Coach of the Year

[burnspbesq]

If the balloting closed today, it would be no contest. Craig Robinson is the guy.

Oregon State is one of the three least talented teams in the BCS conferences (along with Indiana and Colorado). For the Beavers to have eight wins, including conference road wins against Stanford and Cal, is nothing short of miraculous.

This is change you can believe in. God help the rest of the Pac-10 if he ever gets any players.

[chadlee989]

Coach K for the job he is doing with this team.

[dukemomLA]

Hate to say it, but I'd give the nod to Tubby Smith.

[Lavabe]

Coach K for the job he is doing with this team.

I'd be happy if he got Coach of the Year in the ACC.:)

[brevity]

TSN's Mike DeCourcy has devoted some ink (well, online ink) to this issue:

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=510573

He talks up Dino Gaudio, Jeff Capel, Brad Stevens (Butler), Bruce Weber, Jamie Dixon, and Mike Montgomery.

College hoops is rotating on a Big East/ACC axis right now, with Oklahoma the most notable exception. So it's going to come down to Capel, Dixon, and Gaudio. All three are shoo-ins for Coach of the Year in their respective conferences.

Craig Robinson is an interesting and somewhat newsworthy choice, but I think Oregon State is going to have to make the NCAA tournament. Then he'd be this year's Keno Davis. Right now, though, the Beavers are 8-10 (3-5). And while Tubby Smith has the Minnesota program on the rise, even a top 3 Big Ten finish may not give him enough attention.

Coach K is doing his annual thankless and consistent job, but note that Roy Williams is also not being discussed. Same fate with other perennials like Jim Calhoun and Tom Izzo. I know these parts don't take kindly to Williams and Calhoun, so be glad that NOBODY is talking about them.

Basically, the Coach award has taken on a Breakthrough or Most Improved dimension, and these guys just don't qualify for that anymore.

[chi]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3883371&sportCat=ncb

[1Devil]

As for ACC COY, I'm not seeing any coach that's head and shoulders more worthy than the others. When they try to figure this out, I guess they'll just start at the bottom. Hewitt's not getting it...and so on.

[gw67]

As of now, I would think that Hamilton would be neck and neck with Purnell for ACC COY. Florida State doesn't have the talent of Clemson and Wake (much less the high school All American laden teams at UNC and Duke) but he has them tied for 3rd in the ACC. If Maryland somehow makes the NCAAT, then Williams will deserve some consideration. He has less talent to work with than any other ACC coach.

gw67

[FerryFor50]

What about Lorenzo Romar at Washington? Picked to be 5th in the PAC-10 and is close to winning the conference.

[gumbomoop]

Nationally - Capel, probably. I think OK was generally picked pre-season at 12-20, so top 3-4 is a solid jump.

ACC - Well, as with the ACC POY and all-conf teams, still TBD. Some BIG IF scenarios: (1) If BC wins out, and gets a tie for 2d or 3d, frankly I'd say Al Skinner deserves it. They came from nowhere. (2) If Duke finishes 12-4, and UNC also loses at Blacksburg, then K actually deserves it, especially given mid-season funk, but he'll never get it. (3) If VT wins out [look at whom they'd beat after their funk], and ties for 2d/3d, Greenberg. (4) Most likely a 3-way-10-6-tie for 3d among Wake, Clemson, FSU, BC, in which case Hamilton, Purnell, Gaudio, or Skinner.

Repeat: everything TBD.

[eddiehaskell]

At this point in the season, I think K would need no more than 1 loss to be in the conversation.

[blueprofessor]

As of now, I would think that Hamilton would be neck and neck with Purnell for ACC COY. Florida State doesn't have the talent of Clemson and Wake (much less the high school All American laden teams at UNC and Duke) but he has them tied for 3rd in the ACC. If Maryland somehow makes the NCAAT, then Williams will deserve some consideration. He has less talent to work with than any other ACC coach.

gw67

but many FSU fans like their team a lot more than they like Hamilton's coaching in the "2 minute drill".The UNC game is one that comes to mind.

This does look like a year when none of the top 3 or 4 coaching jobs is outstanding compared to the others.

Best regards---Blueprofessor:)

[jimsumner]

Let me throw another name into the national hopper. Trent Johnson. I know, I know, the SEC sucks, blah, blah. But did anybody see this coming?

[flyingdutchdevil]

Let me throw another name into the national hopper. Trent Johnson. I know, I know, the SEC sucks, blah, blah. But did anybody see this coming?

True, the SEC sucks, but LSU is 12-1 in the SEC with a) a new coach, b) a former Final Four coach who couldn't win with the current roster, c) without their best player last year due declared for the draft, d) a former signee who opted out of his LOI to play in UCLA (I believe...) and e) no marquee names. Can any other coach in the nation come up with a list like that? I think Johnson deserves this award, fair and square.

[arydolphin]

Let me throw another name into the national hopper. Trent Johnson. I know, I know, the SEC sucks, blah, blah. But did anybody see this coming?

Johnson has done a great job with that team, but he may not even win Coach of the Year in his own conference, with the job that Darrin Horn is doing at South Carolina.

[DukieBoy]

Brad Stevens has to be up there in voting. Butler was picked to finish 5th in the preseason Horizon League standings, and last night they captured the title. They have been in the top 25 basically all year, and are starting like 3 sophomores, 1 freshman, and 1 jr I think. Really amazing to lose the amount of talent they lost last year in Graves, Green, Campbell, Betko and one other I forget, and still compete at such a high level.

[BulldogDancer81]

DukieBoy Butler starts 3 FRESHMEN, 1 Sophomore, and 1 junior. Yeah they've done pretty well for themselves this year. Stevens definitely deserves some votes for COY. It was hard to determine his coaching ability last year since he inherited such a veteran team but this year he has proven he can coach.

P.S. I'm a Butler grad so I know quite a bit about the Bulldogs.

[Kfanarmy]

Was the whole oregon state business a joke?

[jimsumner]

Here are the USBWA finalists for national COY

FWIW,

Mike Anderson, Missouri
John Calipari, Memphis
Jeff Capel, Oklahoma
Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh
Mike Montgomery, California
Stew Morrill, Utah State
Matt Painter, Purdue
Oliver Purnell, Clemson
Bill Self, Kansas
Brad Stevens, Butler

A pretty strange list. No Johnson, no Horn, no Skinner or Hamilton from the ACC. But Matt Painter? Calipari? Montgomery?

[roywhite]

Here are the USBWA finalists for national COY

FWIW,

Mike Anderson, Missouri
John Calipari, Memphis
Jeff Capel, Oklahoma
Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh
Mike Montgomery, California
Stew Morrill, Utah State
Matt Painter, Purdue
Oliver Purnell, Clemson
Bill Self, Kansas
Brad Stevens, Butler

A pretty strange list. No Johnson, no Horn, no Skinner or Hamilton from the ACC. But Matt Painter? Calipari? Montgomery?

Actually, Calipari seems like a good choice to me. The team had major personnel losses after last year's run to the finals, and they're back in contention again. Memphis is consistently very good; they certainly dominate their conference (admittedly not the best) and have done better in the postseason recently.

Additionally, Calipari is not afraid to make some bold lineup changes, as he did when he moved Tyreke Evans to the PG position.

Coach Cal may strike some as ethically challenged, but he's certainly done a very good job putting a team together.

[barjwr]

Might not be the best day to post this (since KU lost at Texas Tech last night), but Bill Self has taken a team that lost 6 of its top 7 from last year's champions to the top 10 this year--a year that didn't see them in the preseason top 25. They're in the lead in the Big XII--it's their regular season championship to lose--and they're doing it with a junior, 2 sophomores, and 2 freshmen in the starting lineup and mostly freshmen and sophomores from the bench (and one junior JuCo transfer).

Given our recent youth, I figure Duke fans would appreciate such success despite a lack of experience.