ReportWire

Tag: Providence Friars

  • Rick Pitino shuts downs question on Providence fight with St. John’s

    The St. John’s Red Storm claimed another hard-fought win in the Big East on Saturday, defeating the Providence Friars, 79-69, in front of a hostile crowd after a massive fight on the hardwood.

    Things became heated in the game’s second half, when Providence’s Duncan Powell committed a hard foul on St. John’s Bryce Hopkins during a layup. That led to Hopkins going at Powell, and, naturally, teammates got involved in the scuffle, which took the spotlight on the hardwood.

    Players from the St. John’s bench got involved with Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino, referees, and security, all trying to restore order.

    The officials ultimately ejected numerous players for their involvement in the altercation: Providence’s Jaylin Sellers and Powell, as well as the Red Storm’s Dillon Mitchell, Ruben Prey, Sadiku Ibine Ayo, and Kelvin Odih.

    After a 19-minute delay in the game, the basketball game resumed. By the time the game ended, there were seven players ejected, including another player who was ejected late in the second half, and questions were looming about potential punishments.

    Read more: St. John’s Basketball Fight With Providence Could Bring Suspensions

    At his postgame press conference, Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino spoke about his team coming together and putting together a solid effort despite the huge fight that broke out earlier.

    “You’re not supposed to come off the bench, but you can’t let your players get beat up,” he said, adding, “You can’t fight. Back when I was the Kentucky coach, we fought almost every SEC game, and it was not a big deal. But you can’t fight anymore, so toughness has to come between the lines.”

    “We were really excited to get a W because we came together without a lot of our players, so I’m proud of our guys,” he said, later mentioning that his players “didn’t initiate anything.”

    “We talked toughness, not turning the ball over, creating steals, getting offensive rebounds. That’s what we believe toughness is, and that’s all we talked about the entire time,” he said, mentioning that the players were exhausted but pushed through.

    The head coach became irritated at one point during the press conference, snapping at a reporter who attempted to ask Big East Player of the Year contender Zuby Ejiofor his perspective on the big altercation.

    “We’re not going to address that; let the league address it. If you want to talk basketball, talk basketball. You write what you saw. Don’t ask my players that,” Pitino told the reporter.

    Dylan Darling led the Red Storm with 23 points, while Hopkins had nine points and nine rebounds to help St. John’s win after the wild fight.

    It’s believed that at the very least, Providence’s Duncan Powell will receive a one-game suspension for his rough foul on Hopkins and involvement in the brawl. The fight footage shows Powell trying to strike a Providence player with his forearm and elbow, but the player ducked the attempted hit.

    It’s unclear whether any other players besides Powell will receive punishments for their roles in the altercation. Pitino ended his press conference by joking, “Get me [Big East Commissioner] Val Ackerman on the phone.”

    As it stands, the latest ESPN bracket projections show Pitino’s team as a No. 5 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament. The Red Storm have a four-day break before their next game, as they’ll face the Marquette Golden Eagles on Wednesday, Feb. 18, in an away game.

    Read more: Dan Hurley’s UConn Men Drop in AP Top 25 Poll Amid Win Streak

    For more about college basketball, visit Newsweek Sports.

    Source link

  • Kings GM Monte McNair on Sacramento’s decision to select Devin Carter of Providence in the NBA Draft

    Kings GM Monte McNair on Sacramento’s decision to select Devin Carter of Providence in the NBA Draft

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) – Following the conclusion of the first round of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, Kings general manager Monte McNair explains why he chose to select Providence’s Devin Carter with the 13th overall pick, the surprise of him falling to Sacramento, what he sees Carter brings to the NBA level, Mike Brown’s recent contract extension, the opportunities still ahead to change the roster for next season and the future of Sasha Vezenkov with the team.

    The second round of the NBA Draft will conclude on Thursday.

    Sean Cunningham

    Source link

  • Men’s college basketball Top 25: Alabama, Gonzaga, Houston lead updated rankings

    Men’s college basketball Top 25: Alabama, Gonzaga, Houston lead updated rankings

    After the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline passed on Wednesday night, we finally have a clearer picture of what rosters will look like when the season starts in November.

    This transfer portal season has been as crazy as ever, and a lot has changed since we last did this exercise on championship night. It’s possible that a few of these teams will make some late portal additions or sign an overseas prospect or two, but today marks the first day when putting out a super-early Top 25 actually makes sense. So here it is, starting with a No. 1 team that is very much there because of the last-second withdrawal decision by a star player.

    Previous rank: 6

    Projected starters: Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood (transfer), Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Grant Nelson, Clifford Omoruyi (transfer)

    Top reserves: Aden Holloway (transfer), Derrion Reid (freshman), Jarin Stevenson, Houston Mallette (transfer), Aiden Sherrill (freshman), Mouhamed Dioubate, Naas Cunningham (freshman), Labaron Philon (freshman)

    Nate Oats has assembled the best 3-point shooting team in the country. In addition to Sears and Wrightsell, he signed three transfer guards who all made 50-plus 3s last season, and two of the three (Youngblood and Mallette) shot 40-plus percent from 3. Oats also improved his defense with former Rutgers center Omoruyi, who anchored the fifth-ranked defense in college hoops, and he signed four top-40 freshmen. This is a ridiculously deep roster with arguably the best offensive weapon in the country (Sears) and enviable athleticism and positional size. Alabama’s defense has teeter-tottered between elite and mediocre the last four years with adjusted defensive ranks of third, 92nd, third and 111th. So the Crimson Tide are due to be good on that end again. That’s the only real question mark here, because we know this team will have no problem scoring.

    2. Gonzaga

    Previous: 2

    Projected starters: Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman, Steele Venters, Ben Gregg, Graham Ike

    Top reserves: Braden Huff, Michael Ajayi (transfer), Khalif Battle (transfer), Dusty Stromer

    Gonzaga returns four of five starters and gets back Venters, the 2022-23 Big Sky Player of the Year who missed last season with a torn ACL. Last year, the Zags took off when Mark Few moved Gregg into the starting lineup at the three. Few has the lineup versatility to go big again if that’s what’s best. Huff would start for most high-major programs. Gonzaga’s bench might just be good enough to form a top-25 team by itself. Battle averaged 26.7 points over his last nine games at Arkansas; Stromer shot 36.6 percent from 3 as a freshman and started 14 games; Ajayi averaged 17.2 points and shot 47 percent from 3 at Pepperdine; and Braeden Smith, who is redshirting, was the Patriot League player of the year at Colgate. Like Alabama, the Zags need to improve on defense, but this is another team that should score easily. Few has smartly surrounded Ike with floor spacers to give him room to feast in the post.

    Previous: 3

    Projected starters: Milos Uzan (transfer), LJ Cryer, Emanuel Sharp, J’Wan Roberts, Ja’Vier Francis

    Top reserves: Joseph Tugler, Terrance Arceneaux, Ramon Walker, Mercy Miller (freshman), Chase McCarty (freshman)

    When Tugler suffered a season-ending foot injury on Feb. 27, Houston was the best team in college hoops, according to metrics, and clearly the best defensive team. Houston’s adjusted defensive efficiency was 84.6; the next best was Iowa State at 89.9. The Cougars lost their most important player in Jamal Shead, but the rest of the rotation is back. Uzan has already proven to be a quality Big 12 guard at Oklahoma, and Houston’s only real issue late in the year was depth. Tugler and Arceneaux give a huge boost there. They’re the best two pro prospects on the team. Kelvin Sampson would probably tell you he has seven starters. Also worth noting: Houston has won 30-plus games three straight seasons, and that followed a Final Four run. Always bet on Sampson.

    Previous: 7

    Projected starters: Dajuan Harris Jr., Rylan Griffen (transfer), AJ Storr (transfer), KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson

    Top reserves: Zeke Mayo (transfer), Elmarko Jackson, Flory Bidunga (freshman), Zach Clemence, Rakease Passmore (freshman), Jamari McDowell

    The Jayhawks looked like a team from another era last season. When they were playing well, their ball movement was exquisite, and they ran beautiful offense. But it was hard to sustain without enough shooting and a perimeter scorer who could create his own. It was only the third time in Bill Self’s tenure that KU ranked outside the top 40 in adjusted offense. That’s where the transfers come in. Self addressed the playmaking and shooting problem with Griffen, Storr and Mayo. Self also has more lineup versatility with big wings like Griffen and Storr who can man the four in smaller lineups, and then a more athletic backup five in Bidunga to take over when Dickinson is struggling guarding ball screens. This is still somewhat of a throwback startling lineup with a non-shooter like Adams at the four, but the roster construction makes more sense on paper.


    Tamin Lipsey leads an Iowa State team with high expectations. (Jay Biggerstaff / Getty Images)

    5. Iowa State

    Previous: 4

    Projected starters: Tamin Lipsey, Keshon Gilbert, Milan Momcilovic, Joshua Jefferson (transfer), Dishon Jackson (transfer)

    Top reserves: Curtis Jones, Nate Heise (transfer), Demarion Watson, Brandton Chatfield, Nojus Indrusaitis (freshman), Dwayne Pierce (freshman)

    The best defense in college basketball last season should be back near the top, as three starters return and T.J. Otzelberger replaces the other two with strong defenders in Jefferson and Jackson. Saint Mary’s had the No. 7 defense last season with Jefferson in the lineup, per Bart Torvik. And Otzelberger has proven he can build elite defenses, finishing top 10 in adjusted defense in his first three years in Ames. The Cyclones are going to guard. Otzelberger also has been nails at finding underrated transfers who thrive in his system. Last year it was Gilbert and Jones. We can probably expect that Jackson, Heise and Chatfield will surpass expectations. This will be the first time Otzelberger’s Cyclones will have to deal with lofty preseason expectations, but it seems like he has the type of culture that will not let that poison their egos.

    6. Duke

    Previous: 1

    Projected starters: Caleb Foster, Tyrese Proctor, Mason Gillis (transfer), Cooper Flagg (freshman), Khaman Maluach (freshman)

    Top reserves: Maliq Brown (transfer), Kon Knueppel (freshman), Isaiah Evans (freshman), Darren Harris (freshman), Patrick Ngongba II (freshman), Sion James (transfer)

    Jon Scheyer seemed to be trying to bring in complementary players out of the portal, building around the talents of Flagg with low-usage, high-efficiency guys like Gillis, Brown and James. It wouldn’t be shocking if this is the best team in college basketball based on the talent level. With so much youth, I want to see it first. But Scheyer will likely bring two five-stars off the bench in Evans and Knueppel while starting two projected lottery picks in the frontcourt. This team could be elite defensively, as Proctor found his calling on that end last year and both Flagg and Maluach project as high-level shot blockers. Duke has great positional size, with everyone in the rotation at 6-foot-5 or taller. Flagg is the key to the offense. He needs to be able to score and allow Duke to play through him to set up others, similar to how Scheyer used Kyle Filipowski. Leaning on freshmen only works when those are top-end lottery picks. Scheyer is banking on Flagg living up to the hype.

    7. Connecticut

    Previous: 5

    Projected starters: Hassan Diarra, Aidan Mahaney (transfer), Solomon Ball, Alex Karaban, Samson Johnson

    Top reserves: Tarris Reed Jr. (transfer), Liam McNeeley (freshman), Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross, Ahmad Nowell (freshman), Isaiah Abraham (freshman)

    We’re at the point now where you just assume Dan Hurley’s plan will work. He has nailed roster construction the last few years and built offensive and defensive schemes ideal for his talent. Adding shooting this spring with Mahaney and McNeeley was huge, and Karaban decided to return for a run at a three-peat. Hurley’s offense hums when the Huskies can hunt early 3s and they have optimal floor spacing. That’s not the specialty of sophomores Ball, Stewart and Ross. For UConn to hit its ceiling, Mahaney needs to play to his potential. Diarra is more of a complementary guard, and Mahaney basically replicated his freshman season this past year when it was expected he’d make a star’s leap. He replaces the off-the-dribble playmaking from Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer, and that’s why his success is so important. Hurley has again set it up so his centers can split time and give opponents two different looks. This roster doesn’t appear as talented as the last two, but underrating UConn early has also become a yearly tradition.

    Previous: 8

    Projected starters: Zakai Zeigler, Jahmai Mashack, Chaz Lanier (transfer), Igor Milicic Jr. (transfer), Felix Okpara (transfer)

    Top reserves: Jordan Gainey, Darlinstone Dubar (transfer), JP Estrella, Cameron Carr, Cade Phillips, Bishop Boswell (freshman)

    Tennessee has been a top-five seed for six straight NCAA Tournaments and plugged any potential holes in the portal. We know this team is going to be elite defensively, because Rick Barnes constructs rosters with defense in mind. The question mark is on the offensive end and replacing Dalton Knecht. That’s likely by committee, but the hope is that North Florida transfer Lanier can step into the go-to guy role. Lanier is coming off a season in which he averaged 19.7 points and shot 44 percent from 3. Zeigler was one of the best two-way point guards in the country the second half of the season and is one of the best setup men in the country, so the ball will likely be in his hands a lot. And this roster has even more shooting than it did a year ago with guys like Lanier, Darlingstone and Gainey all considered knockdown shooters. The wildcard on this roster is Carr. His body wasn’t quite ready as a freshman, but he’s got the tools to be a star. The Vols are so deep on the perimeter that he doesn’t need to be that yet, but a breakout sophomore season could be in the works.

    Previous: 11

    Projected starters: Jaden Bradley, Caleb Love, KJ Lewis, Trey Townsend (transfer), Motiejus Krivas

    Top reserves: Tobe Awaka (transfer), Anthony Dell’Orso (transfer), Carter Bryant (freshman), Emmanuel Stephen (freshman)

    Arizona had the 10th-best defense in college basketball last season and could be even better this year. The Wildcats upgrade on the defensive end with Krivas and Bradley in for the departed Oumar Ballo and Kylan Boswell. Arizona was 20 points per 100 possessions better with Bradley on the floor without Boswell compared to when Boswell played without Bradley, per CBB Analytics. The return of Love is the big story here. He was much more efficient in an Arizona uniform than he was at UNC, and Tommy Lloyd has enough around him that he doesn’t have to go into hero mode. The addition of Trey Townsend gives Arizona more offensive punch from the four spot. Lloyd loves to play fast, and this roster is built to do so.

    Previous: 10

    Projected starters: JP Pegues (transfer), Miles Kelly (transfer), Denver Jones, Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell

    Top reserves: Chad Baker-Mazara, Tahaad Pettiford (freshman), Jahki Howard (freshman), Chaney Johnson, Chris Moore, Ja’Heim Hudson (transfer)

    Auburn returns three of its top four leading scorers from a team that finished fourth at KenPom. The big returner here is Broome, who was one of the most effective big men in the country. Bruce Pearl leaned heavily on his depth last season and will likely do so again, but the one guy who may log heavy minutes is Broome, who will play at both the four and five with Jaylin Williams no longer around. Broome and Cardwell logged only 12 minutes together last season, per CBB Analytics, but they’ll likely start alongside each other this season. Kelly, Georgia Tech’s leading scorer last season, gives the Tigers another consistent scorer on the perimeter. Auburn could elevate into a top-five team if the point guard play is better and not as inconsistent as it has been in recent years. The Tigers addressed that in recruiting by landing Pegues, who averaged 18.4 points and 4.8 assists at Furman, and Pettiford, the second-ranked point guard in the 2024 class.

    11. Texas A&M

    Previous: 21

    Projected starters: Wade Taylor IV, Zhuric Phelps (transfer), Manny Obaseki, Solomon Washington, Pharrel Payne (transfer)

    Top reserves: Andersson Garcia, Jace Carter, C.J. Wilcher (transfer), Henry Coleman III, Hayden Hefner, Andre Mills (freshman)

    When Buzz Williams moved Obaseki into the starting lineup with eight games to go, the Aggies became one of the best teams in the country. They won six of eight and ranked as the fifth-best team over that timespan, per Torvik, and ended up losing to top-seeded Houston in overtime. Tyrece Radford, a big part of that run, is gone, but Williams brought in another athletic attacking guard to replace him in Phelps. Payne, who will likely start at center, is an upgrade from what A&M had at that position, and he fits perfectly with this group. He was Minnesota’s best offensive rebounder — ranking 67th nationally — and with Garcia, Washington and Coleman back, the Aggies will likely once again lead the country in offensive rebounding rate. That allowed A&M to still have a good offense during a horrible shooting year, but the shooting should get better. Taylor is bound to shoot it better, and A&M added some shooting off the bench with Wilcher, who made 50 3s and shot 39.4 percent for Nebraska last season.


    RJ Davis is back after earning first-team All-America honors. (Greg Fiume / Getty Images)

    12. North Carolina

    Previous: 9

    Projected starters: Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Ian Jackson (freshman), Cade Tyson (transfer), Jalen Washington

    Top reserves: Seth Trimble, Ven-Allen Lubin (transfer), Drake Powell (freshman), Jae’Lyn Withers, Zayden High

    North Carolina is going to be different without a low-post threat like Armando Bacot on the blocks, but the loss that stings is Harrison Ingram staying in the NBA Draft. Ingram was a Swiss Army knife for the Tar Heels and played a big role in the massive defensive leap they made last season. The offense should still be pretty good, especially if RJ Davis can duplicate or come close to repeating last season. I’m also intrigued to see Cadeau as a sophomore. He struggled shooting the ball as a freshman but he also played a facilitating role at a pretty high level considering his age. If the shot ever comes around, that’s a high-level college point guard. Tyson, a career 44.6 percent 3-point shooter at 6-7, was a smart addition. Lubin gives them some low-post scoring either off the bench or starting at the four. There’s enough talent and experience that it’s an ideal situation for two five-stars to come into. If either Jackson or Powell plays at a one-and-done level and Cadeau makes a sophomore leap, this could be a top-five team.

    13. Purdue

    Previous: 12

    Projected starters: Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Camden Heide, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Caleb Furst

    Top reserves: Myles Colvin, Daniel Jacobsen (freshman), Will Berg, Kanon Catchings (freshman), Gicarri Harris (freshman), Raleigh Burgess (freshman), Brian Waddell

    Purdue’s KenPom finishes in the five years that proceeded the Zach Edey era: 9, 19, 5, 9, 24. It’s going to be difficult to replace Edey, but Matt Painter won a lot of basketball games before Edey showed up and he’ll continue to do so. Painter has a really good core returning, led by Smith, who became a killer in pick-and-roll last season as both a scorer and distributor. If you asked college coaches to rank the best point guards in the country, he’d be near the top. Purdue got a head start on what life without Edey would be like last summer when it went on a foreign tour without him and Kaufman-Renn led the team in scoring. Painter also has three centers on the bench who could be next in line as dominant low-post scorers. The 7-foot-2 Berg has been learning behind Edey the last two years, and then Painter signed two centers in Jacobsen and Burgess. Jacobsen was a standout last weekend at the tryouts for the U.S. U-18 team. When I asked two coaches there who stood out, both mentioned Jacobsen, with one saying he’ll eventually be a star. He’s 7-3, skilled and playing at Purdue, so odds are in his favor.

    14. Marquette

    Previous: 14

    Projected starters: Kam Jones, Stevie Mitchell, Chase Ross, David Joplin, Ben Gold

    Top reserves: Sean Jones, Tre Norman, Zaide Lowery, Al Amadou, Caedin Hamilton (redshirt freshman), Damarius Owens (freshman), Royce Parham (freshman)

    In the six games that Tyler Kolek missed late in the season, Jones averaged 20.8 points and 4.5 assists. So we’ve seen Marquette operate when it’s the Kam Jones Show, and he cooked. I’m not a big sports betting guy, but if there are futures for the 2024-25 All-America team and you can get good odds on Jones, I’d make that gamble. It’s going to be a different look without Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, but Shaka Smart keeps betting on development and it’s made him look really, well, smart. Gold started to show more as a passer his sophomore season in the Ighodaro role, and he adds shooting to the mix. Joplin should be highly motivated after a somewhat disappointing junior season that included a bad finish when he went 2-of-10 against NC State in the Sweet 16. Ross has had flashes that suggest he can be a really good college guard. The Golden Eagles will need him to take on more of an offensive role. These next two years should really show if Smart’s philosophy of staying out of the portal can work long-term, but he’s earned the benefit of the doubt so far.

    Previous: 15

    Projected starters: Jeremy Roach, Jayden Nunn, Langston Love, VJ Edgecombe (freshman), Norchad Omier (transfer)

    Top reserves: Josh Ojianwuna, Jalen Celestine (transfer), Rob Wright (freshman), Jason Asemota (freshman)

    That projected starting lineup is tiny — basically four guards and the 6-7 Omier — but it should be able to score pretty easily. Baylor has leaned heavily on the pick-and-roll game in recent years, and Roach and Omier should be a strong combination. Edgecombe is the swing guy on this team. If he’s a high-level producer right away, then the Bears have a chance to be elite offensively. The worry is whether they’ll be able to stop anyone. Omier is skilled enough to play the four, and Baylor does have a lot of size on the bench. Scott Drew could also start the 6-foot-10 Ojianwuna next to Omier and slide the 6-foot-5 Edgecombe to the three, but he’d lose some scoring. It could take some time to figure out the combinations that work, but it helps that Drew has size on the wing off the bench in Celestine (6-6) and Asemota (6-8).


    Walter Clayton Jr. pulled out of the NBA Draft and is returning to Florida. (Alan Youngblood / AP)

    16. Florida

    Previous: 19

    Projected starters: Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin (transfer), Will Richard, Sam Alexis (transfer), Alex Condon

    Top reserves: Rueben Chinyelu (transfer), Thomas Haugh, Denzel Aberdeen, Isaiah Brown (freshman)

    Florida has one of the best guard trios in the country in Clayton, Martin and Richard. All three made at least 70 3s last season and are good enough to carry an offense when they’re hot. The Gators’ issue last season was on the defensive end, and Todd Golden strengthened that by landing two shot blockers out of the portal in Alexis and Chinyelu. One of those two will likely start alongside Condon, the Aussie big man who is poised for a breakout sophomore season. Golden had his best season at San Francisco in his third year. This will be Year 3 at Florida, and I’d bet on it being his best year yet.

    Previous: Not ranked

    Projected starters: Tre Donaldson (transfer), Rubin Jones (transfer), Roddy Gayle Jr. (transfer), Danny Wolf (transfer), Vladislav Goldin (transfer)

    Top reserves: Nimari Burnett, Sam Walters (transfer), Will Tschetter, Justin Pippen (freshman), Durral Brooks (freshman)

    It’s hard to completely turn over a roster and have a cohesive group in Year 1, but this is a bet on Dusty May pulling it off. May is really good at role definition and getting his guys to buy in. The Wolverines are going to be huge, starting the 7-foot twin towers and then bringing shooters off the bench in the 6-foot-10 Walters and 6-foot-8 Tschetter. Walters can play the three, Gayle (6-4) could play the two and Jones (6-5) can play the point, so May could conceivably play one of the biggest lineups in college basketball. And you could make an argument that has the potential to be Michigan’s best lineup. May just coached the team that ranked No. 1 in minutes continuity and 276th in average height, so this will be a different challenge. But out of the total portal rebuilds, this is the one I’m betting on that the pieces fit best.

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Elijah Hawkins (transfer), Chance McMillian, Darrion Williams, JT Toppin (transfer), Fede Federiko (transfer)

    Top reserves: Kevin Overton (transfer), Kerwin Walton, Devan Cambridge, Eemeli Yalaho, Christian Anderson (freshman)

    Grant McCasland has landed the Mountain West Freshman on the Year in back-to-back portal classes, with Toppin following Williams. Both are future NBA players, and Texas Tech has one of the best 2-3-4 combinations in the country. Williams was fantastic the last two months of the season. He had a 10-game stretch when he averaged 17.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and shot 64.2 percent from 3. Toppin gives the Red Raiders another interior scorer and should help the defense. And you could argue McMillian is an upgrade from Pop Isaacs. Isaacs could carry the Red Raiders for stretches, but his efficiency didn’t justify his usage. McMillian is a low-usage, high-efficiency player who is more athletic, a better shooter and a better defender. Hawkins slides into the Joe Toussaint role and Federiko for Warren Washington. Cambridge got a medical redshirt and provides energy off the bench, while both Overton and Walton provide shooting and scoring off the bench.

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Myles Rice (transfer), Trey Galloway, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Oumar Ballo (transfer)

    Top reserves: Kanaan Carlyle (transfer), Luke Goode (transfer), Bryson Tucker (freshman), Gabe Cupps, Anthony Leal, Langdon Hatton (transfer), Rob Dockery (redshirt freshman), George Turkson (freshman)

    If going by portal rankings and name recognition, no one had a better offseason than Indiana. Mike Woodson has shown a preference for playing through the post, and he has two of the best low-post scorers in the Big Ten now in Reneau and Ballo.  Indiana had spacing issues last year, but Rice, Carlyle and Goode should help. Rice (27.5 percent) and Carlyle (32 percent) did not shoot the ball well from 3 as freshmen, but both are good foul shooters and it’s within reason to expect progression from deep based on their mechanics and skill. Both should also help in the shot creation department, which was an issue for the Hoosiers last year. Overall, Indiana is just way more talented and deep. Cupps, who started last year, might be sixth in line on IU’s depth chart at guard. All that guard depth also will allow IU some lineup versatility. When one of the bigs goes to the bench, Mgbako can slide to the four and get more shooting and skill on the floor. It’s a huge year for Woodson. Based on this class, Indiana’s donors are coming through financially, but that could quickly change if results don’t follow.

    20. Illinois

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Kylan Boswell (transfer), Kasparas Jakucionis (freshman), Ty Rodgers, Carey Booth (transfer), Tomislav Ivisic (freshman)

    Top reserves: Tre White (transfer), Ben Humrichous (transfer), Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Jake Davis (transfer), Morez Johnson (freshman)

    This could look like a reach to put Illinois this high, but Brad Underwood has earned the trust. Underwood has prioritized size and skill, and this roster is oozing with upside. Underwood got busy in the portal early and then topped off his class with two international signings whom I’m projecting will both start. Jakucionis, a 6-5 guard, is one of the best young prospects overseas. An NBA scouting contact mentioned Kirk Hinrich as a comp. If Jakucionis were an American, he’d likely be one of the five-stars in this class. Ivisic, a 7-footer, is the twin brother of current Arkansas and ex-Kentucky big man Zvonimir Ivisic. Illinois also added four transfers who play the three or four and stand between 6-6 and 6-10, all of whom can shoot. And the other two freshmen, Johnson and Jason Jakstys, are 6-9 and 6-10 power forwards. Jakucionis, Boswell and Rodgers will be the keys to making it work, as Underwood has gone to a strategy of spreading the floor and leaning on his guards to create advantages. Look for all three to get a shot at continuing the booty ball offense that the Illini adopted for Marcus Domask.

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Isaiah Swope (transfer), Josiah Dotzler (transfer), Gibson Jimerson, Kalu Anya (transfer), Robbie Avila (transfer)

    Top reserves: Kobe Johnson (transfer), Larry Hughes II, A.J. Casey (transfer), Kellen Thames

    Indiana State led the nation in effective field-goal percentage last season and ranked fourth the year before; Josh Schertz was in Terre Haute for just three seasons. The man knows how to build an elite offense quickly, and he’s got a head start here with both Avila and Swope following him. Avila is, as Schertz calls him, the hub of his offense. He’s one of the most skilled, unique bigs in college basketball, and if you put just a little bit of shooting and speed around him, it’s probably going to work. Swope was Indiana State’s best scorer before knee problems slowed him midseason, and the offseason will allow him to finally get healthy. Schertz was able to convince Jimerson to take his name out of the portal, keeping one of the best shooters in the country at SLU. He’s a perfect fit for Schertz’s system. Dotzler is a player Schertz loved in high school and gets him on the rebound after struggling to crack the rotation at Creighton. Johnson gives SLU a defensive stopper on the perimeter and was a starter last season for West Virginia. He’ll likely battle Dotzler for that final starting spot on the perimeter. It’s a really good roster in the Atlantic 10, and based on Schertz and Avila’s history together, the offense should sing. The Billikens should be the preseason favorite to win the league.

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Jizzle James, Dan Skillings Jr., Simas Lukosius, Dillon Mitchell (transfer), Aziz Bandaogo

    Top reserves: Day Day Thomas, Connor Hickman (transfer), CJ Fredrick, Tyler Betsey (freshman), Tyler McKinley (freshman), Arrinten Page (transfer), Josh Reed

    Wes Miller had the 19th-best defense last season and quietly landed one of the most athletic fours in the country in Mitchell, who should make Cincy’s defense even better. It’s not going to be easy scoring in the paint against the length of Mitchell and Bandaogo, who are both pogo sticks. Mitchell was once thought to be a one-and-done, lottery-pick talent. He still has the measurables and athleticism to eventually turn into a pro, and maybe a new system and coach will help him reach his potential. The Bearcats were also in need of shooting, as Lukosius was the only real threat from deep last season once Fredrick was injured. They will benefit from Fredrick receiving a sixth year of eligibility and from Hickman, who averaged 14.5 points and shot 40.2 percent from 3 on a good Bradley team. James and Skillings both played their best ball late in the year; if they both make a leap, don’t be shocked if the Bearcats sneak into the top tier of a very deep Big 12.


    Zach Freemantle, shown here way back in 2020, should be healthy again for Xavier. (Joe Robbins / Getty Images)

    23. Xavier

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Dayvion McKnight, Dante Maddox Jr. (transfer), Ryan Conwell (transfer), Zach Freemantle, John Hugley IV (transfer)

    Top reserves: Trey Green, Dailyn Swain, Jerome Hunter, Marcus Foster (transfer), Lassina Traore (transfer), Cam’Ron Fletcher (transfer)

    Remember Freemantle? He averaged 15.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game on a team that was 17-5 and 9-2 in the Big East before he injured his foot two years ago. After two surgeries, Freemantle is healthy, and Sean Miller has surrounded him with one of the best portal classes in the country. Conwell, who averaged 16.6 points and shot 40.7 percent from 3 for Indiana State, is the up-transfer guard I have the most faith in translating to the high-major level. He has the athleticism and playmaking chops to make an impact. Miller has a good mix of playmakers and shooters on the perimeter and depth at every position.

    Previous: 25

    Projected starters: Lamont Butler (transfer), Kerr Kriisa (transfer), Koby Brea (transfer), Andrew Carr (transfer), Amari Willams (transfer)

    Top reserves: Otega Oweh (transfer), Collin Chandler (freshman), Brandon Garrison (transfer), Ansley Almonor (transfer), Travis Perry (freshman)

    It feels like Kentucky is a team full of really good complementary players without a star. But you could have said the same about BYU a year ago, and that team spent most of the year in the Top 25 and had one of the best offenses in college basketball. Mark Pope made it clear he loves shooting and landed two of the best shooters in the portal in Kriisa and Brea. Butler and Oweh give him some athleticism and defensive chops on the perimeter, and Williams and Garrison should do the same on the interior. The one guy who could end up turning into a star is Chandler, a four-star prospect in the 2022 class who spent the last two years on a mission trip. He could change the calculus. But Pope has proven himself as a strong X’s-and-O’s coach, and this is the deepest and most talented roster he’s ever had. Star or no star, this team is probably going to score the ball efficiently and win a lot of games.

    25. St. John’s

    Previous: NR

    Projected starters: Deivon Smith (transfer), Kadary Richmond (transfer), Aaron Scott (transfer), R.J. Luis, Vincent Iwuchukwu (transfer)

    Top reserves: Lefteris Liotopoulos (freshman), Zuby Ejiofor, Jaiden Glover (freshman), Simeon Wilcher, Brady Dunlap

    Rick Pitino landed two of the best point guards in the portal in Smith and Richmond. Both are ball-dominant guards, and it’s justified to question their fit together, but it’s also justified to bank on Pitino getting the absolute best out of them. Outside of Luis, who averaged 10.9 points after transferring from UMass last season, and Scott (11.0 points per game at North Texas) the roster is mostly unproven. But give Pitino an elite backcourt and a former highly-ranked center in Iwuchukwu, and I’m betting one of the best coaches in the history of the game will figure out a way to win. Those two guards would have been the best players on his team last season, and that group just barely missed the NCAA Tournament.

    Next up: Arkansas, UCLA, Louisville, Rutgers, Memphis, Creighton, Maryland, Saint Mary’s, Michigan State, Ohio State, West Virginia, Mississippi State, Georgia, Princeton, Texas, Providence

    (Top photos of Ryan Nembhard, Grant Nelson and Dajuan Harris Jr.: Mitchell Layton, Andy Lyons and Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

    The New York Times

    Source link

  • Ed Cooley needed a change. But can he bring change to Georgetown?

    Ed Cooley needed a change. But can he bring change to Georgetown?

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Every day, Ed Cooley puts on his headphones, turns on his music and goes for a walk. While an eclectic mix of Whitney Houston, New Edition, Luther Vandross and Lady Gaga plays, the coach winds his way off of the Georgetown campus. Eventually he comes to  the intersection of Prospect and M streets, where above him rise 75 concrete steps.

    Originally constructed in 1895, the steps became famous in 1973 when a celluloid creation by the name of Father Karras fell to his death after freeing a child from demonic possession. Now, 50 years later, Cooley makes the so-called “‘Exorcist’ steps” part of his daily hour-long jaunt. On a good day, he will loop around and summit them seven times.

    There is a metaphor available here, about how a man whom many in his hometown now consider the devil incarnate, needing to rid himself of bad vibes, goes for his daily pedestrian exorcism.

    Except Ed Cooley isn’t looking to exorcise. He just wants to exercise.

    This is the thing about Cooley, current Georgetown coach, former Providence coach, beloved son turned traitor. People want to ascribe all sorts of metaphors and motivations and evils for his decision to leave one Big East school for another. And in their defense, there’s reason to search for a deeper cause.

    In 1979, when Dave Gavitt – a Providence man himself – started the Big East, he delivered one edict to his seven feisty coaches: Scream and holler all you want in private, but publicly, have each other’s backs. For 44 years, as the league expanded and compressed, died and was reborn, the coaches heeded their commissioner’s warning. They protected and preached the brand. While other coaches exchanged one league job for another without so much as a second glance, no one left one Big East school for another.

    And now here is Cooley. He was not Rick Pitino 2.0, twice leaving and entering the conference decades apart. He went directly from one founding member to another.

    He had it all. A program on the come, with seven NCAA Tournament berths in the last nine years. A four-year-old practice facility. A devoted fan base.

    He rejected all of it. Turned his nose at the hardscrabble team that worked its way into an elite program to go to a once-elite team that worked its way into a shambles. Gave up on a team that won 27 Big East games in the last two years in favor of one that won two. Exchanged the Dominicans for the Jesuits, for heaven’s sake.

    There has to be a reason. Chasing money, chasing glory, dysfunction, disloyalty, arrogance. Something.

    Sitting in a conference room where remnants from the preceding coach’s tenure stand like Stonehenge  – ridiculously oversized gray leather chairs that make ordinary people look like toddlers at the adult table – Cooley knows people want an explanation. And he has one. It’s just not the profound monologue they might be searching for.

    Cooley opens his hands wide, raises his eyebrows and shrugs. “I needed a change,’’ he says.

    From 14 Elma St., take a quick left on Broad, a right on Sassafras and head to the end of the block, to 117. Not even a half mile between the two, and yet this served as the entire world for Ed Cooley. Elma is where he lived, where his mother, Jane, did her best to raise nine kids on her own. Sassafras is where he was raised, where the Searight family took him in, fed him and showed him a way out.

    He eventually left – for college, for assistant coaching jobs, his first head-coaching gig and then his second – but in a peripatetic profession, Cooley did the impossible. He climbed up the ladder yet never really left his base. A job at Fairfield gave him his longest commute, a mere 120 miles away. And then, of course, he came back: the Providence son in charge of Providence College. The boy from Elma Street, who meandered his way down Broad dreaming big dreams, grabbed the brass ring. “I’m not looking to win and go someplace else,’’ he said then, in 2011. “I’m happy where I’m at. I’m home.’’

    Cooley, wearing a Georgetown T-shirt, recalls that vow now and winces. “Never use the word ‘never,’’’ he says. “Never is forever and that would be the mistake I made. Never comes back to haunt you.’’

    It’s not that he didn’t mean it. He did. What he didn’t account for is that 41-year-old Ed Cooley might not want the same thing as 54-year-old Ed Cooley. There can be true joy in living in the same city you’ve known your whole life, reconnecting with childhood mentors and friends, visiting old haunts and eating at favorite restaurants. Yet there can also be, especially as a person ages, the existential terror of, Is this all there is? Should I do more? Want more?

    Cooley didn’t see it coming in 2011, but he started to feel it in recent years. At first an itch, and then eventually a tug. Four years ago, he called his friend, Mark Fox, about an opening he was more than just a little curious about. The two have been pals for decades, and because Fox has jumped from Nevada to Georgia to Cal, he’s been a good sounding board for Cooley. Back then Fox told him no, this wasn’t the right one to move on to. But when Cooley called about Georgetown, Fox had a different answer.

    “Jay Wright always says, ‘Don’t mess with happy,’’’ says Fox, who has since joined his buddy as Georgetown’s director of student-athlete relations and name, image and likeness (NIL) partnerships. “And there’s definitely something to that. But sometimes maybe you do mess with happy, because you’re addicted to the challenge of accomplishment. Ed is an obsessive competitor, and I think that’s a big part of this.’’

    Cooley could have stayed at Providence and ended up with a statue outside the Dunkin Donuts Center. But coaches are wired weird – blessed with the confidence and ego to believe they can manifest real change, yet in desperate need of affirmation and success and tormented by the impossible quest for perfection. The only satisfied coach is the one holding the championship trophy at the end of the season. Even that joy has a short shelf life. There’s always next season.

    In 12 seasons, Cooley turned an upstart program clinging to its 1987 Final Four laurels into a player. The Friars went from sporadic NCAA Tournament berths to regular bid winners. They reached a Sweet 16. Won a Big East title. Two years ago, they climbed as high as No. 8 in the country and finished 13th. He had not yet checked every box; the regional semifinal remained Providence’s high-water mark. But if he wasn’t at the Providence summit, Cooley certainly could see it.

    Now here sat Georgetown – Georgetown – asking for his help. Once the defining face of the Big East, the Hoyas had not finished above .500 in the league since 2015, had just one winning season overall in that span. “There are certain times in your life where you want to challenge yourself,’’ Fox says.

    It didn’t hurt that Cooley’s youngest child – daughter Olivia – just graduated from Georgetown and is living in D.C. Being a Division I head coach and present parent tend to be mutually exclusive, and though Cooley couldn’t undo the past, he thought maybe he could amend the present and improve the future. That played a part – a big part, Cooley says.

    But he also says this: “If you do the history of national championships, how many schools have actually won a national championship? Take away the blue bloods who have multiple. How many?” The answer, after removing schools with two or more, is 21 since 1939. The list includes Georgetown. It does not include Providence. Can the Friars win one? Why not? The rebirth of Villanova proves it can be done. Is it, however, easier to envision at Georgetown – where a history of success and name brand combines with a fertile recruiting base and deep-pocketed alums ready to help in the NIL department.

    So he left, he and his wife, Nurys, packing their clothes, two credenzas and their bed for a clean slate. Cooley hates the hurt he’s caused, especially since the vitriol spills from a place he loves more than any other in the world. “But I get it. I really do,’’ he says. “The only thing I ask is one day maybe for some understanding. Until you sit in my seat, be careful what you judge, because one day you might find yourself in the exact same place as I did.’’


    In Cooley’s 12 seasons as Providence coach, the Friars The Friars reached a Sweet 16, won a Big East title, and two years ago climbed as high as No. 8 in the country. (Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images)

    Early into the third year of his tenure, in 1974, at Georgetown, John Thompson Jr. arrived at his own McDonough Gym for a game against Saint Peter’s. The Hoyas had skidded to a four-game losing streak, and fans, unsure that the untested high school coach was the right choice to lead Georgetown, had grown restless with Thompson. As the Hoyas headed toward another loss, a fan in the rafters unfurled a banner. “Thompson the (n–) Flop Must Go.’’

    That doesn’t leave a man; it shapes him. And for the next two decades, even as Thompson led Georgetown to a national title and three Final Fours, he never forgot that he was initially made to feel like an outsider. His instinct, thereby, was to protect. He lodged his teams in far-flung hotels on road trips, and forced reporters to choose between interviewing him or his players – the locker room opening only after he arrived at the dais, and closing immediately after he finished speaking. “Hoya Paranoia,’’ Washington Post reporter Mark Asher called it. Eventually it would be something of a double entendre, as opponents became wary of the fiercest team in college basketball. But Asher coined it more to describe Georgetown’s isolationism.

    After Thompson retired, the job passed through his tree – first to his long-time assistant (Craig Esherick), followed by his son (John Thompson III) and finally, his program-defining player (Patrick Ewing). Not surprisingly, things didn’t change much. Georgetown remained reticent, if not altogether cloistered, even as programs across the country swung open their doors to the world.

    Ewing especially welcomed the old-school coaching approach. He was never rude; just incredibly private. He had good reason to be wary. Despite Thompson’s attempts, nothing could shield Ewing from the evil that pursued him. At a news conference to announce he’d chosen to play for Georgetown, Ewing was greeted with hisses and boos from angry Boston businessmen who wanted him to go to Boston College. During a game at Villanova, fans threw banana peels as he took free throws and donned gorilla suits in the stands.

    Cooley grew up watching it all. He first met Thompson in high school, back when the Georgetown coach brought the Hoyas to Cooley’s Central High for practice. He remembers the coach coming over, squeezing his cheeks and predicting that he was going to do big things. As Cooley climbed the ladder, he always seemed to find Thompson in his orbit. At Fairfield, he promised Cooley, “You won’t be here long.”

    In 2014, when Cooley led Providence to a Big East tournament crown, he found Thompson on the opposite side of the court. A Providence grad himself, Thompson was on the radio for Westwood One. The two embraced and Thompson whispered in Cooley’s ear, “I’m so proud of you.’’

    In taking the Georgetown job, Cooley felt not just the immensity of the history, tradition and legacy of the program; he felt the immensity of being a Black man, and a disciple of Thompson’s, taking over the program that for so long defined Black excellence in athletics.

    But he also did not come to D.C. wearing the sepia-colored glasses of nostalgia. He knows he is there because, much like Cooley himself, the Hoyas need a change.

    In seven months, Georgetown basketball has essentially gone from impossible-to-find Waldo to Taylor Swift at a Chiefs game. Since March, Cooley has appeared on more than 100 Zooms, visited alums in New York City, San Francisco and Martha’s Vineyard. He’s shown up in the classroom, at a lacrosse doubleheader and outside the dorms on move-in day. In a town known for glad-handing, baby-kissing and stumping, Cooley is extreme. After finishing an interview, he is off to meet with the vice president of student affairs and the next day is taking his team to Capitol Hill.

    It is one thing to carry an air of aloof mystery when you are a regular Final Four participant; it is another altogether when you’ve won two Big East games in two years.

    The cycle of college athletics success requires fans to build a buzz to create a team that wins games to attract fans. The Hoyas last year averaged a little more than 5,000 fans per home game, and so Cooley has to make like a Cheap Trick lyric. I want you to want me. I need you to need me. I’d love you to love me.

    It helps that it comes naturally to him. “He can go up to anyone and start a conversation,’’ says Illinois transfer Jayden Epps. “He can take any room he walks into.’’ This is, after all, a man who coached an entire Big East tournament championship game with a Gatorade towel around his waist after splitting his pants. No one ever accused Cooley of being aloof.

    Now for the hard part: The actual basketball. No amount of connection  from Cooley will mask more lousy results. He does not sugarcoat it. The climb is steep, largely because the league is so good. The Big East will start the season with the defending national champion, more teams in the top 10 (three) than any other league in the country, and four in the Top 25.

    He has dipped deep into the transfer portal, a place where he is quite comfortable. In his first year at Providence, he took traditional sit-out transfer Carson Desrosiers from Wake Forest, and last year seven of the 14 Friars on the roster started somewhere else. At Georgetown, he grabbed Epps from Illinois, Dontrez Styles from North Carolina and Ismael Massoud from Kansas State. All three left considerably better programs than they joined; all three said they came because of Cooley. They liked his track record of success, but mostly felt drawn to his personality. “He’s high energy, and funny, but he’s also straight with you,’’ Styles says.

    At a recent practice, Cooley offers a quick breakdown of a recent scrimmage, mocking Styles’ lack of transition hustle. “You look like Kirk Gibson,’’ he says, and then self-corrects, realizing his players have no earthly idea who Gibson is. After a staffer finds video of the baseball star, Cooley stops practice and shows the Los Angeles Dodger belting his famous home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. “See that home run trot,’’ he jokes to Styles. “That’s you in transition.’’

    A few minutes later, disgusted when one team can’t run a drill properly, Cooley barks at them to get off “the f—ing floor and pay attention.’’ They get it right the next time. “He’s that guy – the one who is going to make sure you run everything to a T,’’ says Jay Heath, the Hoyas’ top returning scorer. “That’s only going to make us better.’’

    The players say they see improvement – even from the beginning of practice to the scrimmage. There is a stronger understanding of their strengths. The Hoyas, once the home of Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo, will be small, relying largely on Dikembe’s previously little-used son Ryan Mutombo, on the inside. But they hope they can make up for it with quickness and toughness, standard traits of Cooley-coached Providence teams. After their first season under Cooley, the Friars never dipped below 92 in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defense.

    The players are optimistic – they talk of immediate goals of winning Big East titles and deep NCAA runs. Cooley is more reticent to put quantifiers on what success will look like right away. Georgetown, he says, is the hardest job he’s had, because of the confluence of tradition, expectation and ground to make up.

    Hard, but not impossible. “It’s just going through the pain of growth,’’ he says. “But we’re going to win. It’s not a matter of if, it’s when. We’re here to win championships.”

    Cooley still isn’t quite settled in D.C. An in-town clothier helped solve an early suit crisis – he needed Georgetown blue, but only had Providence black. He’s learning about infamous D.C. traffic. Early on he figured he could cover the four miles to Gonzaga High School in five minutes. He checked his GPS and saw it was more like 40. He has yet to come up with a list of go-to restaurants, so most nights he just goes home after work.

    It’s an adjustment, especially coming from Providence, where he knew every nook and cranny, and had a ready-made list of lifelong friends and family. Does he miss it? “Of course I do,’’ he says. “I don’t know how to live in D.C. yet. We’re still figuring it out. But do I have regrets? Nope. Do I have what-ifs? Nope. This was the right thing for me. It was time.’’

    Time for a change.

    (Top image: John Bradford / The Athletic; Jacob Kupferman / Getty Images; Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)

    The New York Times

    Source link

  • College basketball coaching tiers 2023: Dan Hurley moves into Tier 1, John Calipari falls

    College basketball coaching tiers 2023: Dan Hurley moves into Tier 1, John Calipari falls

    In a sport with 362 teams, one would have to be a dummy to attempt any contextualization of the hierarchy of the coaches who lead the game.

    Fortunately, we’re not one, but three, such dummies.

    This is Year 2 of The Athletic’s Men’s Basketball Coaching Tiers. (See last year’s here.) This exercise is meant to go beyond the subjectivity of a numeric coaching ranking or the inherent callousness of the dreaded annual Hot Seat list.

    Instead, we break down coaches into tiers, trying to find lines of demarcation among groups of coaches, then take those tiers to multiple authorities throughout college hoops, glean their opinions, tweak the tiers as necessary and share our findings with you.

    Is it a perfect method? No.

    Will you probably be angry about your favorite coach? Probably.

    But we’re trying.

    Criteria for inclusion span a few categories that, we think, encapsulate a picture of college basketball’s pecking order. Coaches rated here are required to fit the following qualifications:

    • All coaches from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.

    • Any coach from a non-“power” conference who has led his team to the NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons.

    • Any coach leading a program currently ranked in KenPom’s top 100 program rating.

    • Each must have coached a full season at the Division I level.

    • Each must be an active Division I coach.

    It must be said, there’s no science or unassailable consistency to our grading. As in, each tier doesn’t come with benchmark qualifications. A lot of this is based on feel, opinion, familiarity and some occasional admitted recency bias.

    Everything is debatable, and that’s partially the point.

    We reviewed these tiers with a former player-turned-analyst, an X’s and O’s guru, multiple former coaches, a high-profile grassroots director, a current university basketball administrator and a search firm head. All were granted anonymity in exchange for their candor. We took their opinions, used them to shape some of what you see here and will share with you some of their insight.

    There’s no exact definition of what makes a great coach — be it drawing up plays, in-game adjustments, scouting chops, recruiting, program leadership, player relations, etc. What matters most is arbitrary, hence our variant panel. Each agreed that the challenge of this task is the quantity, quality and variety of college basketball coaches. That, and, of course, the results.

    As one industry insider put it: “We are definitely in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, which is what makes this so hard. Fan bases not only don’t have a lot of patience; they don’t have a real appreciation for what people have done in the past.”

    So, now that it’s clear that this is an impossible task, let’s get to these infallible, incontrovertible tiers.

    Tier 1

    Coach Team

    Tony Bennett

    Scott Drew

    Mark Few

    Dan Hurley

    Tom Izzo

    Rick Pitino

    Kelvin Sampson

    Bill Self

    There’s no debating these are the best coaches in college basketball. There’s also no guarantee such status is indefinite. The tough decision was made this year to drop a coach from a certain public land-grant research university in Lexington, Ky., from the top tier (we’ll get to him shortly), while a new name has risen into this rare air.

    Multiple respondents referred to either Bill Self or Rick Pitino as the best coach in the game or said the two are worthy of being in a tier all of their own. A grassroots coach we highly respect called them “probably two of the greatest five college coaches ever.”

    We considered a 1A and 1B tier distinction, placing Self and Pitino on their own. Maybe that’s warranted — these are the only active coaches with multiple national championships — but separating the two coaches with the most, um, “complicated,” resumes just didn’t sit well.

    At the same time, that would be perfectly representative of our college basketball ecosystem, wouldn’t it?


    Bill Self is widely regarded as the best coach in the game. (Jay Biggerstaff / USA Today)

    It’s almost inarguable that Self has been the best coach at the highest level for some time. He’s widely regarded among fellow coaches as the best out of timeouts, dead balls and halftime. As one respondent who delves deep into Xs and Os and data analysis put it, Self is “the best combination of coaching and recruiting.”

    As for Pitino, yeah, it’s complicated, but there’s no questioning his place in the game. Does anyone expect anything other than immediate success at St. John’s? He just went 34-6 in league play during the last two years at Iona. Now he’s stacking talent in Queens. He wins everywhere.

    One former high-major coach suggested Izzo belongs in his own category on account of his 26 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. “Do you know how hard that is to do?” the coach said.

    Other names here should come as little surprise. Drew, Few, Sampson and Bennett are consistently among the best, most successful program leaders out there. Bennett’s staying power here, however, is starting to come into question.

    Since the COVID-19 cancellation of 2020, Virginia has won a pair of ACC championships but hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game and missed the dance entirely in 2022. That’s a tough stretch to swallow. Three of UVA’s last four NCAA Tournament appearances ended with first-round losses to UMBC, Ohio and Furman. The other resulted in a national title. It’s all hard to square.

    “I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” a player-turned-analyst said, “because he’s a really good coach, but I’m questioning Tony Bennett. … He’d be at the top of (Tier 2) for me.”

    Is that fair? This is one of the great difficulties in creating a caste system like this. Single-game NCAA Tournament results carry so much weight but are inherently fitful. As one high-major administrator said: “I really struggle judging people by any one result.”

    That brings us to Dan Hurley. Before March, the 50-year-old was 2-4 in NCAA Tournament games. He was most known for his last name and sideline hysterics. Then UConn beat Iona, Saint Mary’s, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Miami and San Diego State, and now, as far as this exercise goes, he’s among the best of the best.

    There was much discussion. The aforementioned administrator chalked this up as recency bias and countered, “Hasn’t John Calipari accomplished significantly more than Dan Hurley?” Yes, he has. Still, in the here and now, Calipari is treading water with one NCAA win in the last three years, while Hurley has built a sustainable rocket ship at UConn.

    “If Scott Drew’s there, if Kelvin Sampson’s there, if Mark Few is there,” said a former longtime high-major coach, “then Dan Hurley deserves to be there, too.”

    Should one title carry so much sway? Maybe not (where is Kevin Ollie, anyway?), but we’re buying this stock as a long-term name in a game looking to replace the likes of Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Bob Huggins, etc. If he doesn’t already, it won’t be long until Hurley fits the part.

    Tier 2

    Coach Team

    Rick Barnes

    Randy Bennett

    John Calipari

    Ed Cooley

    Mick Cronin

    Brian Dutcher

    Jim Larrañaga

    Greg McDermott

    Sean Miller

    Eric Musselman

    Nate Oats

    Matt Painter

    Bruce Pearl

    Shaka Smart

    Let’s get right at it: Calipari is the only coach with a national championship who is not in Tier 1. Go mad, Big Blue Nation. Reminiscent of this exercise a year ago, when we debated and dithered about Boeheim and Huggins, slotting Calipari proved tricky. He’s won and taken three schools to a Final Four — asterisks be damned. But none of that has happened in nine long years.

    Insiders argued both sides of the coin: that Kentucky has every available resource, but having every available resource makes it that much harder to realize outsized expectations; that Cal has been dogged for being a bad coach unfairly but sometimes schematically he’s not a great coach. One source called watching Kentucky last year “brutal,” while another argued, “he probably gets hated on too much.”

    The bottom line, as Cats fans know all too well, is there has been nearly a decade’s worth of disappointment — of stacked rosters moving on to the draft, but not moving on in the NCAA Tournament.

    “With the talent they have, it’s not good enough for Kentucky, and it’s not good enough for him,” an analyst said.

    The good news for Calipari: Nothing is forever, as the transiency of Tier 2 this year proves. Three coaches checked out, and six moved in — Shaka Smart, Greg McDermott, Nate Oats, Brian Dutcher, Jim Larrañaga and Randy Bennett.

    That the new entrants run from 46 (Smart) to 74 (Larrañaga) says pretty much everything about how this thing works. Adjusting to the evolution of the game, remaining relevant at various levels of programs and sustaining success are the secret sauce. Smart won at VCU and Texas, and now he has Marquette poised to challenge for a national title.

    McDermott, whom one analyst called “maybe the best offensive coach in the country,” steadily and consistently built has Creighton into a national program. He and Dutcher probably had their best squads in the COVID-19 canceled 2020 season, with the Bluejays winning the Big East and San Diego State sitting on a 30-2 record. Oats won at Buffalo and is now winning at Alabama, where fans only recently discovered the basketball arena. As for Bennett, he hasn’t had a losing season since his first year at Saint Mary’s. Were he not existing in the immense shadow of Gonzaga, who knows what his program could achieve?

    No one proves how to make success last better than Larrañaga. He has taken two non-traditional powers (George Mason and Miami) to the Final Four, while unabashedly embracing the sport’s new wave.

    “Talk about a guy in his 70s who changed his whole philosophy,” one grassroots coach said. “He didn’t hesitate jumping on the NIL.”

    A final note on the transiency of Tier 2: moving up and on is also a possibility, and if anyone is poised for the jump, it’s Matt Painter. Plenty of insiders thought he should be in Tier 1 already, citing his playcalling acumen and ability to identify and develop players who suit Purdue.

    “In the sense of longevity, consistency, reinvention, winning with lesser talent, development,’’ one former coach said. “Outside of that recency bias of the game last year, I just think he’s that good.”

    The catch, of course, is how to measure March success — or in this case, lack of success. If Calipari is held to that standard, Painter probably needs to be, too.

    “I love Paint, so my instinct is to say he’s among the best coaches in the game,” an administrative source said. “And he is, but this is probably the right spot for him. Results-wise, there are a lot of similarities between him and (Xavier’s) Sean Miller, and there have been some very average years in there.”

    Tier 3

    Coach Team

    Dana Altman

    Chris Beard

    John Becker

    Hubert Davis

    Darian DeVries

    Jamie Dixon

    Andy Enfield

    Greg Gard

    Dennis Gates

    Leonard Hamilton

    Chris Holtmann

    James Jones

    Matt Langel

    Tommy Lloyd

    Dusty May

    Fran McCaffery

    Grant McCasland

    Ritchie McKay

    Niko Medved

    TJ Otzelberger

    Steve Pikiell

    Mike Rhoades

    Bob Richey

    Jon Scheyer

    Jerome Tang

    Brad Underwood

    Kevin Willard

    Buzz Williams

    Mike Young

    Large group. A wide array of circumstances. A wide array of conclusions.

    Such as: What in the world do you do with Chris Beard?

    Career .701 win percentage, a national championship game appearance, assembled a Texas roster that won 29 games and lost in the Elite Eight last season.

    “He’s just too good,” an industry source said. “He’s got too many answers for too many things.”

    Beard also lost his dream job after an arrest following a domestic incident, after which Ole Miss threw him a lifeline.

    “He gets the most out of his players, wherever he is,” the analyst said. “But it’s fair to ask if the other stuff counts. If it’s strictly basketball, he’s Tier 2. With the other stuff, that matters because it affects doing your job.”

    And then there’s Hubert Davis. One season, it’s a run to the national championship game. The next, it’s one of the most disappointing seasons in recent men’s college basketball history. Add to that the concern that he has strayed too far from what made North Carolina great, at least according to those watching from afar.

    “There’s really not similarities to the old Carolina Way, with the way that they play,” an industry source said.

    Davis has five-star guard Elliot Cadeau on campus, plus a 2024 recruiting class currently featuring two national top-10 prospects.

    “He’s a tricky one,” the former coach said. “He has a lot to prove still. Can he run the type of program he’s been given? I think he can, but he hasn’t yet. Not consistently. And I’m not talking about getting to the Final Four. I’m talking about making the (NCAA) Tournament.”


    Year 3 will be an important one for Hubert Davis. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

    Some of these coaches — Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams and Maryland’s Kevin Willard, in particular — were deemed to be on the cusp of seasons that demand reassessment in a good way. Some of them — the Big Ten trio of Brad Underwood, Greg Gard and Chris Holtmann — could use a jolt of high-level success in March, at least according to the sources The Athletic spoke to for feedback. And there was some mystification regarding one coach in particular.

    “It’s amazing to me that nobody’s hired John Becker,” the grassroots coach said. “Just literally amazing.”

    Vermont’s coach has a .712 win percentage in 12 seasons and six straight regular-season conference titles. Becker is almost certainly at the point in his career where he would take on a challenge at a higher level. But that call has yet to come.

    “He’s done an incredible job,” the administrative source said. “The resources they have at Vermont relative to the rest of the league are good but still lacking at the same time. He really struggles to get (quality) games scheduled based on their region and their sustained success. But they just win over and over and over again.”

    Tier 4

    Coach Team

    Amir Abdur-Rahim

    Steve Alford

    Kenny Blakeney

    Tad Boyle

    Mike Boynton

    Bryce Drew

    Steve Forbes

    Joe Golding

    Anthony Grant

    Penny Hardaway

    Ray Harper

    Eric Henderson

    Shaheen Holloway

    Juwan Howard

    Chris Jans

    Robert Jones

    Pat Kelsey

    Andy Kennedy

    Eric Konkol

    Thad Matta

    Matt McMahon

    Wes Miller

    Porter Moser

    Ryan Odom

    Joe Pasternack

    Mark Pope

    Leon Rice

    Mark Schmidt

    Rob Senderoff

    Micah Shrewsberry

    Danny Sprinkle

    Jerry Stackhouse

    Damon Stoudamire

    Rodney Terry

    Mike Woodson

    Now it gets interesting. Or complicated. Here you have 35 coaches who could move up or down a tier and probably not draw too much pushback.

    Perfect examples — Porter Moser and Juwan Howard. It wasn’t long ago both were being hailed as rising stocks anyone would buy. Moser was mentioned for every opening in college basketball after vaulting Loyola Chicago to national prominence. Howard was mentioned for every NBA opening after making major waves at Michigan.

    Now? Moser is 34–33 in two years at Oklahoma, trying to find upward momentum in college basketball’s most brutal league. A 5-13 Big 12 mark in Year 2 of his six-year deal means a lot is riding on Year 3.

    As for Howard.

    “You had two lotto picks and Hunter Dickinson and couldn’t win? That’s a problem,” the analyst said of last year’s Michigan team. “I don’t think there’s been a lot of impressive X-and-O going on the last couple of years, and the end-of-game situations have been really poor.”

    Multiple respondents cited the oft-repeated line that Howard only won with John Beilein’s players. That’s not entirely accurate. Howard’s best team was a 2021 group that went 23-5 and reached the Elite Eight. Four of that team’s top six players (Franz Wagner, Dickinson, Mike Smith and Chaundee Brown) never played for Beilein. That said, things do need to turn around in Ann Arbor. Last season was bad, and judging by projections, this year could be worse.

    Moving up from Tier 5 are Jerry Stackhouse, Bryce Drew, Pat Kelsey, Ryan Odom, Joe Pasternack and Andy Kennedy. Micah Shrewsberry, meanwhile, after taking Penn State to the NCAA Tournament with a team built from spare portal parts, moves up two spots. No one in this entire exercise received as much universal praise as the new Notre Dame coach.

    “I was surprised Micah is not higher,” the grassroots coach said. “Micah, of anybody in Tier 4, could be in Tier 2 in the next year or two and Tier 1 for the next 15 years.”

    We received some pushback on Leon Rice. A few insiders noted that it’s absurd to produce his level of success at Boise State. One former coach said, “You could put Leon Rice in Tier 3, and nobody that follows basketball would doubt that.”

    Both Mike Boynton and Andy Enfield were highlighted as coaches who do good work that gets easily overlooked.

    It’s sort of forgotten now that Enfield did the impossible at Florida Gulf Coast and was considered a potential one-hit wonder when landing at USC. Did anyone envision him lasting 10 years there and winning at a .616 clip?

    And Boynton, at 41, remains a coach many are high on, despite some trying times at Oklahoma State, much of which was out of his control.

    “He’s had to handle an NCAA postseason ban that was wrongly administered,” a high-major administrator told us. “But his teams have been tough as nails. This is a guy I buy long-term. Every time I talk to him, I leave more impressed by him.”

    Tier 5

    Coach Team

    Tobin Anderson

    Jeff Boals

    Jeff Capel

    Speedy Claxton

    Chris Collins

    Johnny Dawkins

    Kim English

    Todd Golden

    Earl Grant

    John Groce

    Mitch Henderson

    Darrin Horn

    Martin Ingelsby

    Ben Jacobson

    Kevin Keatts

    Rob Lanier

    Shantay Legans

    Jeff Linder

    Steve Lutz

    Bob Marlin

    Paul Mills

    Chris Mooney

    Mike Morrell

    Scott Nagy

    Kyle Neptune

    Lamont Paris

    Richard Pitino

    Craig Smith

    Kyle Smith

    Preston Spradlin

    Drew Valentine

    Mike White

    It’s crowded in the middle, which makes sense, but there is a legitimate difference between how coaches got here. Some are on the rise like Kim English. After just two years at George Mason, he jumped directly to Providence — and straight to Tier 5.

    “I don’t know if it’s confidence or if it’s arrogance, but he is unafraid,” one industry source said. “And in that league, you gotta be that way. … I think he’s going to be toe-to-toe with those guys. I just respect him as a coach. There’s people that don’t like him, and I think that’s because he’s tough and there’s a confidence there. And there’s people that love him, and I think it’s because he’s tough, and there’s a confidence there. So is it confidence? Arrogance? Either way, it’s working.”

    People feel similarly about Tobin Anderson. From the outside, it might look like he’s simply catapulted himself off of one win — Fairleigh Dickinson’s epic 16-over-1 NCAA Tournament upset of Purdue — but people inside basketball point to his longevity outside of Division I. Anderson went 209-62 at St. Thomas Aquinas, reaching three Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight. Experts expect more of the same at Iona.

    “He has a unique style,’’ one analyst said. “Press all game, motion-centric offense. It’s a style shock when you play them.”

    Mitch Henderson earns similar praise at Princeton. The former Tigers player does not run Pete Carril’s fabled “Princeton offense” to a tee, but his variation works well.

    “I like Mitch Henderson a lot,” one insider said. “He’s got a very unique style of play, he’s got a very unique way about him. He probably doesn’t get enough credit because he really wants to be at Princeton.”


    This season should tell us whether Villanova’s Kyle Neptune is ready for the big time. (Kyle Ross / USA Today)

    Mixed in, however, with the coaches on the rise are the Tier 5 coaches who have now or have had Power 6 jobs and are either climbing the ladder for the first time or on their second round. Kyle Neptune fits the first group. The Villanova coach got the keys to the sport’s sweetest ride, but his team a year ago was beset by injuries to key players — Justin Moore and Cam Whitmore, namely — and earned something of a mulligan in Year 1. But now the Wildcats are healthy and have tapped into the transfer portal. The Villanova coach isn’t supposed to be in Tier 5.

    “They’re not going to give you a bunch of time to be good at Villanova,” one grassroots coach said simply.

    Then again, no one thought Pitt would give Jeff Capel much more time, either. Instead, athletic director Heather Lyke’s long-game plan paid off, as the Panthers doubled their win total and went back to the tourney last year. That moved Capel from Tier 6 to 5. He might not last long there.

    Sources don’t think Richard Pitino is long for New Mexico. In two seasons, he has turned the program into a 22-game winner, jumpstarting the Lobos and restarting his career.

    “He’s quietly done a really nice job,” one analyst said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up back at a high-major soon.”

    Perhaps the trickiest guy to figure out is Chris Collins. He jumped up a tier after taking Northwestern to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history. Sources laud his ability to do the darned near impossible in Evanston and his decision to surround himself with savvy coaches. More than one industry insider cited the addition of Chris Lowery to run the defense as a difference-maker for the Wildcats, who jumped from 73 to 22 in adjusted defense per KenPom with Lowery on the bench. But the question for Collins isn’t about what he has done, it’s about what more can he do.

    “You were right to move him up one, but I don’t think he’ll ever go higher than this in that job,” the administrative source said. “It’s so hard. Think about it. He’s gotten Northwestern to the NCAA Tournament more than the rest of the planet.”

    Tier 6

    Coach Team

    Griff Aldrich

    Brad Brownell

    Fred Hoiberg

    Bobby Hurley

    Johnny Jones

    Dustin Kerns

    Brad Korn

    Kevin Kruger

    Mark Madsen

    Tony Stubblefield

    Dedrique Taylor

    It’s a bit of a limbo level, with some of the coaches doing enough to avoid any true employment peril while also not exactly filling the fan base with rampant optimism.

    Bobby Hurley, for example, is 141-113 overall at Arizona State and just received a two-year contract extension through 2026 after leading the Sun Devils back to the NCAA Tournament.

    “That’s a really hard job,” the former coach said. “I don’t know why it is, but it is. Think of all the head coaches who have gone through there. Bill Frieder left Michigan because he thought that was going to be a good job. Herb Sendek went there. That to me is a very hard job.’’

    If there’s true upward mobility in the group, it manifests in Appalachian State’s Dustin Kerns. The 70-58 record in Boone maybe isn’t eye-catching … but how Kerns operates is, at least to a couple of sources The Athletic contacted.

    “It’s not exactly a great basketball job,” the grassroots coach said. “And he’s been to the NCAA Tournament, and he’s recruited well.”

    Said an industry source: “You could easily put him in Tier 5. Innovative system. Very good situationally. Makes players better. It’s guys like that, that are going to be hurt as it moves on down the line — the better he makes his players, the more they’re going to leave. But he’s one jump away from a higher league.”

    Tier 7

    Coach Team

    Dan Engelstadt

    Jerod Haase

    Mike Hopkins

    Ben Johnson

    Kenny Payne

    Wayne Tinkle

    “So these are the guys basically getting fired next year, right?” That’s how one industry insider categorized Tier 7, and well, yes. That’s where we are, with the coaches who desperately need to find some semblance of success to stay employed.

    The question here isn’t if it’s bad — that’s obvious. It’s why. In some cases — Jerrod Haase at Stanford, Wayne Tinkle at Oregon State — the jobs are not easy. Then again, it’s not going to get easier for Haase if he’s around when the Cardinal move to the ACC. Tinkle did make the bubble Elite Eight in 2021 — “It’s crazy how quickly perceptions and narratives can change,” one administrative source said. Then again, he followed that up with three- and 11-win seasons.

    Mike Hopkins and Kenny Payne have, on the other hand, been gifted strong programs with a history of success. Hopkins, the former longtime Boeheim assistant, started hot by winning Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors his first two seasons and winning the league regular-season title in his second season. That year, however, was the last the Huskies made it to the NCAA Tournament, a run of diminishing returns. Hopkins’ staunch commitment to his old boss’ defense seems to be part of the problem.

    “I’ve heard a couple coaches make fun of that zone they play,” one analyst said. “It’s just so hard to play 2-3 with the way 3-point shooting is in this day and age.”

    With a new athletic director in town, Hopkins certainly needs to get things right in a hurry.

    As does Payne. It may seem premature to turn on the flames under Payne’s seat. He’s only in his second season at Louisville and inherited a team that has been through a thing or two. Except …

    “I had one of their games, and I think it was the worst shootaround I’ve ever witnessed,” one analyst said. “It was shocking. Messing up the scouting report, guys running into each other, not knowing what they were doing on drills. It was a disaster.”

    The Cardinals lost by an average of 11.9 points per game, including by plus-20 six times and more than 30 twice. The entire season was an abject disaster.

    (Illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic; Photos of Greg McDermott, John Calipari and Rick Pitino: Justin Casterline, Porter Binks and Rob Carr / Getty Images)

    The New York Times

    Source link