Low/Mid Major Coaches

[Hawg Red]

Obviously we're all looking around the coaching community right now. I'm going to be throwing some names in this thread as I do my research. I'll forgo mentioning Gregg Marshall. We're all familiar with him. I've also seen some talk of Archie Miller or Chris Holtmann (Butler), but I do not consider them to be mid-major coaches. The Big East and A-10 are basically high-majors in college basketball, though we might be able to pay more than either. (Note: I did include an A-10 coach in here due to the lack of familiarity some may have.)

To start off, here's a guy I haven't seen mentioned (perhaps with good reason): Monmouth's King Rice. Just turned 48. Played UNC in the late '80s/early '90s. Assistant coaching history at Oregon (Jerry Green), Illinois State (Kevin Stallings), Providence (Tim Welsh), and Vanderbilt (Kevin Stallings). He also took a break from college assistant coaching for a few years to head coach the national team for the Bahamas. Currently in his 6th season at Monmouth. Won 28 games last year (wins over UCLA, Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown, Rutgers). Didn't make the NCAAT because they lost a 3-point heartbreaker to Iona in their conference tournament championship game. Lost in the 2nd round of the NIT to eventual champion George Washington. They're clocking in at 20-5 currently and 12-2 in the MAAC, and on a 10-game winning streak. They took down Memphis in non-con action and lost by 1 point in OT vs South Carolina (Gamecocks DID have Thornwell in that game). He's a NY native and former PG for Dean Smith and those Tar Heel teams he played on went to 3 Sweet 16s and a Final 4. He's #3 all-time at UNC in assists. Former McDonald's All-American. Seems a guy that would want a bigger job up in the Northeast but you never know. This guy wouldn't obviously be a top target, but I like him based on what I've looked at. I think he could be a sneaky hire.

The next guy I'll mention is Randy Bennett at St. Mary's. Iceman has brought him up in the past. He is a guy that just strikes me as a West Coast guy, but again, you never know. He's 54, so now's the time for him to make the move to the high-majors if he's going to. His assistant coaching career is mostly schools out West like San Diego and Pepperdine. He was assistant for Lorenzo Romar when he was at Saint Louis. Also was an assistant for Tim Floyd at Idaho before that. Obviously he's done a fantastic job at St. Mary's. This will be their 10th straight season in either the NCAA or NIT tournament. 5 NCAA tournament appearances with one Sweet 16. You can reasonably expect the Gaels to be somewhere around 25 wins year in and year out. Again, I'd have to think he's waiting on a Pac-12 job if he's even wanting to move on. Definite coaching upgrade, though, if something were to happen.

This next guy is probably the most likely to have some regional recruiting ties. Will Wade at VCU  has been pretty successful in his 4 years as a head coach he went 27-7 in Southern Conference league play is two years there to start his career before moving on to VCU. The Rams were 25-11 (14-4) last season in his first year on the job, losing by 4 to 2 seed Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA tournament after knocking off Oregon State. They are currently 18-5 (8-2) in the A-10. Wade turned 34 in November and he's a Nashville, TN native. Graduated from Clemson and got started there under Oliver Purnell before moving to Harvard (Tommy Amaker) and VCU (Shaka Smart) as an assistant coach. Young guy that will make many nervous but there's a lot of potential there.

UNC-Wilmington's Kevin Keatts is a product of the Rick Pitino coaching tree. The 44 year old in his 3rd season at UNCW, and has them improving year-over-year. He has previous assistant coaching spots at Hargrave Military Academy and Southwestern Michigan. He was also the head coach at Hargrave from 2003-2011. Helllllllo, recruiting! The Seahawks have been the CAA regular season champions in both of his complete seasons there and they won the conference tournament last year. He's been Coach of the Year both years. They're currently 21-4 and 10-2 in league play.

[HawgAdvocate]

I don't see Arkansas considering any coach that doesn't have a previous connection to either the state of Arkansas, the western part of the SEC, mid-American mid-major success, and/or a top assistant that comes from a power program in the SEC, Big 12, or ACC.

Find a coach who can sell our AD on being able to sign impact regional recruits from Dallas, Houston, STL, Tulsa, and/or KC, and that'll be our best bet.

[Hawg Red]

I don't see Arkansas considering any coach that doesn't have a previous connection to either the state of Arkansas, the western part of the SEC, mid-American mid-major success, and/or a top assistant that comes from a power program in the SEC, Big 12, or ACC.

Find a coach who can sell our AD on being able to sign impact regional recruits from Dallas, Houston, STL, Tulsa, and/or KC, and that'll be our best bet.

Yeah, that doesn't describe anyone I mentioned, but I think any of those would be good hires. That may be over-simplifying it, though. Lot of variables. I just started by looking at the nationally relevant (ranked or receiving votes) mid-majors from the polls. I'll get to our region and some more logical candidates.

One good thing about our recruiting situation now is that a new coach would have some time to build relationships without having to fill a class for a while. Only 3 total spots open between the 2017, 2018 and 2019 classes. Of course, that's assuming no attrition, which we know will not be the case. But it lessens the burden if they can keep all of the recruits in tact.

[The_Iceman]

I don't see Arkansas considering any coach that doesn't have a previous connection to either the state of Arkansas, the western part of the SEC, mid-American mid-major success, and/or a top assistant that comes from a power program in the SEC, Big 12, or ACC.

Find a coach who can sell our AD on being able to sign impact regional recruits from Dallas, Houston, STL, Tulsa, and/or KC, and that'll be our best bet.

Unless that coach assembles a staff made of regional coaches with strong recruiting ties.

[HawgAdvocate]

Unless that coach assembles a staff made of regional coaches with strong recruiting ties.

That would be an assistant coaching dream team. There's too much nepotism involved in coaching to expect a mediocre Arkansas program to be able to pull that off.

[daprospecta]

Obviously we're all looking around the coaching community right now. I'm going to be throwing some names in this thread as I do my research. I'll forgo mentioning Gregg Marshall. We're all familiar with him. I've also seen some talk of Archie Miller or Chris Holtmann (Butler), but I do not consider them to be mid-major coaches. The Big East and A-10 are basically high-majors in college basketball, though we might be able to pay more than either. (Note: I did include an A-10 coach in here due to the lack of familiarity some may have.)

To start off, here's a guy I haven't seen mentioned (perhaps with good reason): Monmouth's King Rice. Just turned 48. Played UNC in the late '80s/early '90s. Assistant coaching history at Oregon (Jerry Green), Illinois State (Kevin Stallings), Providence (Tim Welsh), and Vanderbilt (Kevin Stallings). He also took a break from college assistant coaching for a few years to head coach the national team for the Bahamas. Currently in his 6th season at Monmouth. Won 28 games last year (wins over UCLA, Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown, Rutgers). Didn't make the NCAAT because they lost a 3-point heartbreaker to Iona in their conference tournament championship game. Lost in the 2nd round of the NIT to eventual champion George Washington. They're clocking in at 20-5 currently and 12-2 in the MAAC, and on a 10-game winning streak. They took down Memphis in non-con action and lost by 1 point in OT vs South Carolina (Gamecocks DID have Thornwell in that game). He's a NY native and former PG for Dean Smith and those Tar Heel teams he played on went to 3 Sweet 16s and a Final 4. He's #3 all-time at UNC in assists. Former McDonald's All-American. Seems a guy that would want a bigger job up in the Northeast but you never know. This guy wouldn't obviously be a top target, but I like him based on what I've looked at. I think he could be a sneaky hire.

The next guy I'll mention is Randy Bennett at St. Mary's. Iceman has brought him up in the past. He is a guy that just strikes me as a West Coast guy, but again, you never know. He's 54, so now's the time for him to make the move to the high-majors if he's going to. His assistant coaching career is mostly schools out West like San Diego and Pepperdine. He was assistant for Lorenzo Romar when he was at Saint Louis. Also was an assistant for Tim Floyd at Idaho before that. Obviously he's done a fantastic job at St. Mary's. This will be their 10th straight season in either the NCAA or NIT tournament. 5 NCAA tournament appearances with one Sweet 16. You can reasonably expect the Gaels to be somewhere around 25 wins year in and year out. Again, I'd have to think he's waiting on a Pac-12 job if he's even wanting to move on. Definite coaching upgrade, though, if something were to happen.

This next guy is probably the most likely to have some regional recruiting ties. Will Wade at VCU  has been pretty successful in his 4 years as a head coach he went 27-7 in Southern Conference league play is two years there to start his career before moving on to VCU. The Rams were 25-11 (14-4) last season in his first year on the job, losing by 4 to 2 seed Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA tournament after knocking off Oregon State. They are currently 18-5 (8-2) in the A-10. Wade turned 34 in November and he's a Nashville, TN native. Graduated from Clemson and got started there under Oliver Purnell before moving to Harvard (Tommy Amaker) and VCU (Shaka Smart) as an assistant coach. Young guy that will make many nervous but there's a lot of potential there.

UNC-Wilmington's Kevin Keatts is a product of the Rick Pitino coaching tree. The 44 year old in his 3rd season at UNCW, and has them improving year-over-year. He has previous assistant coaching spots at Hargrave Military Academy and Southwestern Michigan. He was also the head coach at Hargrave from 2003-2011. Helllllllo, recruiting! The Seahawks have been the CAA regular season champions in both of his complete seasons there and they won the conference tournament last year. He's been Coach of the Year both years. They're currently 21-4 and 10-2 in league play.

The only coach mentioned here who I would think even has a shot would be Randy Bennett but they play so slow. I'm talking slower than Health slow. They have had a successful program for years though.

[revolution]

Obviously we're all looking around the coaching community right now. I'm going to be throwing some names in this thread as I do my research. I'll forgo mentioning Gregg Marshall. We're all familiar with him. I've also seen some talk of Archie Miller or Chris Holtmann (Butler), but I do not consider them to be mid-major coaches. The Big East and A-10 are basically high-majors in college basketball, though we might be able to pay more than either. (Note: I did include an A-10 coach in here due to the lack of familiarity some may have.)

To start off, here's a guy I haven't seen mentioned (perhaps with good reason): Monmouth's King Rice. Just turned 48. Played UNC in the late '80s/early '90s. Assistant coaching history at Oregon (Jerry Green), Illinois State (Kevin Stallings), Providence (Tim Welsh), and Vanderbilt (Kevin Stallings). He also took a break from college assistant coaching for a few years to head coach the national team for the Bahamas. Currently in his 6th season at Monmouth. Won 28 games last year (wins over UCLA, Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown, Rutgers). Didn't make the NCAAT because they lost a 3-point heartbreaker to Iona in their conference tournament championship game. Lost in the 2nd round of the NIT to eventual champion George Washington. They're clocking in at 20-5 currently and 12-2 in the MAAC, and on a 10-game winning streak. They took down Memphis in non-con action and lost by 1 point in OT vs South Carolina (Gamecocks DID have Thornwell in that game). He's a NY native and former PG for Dean Smith and those Tar Heel teams he played on went to 3 Sweet 16s and a Final 4. He's #3 all-time at UNC in assists. Former McDonald's All-American. Seems a guy that would want a bigger job up in the Northeast but you never know. This guy wouldn't obviously be a top target, but I like him based on what I've looked at. I think he could be a sneaky hire.

The next guy I'll mention is Randy Bennett at St. Mary's. Iceman has brought him up in the past. He is a guy that just strikes me as a West Coast guy, but again, you never know. He's 54, so now's the time for him to make the move to the high-majors if he's going to. His assistant coaching career is mostly schools out West like San Diego and Pepperdine. He was assistant for Lorenzo Romar when he was at Saint Louis. Also was an assistant for Tim Floyd at Idaho before that. Obviously he's done a fantastic job at St. Mary's. This will be their 10th straight season in either the NCAA or NIT tournament. 5 NCAA tournament appearances with one Sweet 16. You can reasonably expect the Gaels to be somewhere around 25 wins year in and year out. Again, I'd have to think he's waiting on a Pac-12 job if he's even wanting to move on. Definite coaching upgrade, though, if something were to happen.

This next guy is probably the most likely to have some regional recruiting ties. Will Wade at VCU  has been pretty successful in his 4 years as a head coach he went 27-7 in Southern Conference league play is two years there to start his career before moving on to VCU. The Rams were 25-11 (14-4) last season in his first year on the job, losing by 4 to 2 seed Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA tournament after knocking off Oregon State. They are currently 18-5 (8-2) in the A-10. Wade turned 34 in November and he's a Nashville, TN native. Graduated from Clemson and got started there under Oliver Purnell before moving to Harvard (Tommy Amaker) and VCU (Shaka Smart) as an assistant coach. Young guy that will make many nervous but there's a lot of potential there.

UNC-Wilmington's Kevin Keatts is a product of the Rick Pitino coaching tree. The 44 year old in his 3rd season at UNCW, and has them improving year-over-year. He has previous assistant coaching spots at Hargrave Military Academy and Southwestern Michigan. He was also the head coach at Hargrave from 2003-2011. Helllllllo, recruiting! The Seahawks have been the CAA regular season champions in both of his complete seasons there and they won the conference tournament last year. He's been Coach of the Year both years. They're currently 21-4 and 10-2 in league play.

Hmmm.  I wouldn't be negative about any of those.

Bennett is the most proven, so I'd put him first from your list.

Then Keatts, Rice, Wade.

Wondering if Wade is just living off of Shaka Smart's foundation.

[The_Iceman]

Hmmm.  I wouldn't be negative about any of those.

Bennett is the most proven, so I'd put him first from your list.

Then Keatts, Rice, Wade.

Wondering if Wade is just living off of Shaka Smart's foundation.

That VCU program has kind of been running itself for awhile. Not a ton of coaching success out of there once they leave.

[hobhog]

Our two most successful coaches came from schools in this category. The days of luring proven big program coaches has passed due to our mediocrity lately.

And style of play makes zero difference to me. Fast. Slow. Whatever. Just dance.

[Hawg Red]

Our two most successful coaches came from schools in this category. The days of luring proven big program coaches has passed due to our mediocrity lately.

And style of play makes zero difference to me. Fast. Slow. Whatever. Just dance.

I really think this is where we will find our next coach -- the mid-major ranks. Hopefully it won't be a scramble like with Pelphrey. Dana Altman was a mid-major coach at the time as well. There are good coaches to be found. We just have to hope Long drowns out the noise and really evaluates coaching ability. I think Vanderbilt and Florida made great hires. I'd prefer to go that route than the route Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Auburn went. But I think there are plenty of coaches of that ilk that would be significant upgrades over Anderson.

[Ham Sandwich]

Out of all of those, Kevin Keatts is the one I would choose.

[razorpimp]

That would be an assistant coaching dream team. There's too much nepotism involved in coaching to expect a mediocre Arkansas program to be able to pull that off.

I think you are thinking of the wrong Bennett....the one you are thinking of is Tony Bennett who coaches at Virginia yes he plays a very deliberate yet effective style

[Rainmaker203]

Out of all of those, Kevin Keatts is the one I would choose.

Same.  His coaching ties and results so far give him the most upside out of this group IMO

[Ham Sandwich]

Same.  His coaching ties and results so far give him the most upside out of this group IMO

Exactly and He's young. You don't just start off your career on a tare like that unless you're something special, IMO. His style is desirable to me too.

[HawgAdvocate]

I think you are thinking of the wrong Bennett....the one you are thinking of is Tony Bennett who coaches at Virginia yes he plays a very deliberate yet effective style

I think you are responding to the wrong post.

[SONofHAM]

I hope Keatts gets an interview.  I put him high on my list this time last year.  He's got a short resume but he has only seen success everywhere he's been.

-At Hargrave he went 262–17 with 2 won two national championships
-Asst coach under Pitino on a NC winning Louisville
-CAA Coach of the Year in each of his 1st 3 seasons(First time accomplished in CAA)

UNC Wilmington Seahawks (Colonial Athletic Association)
2014–15   UNC Wilmington   18–14          12–6    T–1st   CIT First Round
2015–16   UNC Wilmington   25–8             14–4    T–1st   NCAA First Round
2016–17   UNC Wilmington   21–4             10–2      
UNC Wilmington:                   64–26 (.711) 36–12 (.750)   

[Knot2brite]

Rice will stay in the northeast ...he is from that area and he will stay there.
Bennett won't leave the west coast. Recruits severs Australians and has some success with that and figures the beaches in Cali are easier to get the aussies  to rather than the ozark mountains.
Wade is about to hit the wall. Not impressed in the least with him.
Keatts has been my choice the whole time if there is an opening. Great resume and young so he might stick around for a while if he is successful.

[Ironhawg]

Archie Miller?

[revolution]

I think you are thinking of the wrong Bennett....the one you are thinking of is Tony Bennett who coaches at Virginia yes he plays a very deliberate yet effective style

This guy?  At least he's got experience!

[Hawg Red]

Archie Miller?

Did you read the OP?

[Ironhawg]

Did you read the OP?

Sorry.  I think of Dayton as mid-major. 

[sickboy]

Sorry.  I think of Dayton as mid-major. 

I kind of do too, but we're talking semantics. Archie Miller is a really good coach.

[Hawg Red]

Sorry.  I think of Dayton as mid-major.

A-10 gets like 4 bids a year now. It's a better conference than the SEC, but I get the mentality. It's definitely a mid-major still in terms of money for coaches.

[tophawg19]

Coach Wojo at  Marquette is a great coach and excellent recruiter.he is where i would start and end

[hogwood]

Not at a mid-major but no one has mentioned him... How about Bobby Hurley at ASU? Coach K tree. Was successful in his little time at Buffalo. Still looking for success at ASU but I mean there was no program there to build off of. Not sure why he chose ASU. Ties? Or did he just want to bolt to the first P5 that offered? Why not here next? Seems to be a good recruiter and if he came to a school that had tradition and facilities then who knows what he could do. Any thoughts?

[Ironhawg]

Not at a mid-major but no one has mentioned him... How about Bobby Hurley at ASU? Coach K tree. Was successful in his little time at Buffalo. Still looking for success at ASU but I mean there was no program there to build off of. Not sure why he chose ASU. Ties? Or did he just want to bolt to the first P5 that offered? Why not here next? Seems to be a good recruiter and if he came to a school that had tradition and facilities then who knows what he could do. Any thoughts?

Kind of a small sample size as far as being a head coach.  Could be a home run, but could be another Stan Heath.

[OnTheHillHogFan]

Chris Collins. Not from a mid major but he is doing some incredible things at Northwestern.

[ballinhog]

Been doing some homework and Kevin Keatts has jumped to #1 on my personal wish list. I can see him being an excellent recruiter, and I looked at several of UNCW's box scores from this year and they've scored over 100 six times. They also shoot a lot of threes which I like as well. I'm sure it'll never happen but if this guy does end up being the head hog I think we would have some exciting times ahead. I bet he would keep the current signees and commits as well. Maybe he would hire Bill Ingram lol

[ballinhog]

For those that like Will Wade, VCU is currently playing on CBS sports network. I just noticed it was on

[Hawg Red]

I would be wary of hiring a coach from VCU. Anthony Grant killed it there and was terrible at Bama. Shaka Smart looked great at VCU as well and he's doing really bad at Texas right now.

I see people cite this a lot, but I don't see what each situation has to do with the other. They all went to different situations. And Shaka Smart hasn't even been at Texas for two full years. Isaiah Taylor going pro really hurt them. He's building something for the first time in his career, and he's doing it in a tough conference. Bit harsh to judge 1.75 years in considering we're talking about a guy who was at an A-10 school. He can't just snap his fingers and have everything ready. If he can get that 2016 class to return (I guess I'm really just talking about Jarrett Allen), they could be much improved next year with the recruits he has coming in.

[Biggus Piggus]

People around Nashville think Will Wade is going to have a great career. He's very young though.

Tempo should not get the slightest consideration when choosing a coach. That day's done.

If we're talking about Kevin Stallings proteges, we have to mention Dan Muller at Illinois State. Does he fit this job: no. But they play hellacious defense without fouling. They also totally collapsed the other day at Wichita.

Earl Grant at College of Charleston was a longtime assistant under Gregg Marshall and also spent time working for Brad Brownell at Clemson, another great-fundamentals coach. Grant took over a bad team, and in his third year with no seniors in the rotation they're 19-7 (10-3 conference). He probably has a great season lined up for next year.

Archie Miller of Dayton would be my first choice, but who knows how possible it would be to get him.

You know Grant McCasland at Arkansas State is going to get a better job before too long. He was great at Midwestern State in Texas, excellent at Midland juco, and worked for Scott Drew at Baylor for five seasons. The guy is a really good coach. Getting ASU to 18-6 is outstanding. He really might be one of the best available.

When you're looking at mid-major coaches, what are you looking for? For me you're looking for consistent success in conference + single-digit losses on the total record. It took Gregg Marshall four seasons to get Winthrop up to an impressive level. His last three years there, Winthrop was 42-4 in conference, 79-19 overall. Took him another four years before Wichita State was really rolling. Since then, they've finished each season close to or better than 30 wins.

Hardly anybody else in mid-major land meets the criterion of sustaining success at that level (almost spotless conference record, single-digit annual losses). We're talking Mark Few (who's untouchable), Marshall, and Miller.

The mid-major ranks have been clearcut in recent years, lots of young coaches in place now. You see many high-major jobs filled with retreads and questionables.

With the landscape looking like this, I can see why people would look to pulling a coach out of the NBA or another high-major job where the coach has stayed too long.

[Hawg Red]

I had started to add on to this yesterday with a few names, but got side tracked. Muller was one them along with Ben Jacobson, Matt McCall (even greener than Wade, though), and Eric Musselman.

[Biggus Piggus]

I've liked McCall's teams at UTC, but they have not shown as much this season. The other day they lost to VMI at home, by 16. VMI is 326th in Pomeroy.

VMI's senior guard Q.J. Peterson, a respectable but not great player, hit 'em for 40 points. It was VMI's fifth win this season, and first in Chattanooga since 1979.

McCall sounded a lot like MA: "I did not get our guys prepared for this game and I take responsibility for that"

Eric Musselman is the son of Bill Musselman, a longtime college and pro basketball coach. The younger Musselman coached minor-league and NBA basketball (with head coaching stints at Golden State and Sacramento) from 1989-2012 before he got his first college job, as an assistant at Arizona State working for Herb Sendek. He spent one season with Johnny Jones at LSU before being hired as head coach of Nevada.

Nevada has a history of winning under Trent Johnson and Mark Fox. David Carter took over there after Fox went to Georgia. Carter got fired after three losing seasons in a row. Musselman's first team at Nevada was good. In the offseason, he added former UNLV coach Dave Rice as his top assistant. The Wolf Pack is 19-5, 8-3 Mountain West, this season.

I doubt Musselman wants to change jobs again so soon though.

[nwahogfan1]

Thanks Red.  Love your research.  Great list.  Keep them coming.   

I would like to raid a coach out of the Big East who to me play very good basketball.  I really think we can offer more Pay and bb resources for the right coach here at Arkansas than the Big East who does not have the SEC football kick back money to supplement basketball. 

Off the top of my head I like the success of Coaches at Creighton, Marquette and Butler.   

The most important thing to me is finding a Coach who fits what we need right now.  We need a Coach who can market his product to the kids and fans.   

[Hawg Red]

Thanks Red.  Love your research.  Great list.  Keep them coming.   

I would like to raid a coach out of the Big East who to me play very good basketball.  I really think we can offer more Pay and bb resources for the right coach here at Arkansas than the Big East who does not have the SEC football kick back money to supplement basketball. 

Off the top of my head I like the success of Coaches at Creighton, Marquette and Butler.   

The most important thing to me is finding a Coach who fits what we need right now.  We need a Coach who can market his product to the kids and fans.   

For those Big East coaches, it would come down to just money, right? Because they're in a better conference and none of them have a football team to compete with. I guess maybe TV exposure hurts them with ESPN focusing on ACC, SEC, and Big 12.