As a thought exercise, I wanted to see how many hires in the last decade at major programs (I use this term loosely as I'm including the Big East and Mountain West) are better or comparable to Brad Underwood at Illinois. Here's what I came up with:
Better
Hurley/UConn - Two more normal games for his team, he has two nattys in 6 years. Best hire since Coach K at this rate.
Sampson/Houston - Houston was nothing special when he arrived. Now they are a perennial contender and playing in a top tier conference. Just finished 10th year.
Pearl/Auburn - Pearl has Auburn in the mix most years. Made a FF. Another guy who just completed Year 10.
Marginally Better
Tommy Lloyd/Arizona - Great program that could have fallen after the Miller scandal. Instead it hasn't missed a beat. Still underperforming in the postseason tho, the move to a better league in terms of competition may push the seeding down some.
Nate Oats/Alabama - Brilliant basketball mind who just reached his first FF. Like BU, winning with different rosters every year.
Similar
Eric Musselman/Arkansas - Maybe the most similar performance to BU. Took a down program with a good history and has turned it around. Maybe a little less conference and more NCAA success. Tough year in 2024.
Shaka Smart/Marquette - Proven coach who is back to winning with less at Marquette. I don't think his teams are underperforming in the tournament, they just aren't that talented.
TJ Otzelberger - Small sample size, but two S16s at Iowa State in 3 years ... wowza. Also knows how to construct a roster.
Brian Dutcher/SDSU - Took over a great situation, but a national title game appearance and S16 in B2B years at SDSU ... very good. Wins a decent MWC a good amount of the time. I do think there's a growing cap on what you can achieve in hoops with his style.
If you look at the sport, college basketball seems to be the "Cult of Coach" more than anything (in CFB, you tend to see less churn at the top among truly great programs, who tend to win big so long as they have a reasonably good coach). Maybe that applies for UK and NC, but beyond that coaches seem to be the difference makers.
The next step for Underwood over the following 2-3 years. Several more big seasons to cement this around himself and set up a great second decade in charge at Illinois.
Better
Hurley/UConn - Two more normal games for his team, he has two nattys in 6 years. Best hire since Coach K at this rate.
Sampson/Houston - Houston was nothing special when he arrived. Now they are a perennial contender and playing in a top tier conference. Just finished 10th year.
Pearl/Auburn - Pearl has Auburn in the mix most years. Made a FF. Another guy who just completed Year 10.
Marginally Better
Tommy Lloyd/Arizona - Great program that could have fallen after the Miller scandal. Instead it hasn't missed a beat. Still underperforming in the postseason tho, the move to a better league in terms of competition may push the seeding down some.
Nate Oats/Alabama - Brilliant basketball mind who just reached his first FF. Like BU, winning with different rosters every year.
Similar
Eric Musselman/Arkansas - Maybe the most similar performance to BU. Took a down program with a good history and has turned it around. Maybe a little less conference and more NCAA success. Tough year in 2024.
Shaka Smart/Marquette - Proven coach who is back to winning with less at Marquette. I don't think his teams are underperforming in the tournament, they just aren't that talented.
TJ Otzelberger - Small sample size, but two S16s at Iowa State in 3 years ... wowza. Also knows how to construct a roster.
Brian Dutcher/SDSU - Took over a great situation, but a national title game appearance and S16 in B2B years at SDSU ... very good. Wins a decent MWC a good amount of the time. I do think there's a growing cap on what you can achieve in hoops with his style.
If you look at the sport, college basketball seems to be the "Cult of Coach" more than anything (in CFB, you tend to see less churn at the top among truly great programs, who tend to win big so long as they have a reasonably good coach). Maybe that applies for UK and NC, but beyond that coaches seem to be the difference makers.
The next step for Underwood over the following 2-3 years. Several more big seasons to cement this around himself and set up a great second decade in charge at Illinois.
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