1. Gib Arnold, USC - Has a serious basketball education. Was an assistant at Pepperdine under Paul Westphal, and is now the associate head coach under Tim Floyd at SC. Father, Frank, was an assistant at UCLA under John Wooden and a successful head man at BYU.
2. John Groce, Ohio State - At age 35, has already been a coach for 14 years, first cracking a division I staff under Herb Sendek at NC State, and now serves under Thad Motta. Is largely responsible for Ohio States back-to-back top five recruiting classes that included Greg Oden and Mike Conley, Jr.
3. Tony Jones, Tennessee - Associate head coach under Bruce Pearl, he is largely credited with recruiting top recruits Ramar Smith and Duke Crews
4. Derek Kellogg, Memphis - As a player led some great UMASS teams under John Calipari, who now serves as his mentor at Memphis.
5. Anyone, Duke – Take your pick. Johnny Dawkins is always a hot name, but he seems to have a little Bill Guthridge syndrome and doesn’t seem ready to leave Coach K’s side any time soon. The same can’t be said for Chris Collins and Steve Wojciechowski, former Duke standouts as players, who should find themselves head guys in the next few years.
6. Mark Montgomery, Michigan State—Associate head coach at his alma mater, he has been with Tom Izzo for six seasons now. Considering Izzos track record of sending his top assistants off to head coaching positions, this one is a no-brainer.
Other Notables:
- Larry Shyatt, Florida
- Cameron Dollar, Washington
- Joe Dooley, Kansas
- Ray McCallum, Indiana
- Kevin O’Neill, Arizona
- Joe Holladay, North Carolina
- Greg Gard, Wisconsin
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