One of the major reasons Williams has had such success is that he has been able to use the North Carolina name to bring a silly amount of talent into the program. According to Rivals.com, since his first class in 2004 he has brought in seven five-star prospects, seven four-star prospects, and three three-star prospects, not including J.R. Smith who jumped straight to the NBA, and his class of 2009, which already boasts two five-star's and two four-stars.
Considering he is always working with teams with extremely high expectations, he needs to make sure he is an excellent motivator, and he has shown some of his strategies to combating complacency. Such as taking out all five starters right away, yelling at his players right on the sideline, and nit-picking after games about ways to improve.
Also include that his secondary break at every stop is legendary, and if he gets Wayne Ellington and/or Tywon Lawson back his team will be the pre-season #1 team for the 2nd year in a row shows Williams must be doing something right.
2. Billy Donovan-Florida
Gator fans all over the country just spit out the water they were drinking. How can a coach who is still fresh off back-to-back national titles not be the #1 coach in basketball today?
Well, Gator fans if it means anything to you, it was an extremely difficult and heart-wrenching decision, but in the end, Donovan was done in by the fact he has had incredible talent to work with since joining Florida, and the fact that all of his players didn't jump to the NBA certainly helped him grab his 2nd NCAA title.
His record in the past five seasons in Gainesville is a more than respectable 136-31 (.814), and of course he has the two national titles, but in his other three seasons he has 0 trips to the Sweet 16, and has only made it out of the 1st round once, including a trip to the NIT this past season which doomed him.
I understand that his players staying might have had something to do with their coach, but this is the same guy who almost jumped ship to the Orlando Magic the following season, so I am not sure if loyalty was why Noah and Horford and Brewer all stayed.
He is a fantastic coach. He is a tireless recruiter who is supplementing last year's top 10 class with another top 15 class this season, and he is incredibly good at making in-game and halftime adjustments to give his team a better chance to win.
Don't get me wrong, if I was an athletic director in D-1 athletics I would take Billy Donovan as my head basketball coach any day of the year. But he fell just short in my rankings.
Another plus for Donovan is that he is still very young, and so he will be able to rebuild Florida again in no time, although the early-enrollment attrition from this past season could dull the shine of the incoming recruiting class.
1. Ben Howland-UCLA
There are so many different reasons I could choose as my top reason why Howland is the best coach in college basketball today.
But, the number one reason Howland is the best coach is how he has revitalized the once stagnant UCLA program in such a short period of time.
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