Not sure if WH will put his rankings out there this year, so I thought I would give it a stab. I will admit I probably put about 1/25 of the time and research in as WH - maybe even less as I am pretty much going off the top of my head and my own observations. Basically I am looking at a 5 year window and not considering previous stops - though I'm sure that influenced me on Majerus. Let me know what you think. I gave a letter grade to each coach for the following: Recruiting, X and O's , and management and motivation (to include managing players, egos, the program in general, player development, etc.). Here you go:
1. Dunphy – Temple
Recruiting B+, X and O’s A+, Managing and Motivating A
Class of the league – Only questions are why he can’t rope in more high level recruits and win a game in the NCAA. This guy has a presence and knows how to teach the game.
2.Mack – Xavier
Recruiting – A , X and O’s A, managing and motivating A
Impressive how the program did not miss a beat when he took over. Has continued to snag top 100 talent. X machine keeps rolling along. Not a huge sample but I can’t argue with the results.
3. Mooney – Richmond
R – B+, XO – A-, managing and motivating – A
Have to admit I was a fan even when Spiders were only winning 8 games in a season. Still developing X and O’s. Strength is managing and motivating his roster. Has proven himself as a program builder. Next step is to have some success in the NCAA. In my opinion has had a better record in the A10 than the talent would indicate the last 3-4 years.
4. Majerus – SLU
Recruiting B+, X and O’s B+, managing and motivating B
I had my doubts about Majerus’ motivation after his first season or two. Seems to have the train rolling in the right direction with his hard nosed coaching style. Recruiting is starting to catch fire as well. Reminds me of Calhoun at Uconn in that he would rather run a player off than develop him.
5. Gregory – Dayton
Recruiting – A, X and O’s C, managing and motivating B
I must admit, I may very well be buying into the recruiting hype Muddy Waters espouses. He has brought in some very nice recruits. Keeping Staten committed for so long is impressive. Struggled this past year in late games situation. Was this the coach or the PG’s? Teams always play a physical brand and excel on defense. Has had trouble with the PG spot – seems to be fixed with Staten.
6. Martelli – St. Joe’s
R-B-, XO – B+, MM – C+
Based on lifetime achievement, would be much higher on this list. Will he get his fastball back? Seems like he has had a lot of transfers or academic problems on his rosters lately.
7. Baron – URIR – B+, XO – C+, MM B
Baron’s teams seem to have fallen into a pattern. Start strong and fade late. Not sure what the cause. He seems to be a strong recruiter, though he had a ton of turnover between verbals and signees this season – losing his own son to UVA and two other recruits withdrawing already this school year. Has been a very solid program builder, but can’t seem to get over the hump at URI so far.
8. Hobbs – GWR – B, XO – C+, MM C+
Hobbs seemed to have a solid formula: recruit long skilled athletes at every position and apply pressure on both ends of the court. Somewhere along the line recently the equation broke down. He seems to be headed back in the right direction this past year and got a verbal from a top 100 big man. Will be interesting to see if he regains the magic formula or slips.
9. Schmidt – St. BonaventureR – C-, XO – B, MM – C
Seems to struggling to bring quality players to the enchanted mountains. Eli Carter’s reversal was a blow. Nicholson was a great find, but is not surrounding him with enough. Seems to be a good game coach. Will need to pick up the recruiting to see how far he can take this program.
10. Duquesne – EverhardtR – B, XO – C-, M-M – C
He always seems to be on the cusp, but his teams either don’t have key depth or highly touted players don’t develop or transfer. After the shooting tragedy he had a great run with a super uptempo game – but has not impressed me with X and O’s last two years.
11. Kellogg – UmassRecruiting B+ (A if you went strictly on ratings), X and O’s C, managing and motivating C+
Only two years to go off. I think he is going in the right direction. Bringing in some highly rated recruits. Will he stick to the DDM offense? Can he motivate on defense?
12. Giannini – LaSalleRecruiting B, XO – C-, M and M – C
Always seems to bring in touted recruits, but where are the results? I know injuries are a factor, but that can’t explain the lack of development for some of his players. Have to give him props to be able to land Murray and the incoming PG given their recent lack of success and h.s. gym. I believe he just signed a long term extension so he will have time to see his young talent through.
Incompletes - no A10 experience to rate vs. other coaches:
Pecora – Fordham
TBD – did a nice job in the CAA, but never really dominant there usually taking a back seat to VCU, GMU and others
Major – Charlotte
TBD – seems to have the potential to be a top notch recruiter. Is walking into a nice roster. Should have an opportunity to make some noise right away.
1. Dunphy – Temple
Recruiting B+, X and O’s A+, Managing and Motivating A
Class of the league – Only questions are why he can’t rope in more high level recruits and win a game in the NCAA. This guy has a presence and knows how to teach the game.
2.Mack – Xavier
Recruiting – A , X and O’s A, managing and motivating A
Impressive how the program did not miss a beat when he took over. Has continued to snag top 100 talent. X machine keeps rolling along. Not a huge sample but I can’t argue with the results.
3. Mooney – Richmond
R – B+, XO – A-, managing and motivating – A
Have to admit I was a fan even when Spiders were only winning 8 games in a season. Still developing X and O’s. Strength is managing and motivating his roster. Has proven himself as a program builder. Next step is to have some success in the NCAA. In my opinion has had a better record in the A10 than the talent would indicate the last 3-4 years.
4. Majerus – SLU
Recruiting B+, X and O’s B+, managing and motivating B
I had my doubts about Majerus’ motivation after his first season or two. Seems to have the train rolling in the right direction with his hard nosed coaching style. Recruiting is starting to catch fire as well. Reminds me of Calhoun at Uconn in that he would rather run a player off than develop him.
5. Gregory – Dayton
Recruiting – A, X and O’s C, managing and motivating B
I must admit, I may very well be buying into the recruiting hype Muddy Waters espouses. He has brought in some very nice recruits. Keeping Staten committed for so long is impressive. Struggled this past year in late games situation. Was this the coach or the PG’s? Teams always play a physical brand and excel on defense. Has had trouble with the PG spot – seems to be fixed with Staten.
6. Martelli – St. Joe’s
R-B-, XO – B+, MM – C+
Based on lifetime achievement, would be much higher on this list. Will he get his fastball back? Seems like he has had a lot of transfers or academic problems on his rosters lately.
7. Baron – URIR – B+, XO – C+, MM B
Baron’s teams seem to have fallen into a pattern. Start strong and fade late. Not sure what the cause. He seems to be a strong recruiter, though he had a ton of turnover between verbals and signees this season – losing his own son to UVA and two other recruits withdrawing already this school year. Has been a very solid program builder, but can’t seem to get over the hump at URI so far.
8. Hobbs – GWR – B, XO – C+, MM C+
Hobbs seemed to have a solid formula: recruit long skilled athletes at every position and apply pressure on both ends of the court. Somewhere along the line recently the equation broke down. He seems to be headed back in the right direction this past year and got a verbal from a top 100 big man. Will be interesting to see if he regains the magic formula or slips.
9. Schmidt – St. BonaventureR – C-, XO – B, MM – C
Seems to struggling to bring quality players to the enchanted mountains. Eli Carter’s reversal was a blow. Nicholson was a great find, but is not surrounding him with enough. Seems to be a good game coach. Will need to pick up the recruiting to see how far he can take this program.
10. Duquesne – EverhardtR – B, XO – C-, M-M – C
He always seems to be on the cusp, but his teams either don’t have key depth or highly touted players don’t develop or transfer. After the shooting tragedy he had a great run with a super uptempo game – but has not impressed me with X and O’s last two years.
11. Kellogg – UmassRecruiting B+ (A if you went strictly on ratings), X and O’s C, managing and motivating C+
Only two years to go off. I think he is going in the right direction. Bringing in some highly rated recruits. Will he stick to the DDM offense? Can he motivate on defense?
12. Giannini – LaSalleRecruiting B, XO – C-, M and M – C
Always seems to bring in touted recruits, but where are the results? I know injuries are a factor, but that can’t explain the lack of development for some of his players. Have to give him props to be able to land Murray and the incoming PG given their recent lack of success and h.s. gym. I believe he just signed a long term extension so he will have time to see his young talent through.
Incompletes - no A10 experience to rate vs. other coaches:
Pecora – Fordham
TBD – did a nice job in the CAA, but never really dominant there usually taking a back seat to VCU, GMU and others
Major – Charlotte
TBD – seems to have the potential to be a top notch recruiter. Is walking into a nice roster. Should have an opportunity to make some noise right away.