. And in 2009, Capel has another great recruiting class coming in, including the No. 9-ranked player in the class, center Keith Gallon. There's no reason to think Capel won't be able to utilize Warren the way he used Griffin, and no reason to think Capel's program is headed anywhere but up.
Mike Anderson, meanwhile, has instituted his Nolan Richardson-esque 40 Minutes Of Hell style in Columbia to great effect. Mizzou gradually gained steam this year, and despite their lack of NBA stars, both competed for the Big 12 and drove deep into the heart of the NCAA tournament, making the Elite Eight and beating stacked Memphis at their own uptempo game before losing No. 1 seed Connecticut. Anderson's style would warm Malcolm Gladwell's basketball-confused heart: Anderson presses all game, for 90 feet; he traps and runs and traps and steals and does everything allowed within the rules of basketball to make your existence a living nightmare on the basketball court, and you know what? It works. With lesser talent, it works. It doesn't work like Gladwell thinks it does, but enough about that. Anderson is a very good coach. I would rather punch myself in the face 10 times than play basketball against his teams. And I love to play basketball.
THE ELITE
Rick Barnes, Texas: Rick Barnes is as good as a coach can be without an NCAA title to his name. He has made the NCAA tournament in each of his 11 years at Texas; he's gone to two Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights and one Final Four. He's recruited the best talent in the country and loosed them on an unsuspecting basketball populace (who remembers how good Kevin Durant was?). The only thing keeping him just a notch behind his more revered contemporaries -- and maybe that's fair, or maybe not, depending on how you feel about the transience of NCAA tournament success -- is his lack of a title. But in terms of keeping his teams contiuously competitive, year in and year out, Barnes is as good as a coach as anyone in the country.
THE SUPERELITE
Bill Self, Kansas: If it wasn't for Bill Self, Barnes would probably be held in even higher regard. If it wasn't for Bill Self, the Big 12's coaches would have a lot less of a headache altogether. If it wasn't for Bill Self, Kansas might well have slipped into something barely higher than mediocrity following Roy Williams' triumphant return to North Carolina. Instead, Self has proved he's one of the best coaches in the country. He won an NCAA title. He recruits the best players almost every year. He melds teams in ways that seem impossible in the beginning of the season, and yet, by their end, seemed inevitable. He's like Tom Izzo in that even when his teams don't have the sort of vintage talents coaches win NCAA tournaments with -- both coaches faced this situation in 2008-09 -- they seem to consistently improve to the point where it's just kind of ridiculous. Oh, and that defense. Good lord, that defense.
Anyway, Self is without question the ruler of the Big 12. Barnes nips at his heels. Anderson and Capel are hot on the trail. As it stands, that's not too shabby.
COMPLETELY ARBITRARY GRADE THAT WILL LATER BE USED FOR AN ONLY SLIGHTLY ARBITRARY RANKING: B-. Great coaches at the top of the conference. Solid coaches in the middle. A few potential risers. A couple of dead-ends in the bottom. If the Big 12 seems occasionally underrated, perhaps we just have discovered the reason why.
