Best Current Coaches without an NCAA Title

• SportsAndLady

  

  Give me your top 3? 5? 10?
  
  In order, I'm going
  
  Brad Stevens
  Thad Matta
  Mark Few
  Bob Huggins
  Jamie Dixon
• reclegend22

  

  1. My real No. 1 would be Rick Majerus, and not just for the same reason that everyone liked the last Batman. Majerus would be No 1 even if he weren't dead. Hands down IMO.
  
  1. Brad Stevens
  2. Bob Huggins (good call, Sports, I feel like many would overlook the Bear)
  3. Thad Matta
  4. Bo Ryan
  5. Sean Miller
  6. Tom Crean (with what he's done so quickly at Indian, I'm putting him on this list now before he cuts the nets down in the next couple of years)
  7. Bob McKillop (he almost reached the Final Four, but just doesn't have the resources to work with)
  8. Mark Few
• GOONx19

  

  Stevens
  Huggins
  Matta
  Tom Crean
  Buzz Williams
  Shaka Smart
  John Beilein
  JTIII
  Few
  
  Dixon is going nowhere near my list.
• reclegend22

  

  John Beilein is another good call. He's won everywhere he's been, has Michigan No. 3 in the country and took West Virginia to the brink of the Final Four with a mountain man named Pittsnoggle. He has proven he has the goods to win with elite talent and without it.
• Laley23

  

  God, this is tough, since I rank coaches more on titles/final fours than anything lol.
  
  In no order (I might come up with an order later):
  
  Shaka Smart
  Tom Crean
  Thad Matta
  Brad Stevens
  Mark Few
  Bob Huggins
  Anthony Grant
  Sean Miller
  GT3
  Bo Ryan
• SportsAndLady

  

  Yea i immediately regret dixon lol after looking up his recent numbers
• Laley23

  

  reclegend22;1340891 wrote:John Beilein is another good call. He's won everywhere he's been, has Michigan No. 3 in the country and took West Virginia to the brink of the Final Four with a mountain man named Pittsnoggle. He has proven he has the goods to win with elite talent and without it.

  I left Beilein off because of WAY to many down years. A top 10 coach should be making the NCAAs almost every year at a major conference unless they inherit crap when they take the (step up).
• reclegend22

  

  Laley23;1340898 wrote:I left Beilein off because of WAY to many down years. A top 10 coach should be making the NCAAs almost every year at a major conference unless they inherit crap when they take the (step up).

  Michigan wasn't exactly a world beater when Beilein arrived (sorry, Tommy). But I generally agree with this sentiment. This is why I can never take Billy Donovan or even Jim Calhoun seriously when they are put on the level of guys like Bobby Knight, Coach K and Dean Smith.
• SportsAndLady

  

  reclegend22;1340885 wrote:1. My real No. 1 would be Rick Majerus, and not just for the same reason that everyone liked the last Batman. Majerus would be No 1 even if he weren't dead. Hands down IMO.
  
  1. Brad Stevens
  2. Bob Huggins (good call, Sports, I feel like many would overlook the Bear)
  3. Thad Matta
  4. Bo Ryan
  5. Sean Miller
  6. Tom Crean (with what he's done so quickly at Indian, I'm putting him on this list now before he cuts the nets down in the next couple of years)
  7. Bob McKillop (he almost reached the Final Four, but just doesn't have the resources to work with)
  8. Mark Few

  Mark Few 8th wow rec, care to explain? Im a big MF fan
• reclegend22

  

  SportsAndLady;1340901 wrote:Mark Few 8th wow rec, care to explain? Im a big MF fan

  I think it's just the whole annual big Gonzaga build up and then annual big Gonzaga exit early in the tournament that leaves me desiring more from Few. He stepped into a rather perfect situation when Dan Monson left Spokane, coming off the heels of an Elite Eight run with a slew of stars coming back for the next two to three years. Casey Calvary. Richie Frahm. Matt Santangelo, Corey Violette, Zack Gourde, etc. Those guys then propelled the Zags to two more Sweet 16s in Few's first two seasons at the helm.
  
  Granted, Few deserves enormous credit for keeping Gonzaga (fucking Gonzaga) relevant and turning the school into a power. That right there makes Few a legend on the West Coast. But, since the last of the three straight Sweet 16s came in 2001, the Zags have reached the Sweet 16 just twice and never again got to the Elite Eight.
• Laley23

  

  reclegend22;1340900 wrote:Michigan wasn't exactly a world beater when Beilein arrived (sorry, Tommy). But I generally agree with this sentiment. This is why I can never take Billy Donovan or even Jim Calhoun seriously when they are put on the level of guys like Bobby Knight, Coach K and Dean Smith.

  I agree. But still made the tourney in his 2nd year and then another miss. He is good, no doubt. But I cant put him top 10 when you combined he only made the tourney 2/5 years at WVU also.
• reclegend22

  

  I guess the reason I put a guy like Bob McKillop ahead of Few is that Few has had legitimate All-Americans on his team pretty much every other year since 2000, and two NPOTY candidates on the 2002 team and another actual NPOTY on the 2006 team (Chevrolet Truck NPOTY lol). McKillop only had one such player, and yet, year after year, he turns out really, really good teams that play sound basketball.
• Laley23

  

  A list based on a combination of resume, longevity and what I actually think of your coaching ability. For the record, I wouldnt trade Crean for Stevens, but what Stevens has done at Butler trumps a Marquette Final Four for Crean, etc.
  
  1. Brad Stevens
  2. Bob Huggins
  3. Thad Matta
  4. Tom Crean
  5. Sean Miller
  6. Mark Few
  7. Anthony Grant
  8. Shaka Smart
  9. Bo Ryan
  10. JT3
• vball10set

  lots of excellent names on here, and it's hard to argue with any of them...my abbreviated list, inpo
  
  Matta, Few, Huggins, Thompson III, Stevens, Crean
• Mulva

  

  I think Few is overrated. He's obviously a good coach, but Gonzaga has gone from a Cinderella his first couple of years to a team that underachieves more than it overachieves in the last 4-6 years. Never been past the Sweet 16.
  
  Stevens and Matta would probably be my top 2. Howland has to be somewhere in the top 5. Built up Northern Arizona and then Pitt (back to back sweet 16s there and set the table for Dixon), and even with the recent struggles at UCLA (who was also garbage when he arrived) 3 straight Final Fours has to count for something.
  
  His resume is much better than Crean, JTIII (2 first round exits and an NIT in the past 4 years), Anthony Grant, etc.
• vball10set

  [INDENT]lots of excellent names on here, and it's hard to argue with any of them...my abbreviated list, inpo
  
  Matta, Few, Huggins, S. Miller, Stevens, Crean [/INDENT]
• reclegend22

  

  ccrunner609;1341381 wrote:Listing JTIII is a joke.

  While John Thompson III has done an admirable job of getting Georgetown back to the forefront of college basketball -- the program was in a major lull period during most of the Craig Esherick years and pretty much irrelevant -- I was very surprised to see so many people here list him. He's had very limited NCAA success for the top level talent he has had to work with in Landover. He reached the Final Four in 2007, but that's about it. Like Billy Donovan at Florida in the mid-2000s, JTIII has developed a notorious reputation for first or second round exits. I am not so sure that five straight years of not reaching the Sweet 16 at Georgetown is good enough.
  
  He's nowhere near the top ten, IMO.
• Laley23

  

  More convinced than ever Brad Stevens is #1. He is now 30-2 in his career with 6 or more days to prepare for a game. Remarkable.
• reclegend22

  

  If he ever does leave for a school like Indiana or UCLA where he could conceivably win an average of 30 games a year -- as great as he is, at Butler, there are still probably going to be a few 22 or 23 win seasons every few seasons due to a lower talent field -- Stevens will be well on his way to winning 1,000 games and challenging Coach K.
• Laley23

  

  reclegend22;1345486 wrote:If he ever does leave for a school like Indiana or UCLA where he could conceivably win an average of 30 games a year -- as great as he is, at Butler, there are still probably going to be a few 22 or 23 win seasons every few seasons due to a lower talent field -- Stevens will be well on his way to winning 1,000 games and challenging Coach K.

  This is going to sound homerish, but I believe it to be 100% true. At least at Butler, he is in Indiana/Indy. He can get the 2nd tier recruits after Indiana/Louisville/UK/etc pick over who they want and he will still field a loaded team. Indiana just produces way to many players every year. Often, they get overlooked because who wants to see 20 kids from Indiana ranked in the top 150?? But I contend a lot of those players get undervalued because of this reason. Kellen Dunham was 3rd in Mr. Basketball, IU recruited him, kid is seriously good. He wasnt ranked that high and goes to Butler because IUs class was full and no one else came in to swoop him up.
  
  Shit like that will happen yearly in Indiana, and if Butler keeps winning (they will), Stevens will be able to get some serious talent sprinkled in with the undervalued guys. A 2/3 star player from Indiana will be more fundamentally sound and know the game more than 4 stars from many states. Its been proven time and time again at Butler, Valpo, Indiana St and Evansville in recent memory.
• reclegend22

  

  Laley23;1345492 wrote:This is going to sound homerish, but I believe it to be 100% true. At least at Butler, he is in Indiana/Indy. He can get the 2nd tier recruits after Indiana/Louisville/UK/etc pick over who they want and he will still field a loaded team. Indiana just produces way to many players every year. Often, they get overlooked because who wants to see 20 kids from Indiana ranked in the top 150?? But I contend a lot of those players get undervalued because of this reason. Kellen Dunham was 3rd in Mr. Basketball, IU recruited him, kid is seriously good. He wasnt ranked that high and goes to Butler because IUs class was full and no one else came in to swoop him up.
  
  **** like that will happen yearly in Indiana, and if Butler keeps winning (they will), Stevens will be able to get some serious talent sprinkled in with the undervalued guys. A 2/3 star player from Indiana will be more fundamentally sound and know the game more than 4 stars from many states. Its been proven time and time again at Butler, Valpo, Indiana St and Evansville in recent memory.

  That's an interesting angle to think about. I don't usually follow high school rankings that closely, and certainly not Indiana high school basketball, so I don't know what type of talent is produced there yearly down the line. Obviously, there have been some huge names in the last few years in the form of McDonald's All-Americans and big-time college recruits coming out of the state (Gordon, Oden, Conley, the Zeller brothers, even the Plumlees from Warsaw, and many more), but your argument about Valpo, Butler and Indiana State benefitting from the rest of the kids in the state certainly would hold true based on a significant level of success over the last decade and half, dating back to Valpo's great NCAA run in 1998.
  
  So, are you saying that you think Stevens might very well stay at Butler? He certainly seems to be an excellent evaluator and developer of talent in his "price range," so to speak. Almost like a Billy Beane, in a way. Getting the guys that others look over. It's remarkable the success he has had and continues to have there. Butler is currently the best program in America not in the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big East or Arizona.
• Laley23

  

  reclegend22;1345504 wrote:That's an interesting angle to think about. I don't usually follow high school rankings that closely, and certainly not Indiana high school basketball, so I don't know what type of talent is produced there yearly down the line. Obviously, there have been some huge names in the last few years in the form of McDonald's All-Americans and big-time college recruits coming out of the state (Gordon, Oden, Conley, the Zeller brothers, even the Plumlees from Warsaw, and many more), but your argument about Valpo, Butler and Indiana State benefitting from the rest of the kids in the state certainly would hold true based on a significant level of success over the last decade and half, dating back to Valpo's great NCAA run in 1998.
  
  So, are you saying that you think Stevens might very well stay at Butler? He certainly seems to be an excellent evaluator and developer of talent in his "price range," so to speak. Almost like a Billy Beane, in a way. Getting the guys that others look over. It's remarkable the success he has had and continues to have there. Butler is currently the best program in America not in the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big East or Arizona.

  I dont necessarily think he will stay, just that I think he is in a stable situation more so than Shaka Smart per se. More so then Sean Miller was, etc etc etc. He can continue to win, imo, even with Indiana back on a national basis (lots of people thought Butler was good because IU was down).
  
  I just think year in year out Indiana produces the deepest talent pool in the country. They have stars, as you mentioned, but even guys who get undervalued like Coutrney Lee or George Hill (overlooked because Oden/Conley/McRoberts, etc). Look throughout the years at Xavier and Butler two of the better mid-majors. They are loaded with Indiana players.
• Azubuike24

  

  Steve Alford, New Mexico
  Randy Bennett, St. Mary's
  Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt
  
  Not saying these guys are easily top 10, but more names to throw into the pool of candidates.
• reclegend22

  

  Laley23;1345534 wrote:I dont necessarily think he will stay, just that I think he is in a stable situation more so than Shaka Smart per se. More so then Sean Miller was, etc etc etc. He can continue to win, imo, even with Indiana back on a national basis (lots of people thought Butler was good because IU was down).
  
  I just think year in year out Indiana produces the deepest talent pool in the country. They have stars, as you mentioned, but even guys who get undervalued like Coutrney Lee or George Hill (overlooked because Oden/Conley/McRoberts, etc). Look throughout the years at Xavier and Butler two of the better mid-majors. They are loaded with Indiana players.

  Haha at McRoberts. I didn't even think about mentioning him or being from Indiana, probably because I have completely erased him from my memory like Men in Black. Hated that guy with an intense hate.
• sleeper

  

  Thad Matta