Power Ranking Every Big 12 College Basketball Head Coach in 2016-17
Bill Self and Kansas have dominated the Big 12 for more than a decade, and he has done so against an impressive lineup of other head coaches in the conference.
The Big 12 has been front and center on the coaching carousel in recent years. Two of the ten schools got new head coaches last offseason and three more joined the club this year, meaning that half of the league has had its current head coach for 14 months or fewer. Moreover, Self and Scott Drew are the only ones that have been in their current position for more than a decade.
But don't let that revolving door fool you. From top to bottom, the Big 12 might have the best coaching staff in the country. It doesn't have nearly the firepower up top of the ACC (Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim and Rick Pitino), but you're crazy if you're not taking the bottom half of the Big 12's coaches over those of any other conference.
These coaches were ranked based on what they have accomplished to this point in their careers, with success over the past five seasons serving as something of a tiebreaker for spots that were too close to call.
Coaches with more skin in the game are inherently better off in these rankings. For example, how could Chris Beard's one year of D-I experience possibly stand up against the multiple decades of experience that Self, Lon Kruger and Bob Huggins have? But longevity is only part of the equation, allowing Shaka Smart (seven years) to rank several spots ahead of Bruce Weber (18 years).
10. Chris Beard, Texas Tech
1 of 10
Career: One year, 30-5 (85.7%), one NCAA tournament
Tenure with Red Raiders: N/A (First year)
Though he has only been a D-I head coach for one season, Chris Beard might be the most well-traveled coach in the Big 12. Following assistant positions at Texas, Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian and North Texas and surrounding 10 years as an associate head coach at Texas Tech, he had six different head coaching jobs at the JUCO, D-II, D-I and ABA levels.
Now he's back at Texas Tech after leading Arkansas-Little Rock to what was easily the best season in the school's history.
To say the least, Lubbock is not an easy place to win games. It has been 10 years since the Red Raiders last won 20 games in a season or finished above .500 in conference play. And with both of last year's leading scorers graduating, Beard didn't inherit a roster ready to dominate.
But whether or not he can immediately coach them to victory, the Red Raiders have already benefited from Beard's ability to entice transfers.
In addition to stud JUCO transfers Niem Stevenson and Shadell Millinghaus, Beard recently landed one of the best graduate-transfers available this summer: Anthony Livingston. The big man averaged 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in his two seasons with Arkansas State, including a 20-point game against Baylor this past November and an 18-point, 22-rebound performance against Beard's former team in early March. In a Big 12 conference lacking for quality frontcourt players, he should make an immediate splash.
If Stevenson and Millinghaus can also make some noise in replacing Toddrick Gotcher and Devaugntah Williams, Beard could be climbing up this ladder in a hurry. Though we have high hopes for him, there are simply too many other quality coaches in the Big 12 to put Beard anywhere other than the basement after just one D-I season.
9. Brad Underwood, Oklahoma State
2 of 10
Career: Three years, 89-14 (86.4%), three NCAA tournaments
Tenure with Cowboys: N/A (First year)
Over the past three seasons, the only school with a higher winning percentage than Stephen F. Austin (86.4 percent) is Villanova (88.2 percent), putting the Lumberjacks in the same sentence with a team that has won three straight Big East titles and a national championship.
But how much of that can be attributed to Brad Underwood as opposed to an annually dreadful schedule?
Of the 103 games that Stephen F. Austin played under Underwood, 84 came against teams outside the KenPom Top 150, including nine games against non-D-I programs. The Lumberjacks went 81-3 in those "contests." Against the KenPom Top 75, though, they went just 2-9. Then again, the two wins came in the NCAA tournament against teams in the KenPom Top 20.
In other words, the jury is still out on Underwood, and we'll need the next couple of seasons at Oklahoma State to come to a decision on how good he is at leading and developing.
The good news is he inherits a respectable roster. Phil Forte missed most of last season and Jawun Evans missed about a third of it, but that's a backcourt duo that should be special when healthy. The Cowboys also get back Leyton Hammonds, Jeffrey Carroll and Tavarius Shine on the wings.
There isn't much height on the roster, but what else is new for Underwood? Players taller than 6'8" scored a grand total of 50 points for the Lumberjacks this past season, so there might not be a coach in the country more comfortable with taking over a team built to play small ball.
8. Bruce Weber, Kansas State
3 of 10
Career: 18 years, 392-209 (65.2%), 10 NCAA tournaments, one Final Four (2005)
Tenure with Wildcats: Four years, 79-54 (59.4%), two NCAA tournaments
In each conference thus far in this series, there has been one coach that is nearly impossible to place, either due to limited tenure or wildly varying opinions of his competency.
For the Big 12, that coach is Kansas State's Bruce Weber.
On the one hand, Weber has a winning record at each stop in his coaching career, has made the NCAA tournament more often than he has missed it and has been to a national championship game. The only other current Big 12 coach to oversee a title game appearance is Bill Self, so that's a legitimate reason to consider Weber a top-five coach in the conference.
However, he made that deep run at Illinois with a roster that Self built before taking the job at Kansas. By year four with the Illini—after the likes of Luther Head, Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Roger Powell and James Augustine were gone—Weber was already slipping with the players he recruited. Just two years after going 37-2, Weber began a streak of six straight seasons with a double-digit number in the loss column.
Similarly, Weber initially did well at Kansas State with the roster Frank Martin left behind, making the NCAA tournament in his first two seasons. But he has gone 32-33 over the past two years and has made quite the habit of losing players to the transfer market. In fact, of the four players he recruited in the class of 2013—excluding Neville Fincher, who never qualified for admission in the first place—Wesley Iwundu is the only one that didn't transfer.
Based on his propensity for taking good situations and turning them into messes, there's also a legitimate reason to consider Weber the worst coach in the Big 12. Let's split the difference and put him at No. 8, ahead of only the coaches who are brand new to the conference.
7. Steve Prohm, Iowa State
4 of 10
Career: Five years, 127-41 (75.6%), two NCAA tournaments
Tenure with Cyclones: One year, 23-12 (65.7%), one NCAA tournament
Murray State has produced a handful of quality coaches over the past two decades. Both Mark Gottfried (NC State) and Mick Cronin (Cincinnati) got their starts with the Racers, and Billy Kennedy spent five years there before taking the reins at Texas A&M.
Not one of those coaches was quite as successful as Steve Prohm, though. Picking up where Kennedy left off, Prohm went 31-2 in his first season, including opening his D-I head coaching career with a 23-0 record. He proceeded to win at least 67 percent of his games in each of the next three seasons before getting a call from Ames when Fred Hoiberg bolted for the Chicago Bulls.
Prohm had a decent first season with the Cyclones, but early in the 2015 offseason—before Hoiberg's departure—Iowa State was projected by many as a top-five squad. This team was supposed to be the Big 12's best shot at dethroning Kansas, but Prohm instead led them to a tie for fifth place and a total of 12 losses.
Now we're left to question whether he actually did a great job with Murray State or just benefited from taking over one of the annual favorites to win the Ohio Valley Conference.
From the relatively disappointing 2015-16 season, Iowa State loses three starters to graduation and a reserve (Hallice Cooke) to the transfer market, so 2016-17 will undoubtedly be the biggest test of Prohm's career to date. If the 41-year-old head coach can steer this roster back to the NCAA tournament, it might be time to start hoarding stock in his future in this business.
6. Scott Drew, Baylor
5 of 10
Career: 14 years, 272-183 (59.8%), six NCAA tournaments
Tenure with Bears: 13 years, 252-172 (59.4%), six NCAA tournaments
Scott Drew's overall record at Baylor is a bit mediocre, but he has done incredibly well, given the complete and utter disaster he inherited.
Following the Dave Bliss scandal, the program was left in shambles. Not only did a bunch of players transfer away, but the NCAA made it difficult to replace them, reducing Baylor's allotted scholarships and recruiting visits for several years while also putting the team under probation for several more years. As a result, Drew went just 36-69 in his first four seasons with the Bears.
In the nine years since, however, he has a winning percentage of 67.7 and has won at least 21 games eight times.
While Tom Crean faced a similar rebuilding situation when he took over at Indiana, at least he had the luxury of rebuilding a program that already had incredible roots.
Baylor doesn't have anywhere near that type of history. Prior to Drew's arrival, Baylor had only gone to one of the previous 52 NCAA tournaments and had not won a tournament game since 1950. This team was a mess long before the scandal, but Drew has transformed the Bears into an annual contender.
And yet, a lot of people seem to think he's not a very good coach.
During the 2013-14 season, CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish wrote to the percentage of the college basketball population that has a tendency to insinuate that Drew doesn't know how to coach:
"I'm not suggesting that Drew is one of the top coaches ever or even now, if only because I don't think in those terms. All I'm telling you is that he's undeniably doing one of the best rebuilding jobs ever and one of the best jobs in college basketball today, all things equal.
"
Baylor has a grand total of 11 NCAA tournament wins in its history. From 2010-14, Drew got eight of them. How or why people decided the Elite Eight isn't good enough for the Bears is a mystery, but it's a shame that Drew isn't properly appreciated for getting them there twice.
5. Jamie Dixon, TCU
6 of 10
Career: 13 years, 328-123 (72.7%), 11 NCAA tournaments
Tenure with Horned Frogs: N/A (First year)
Jamie Dixon's last two seasons with Pittsburgh weren't his best by any means, but he had an incredible decade-long run in one of the two or three greatest conferences in the country.
At some point in the stretch from 2004-11, almost every Big East team hit a pothole. Connecticut and Syracuse both missed multiple tournaments. Louisville and Marquette needed a couple of years to make the transition from Conference USA. Notre Dame and Georgetown both had duds in 2009. It was just too difficult to remain elite year after year in such a demanding and physical conference.
But Dixon found a way, reaching the tournament in each of his first eight seasons and 10 of the first 11—always earning at least a No. 9 seed and often getting a No. 3 seed or better, including a pair of No. 1 seeds in 2009 and 2011.
And like Tom Izzo with Michigan State, it's hard to not admire Dixon's ability to get the job done without future stars. Per basketball-reference.com, only six Panthers have been drafted in Dixon's 13 seasons, and one-and-done Steven Adams was the only one to go in the first round. DeJuan Blair has had the most successful NBA career among players that Dixon coached, and even he only seemed to do well when Gregg Popovich was able to find the perfect role for him.
Dixon took a big risk in leaving Pittsburgh to take over a TCU team that hasn't made the tournament since 1998, but he might be just the guy that his alma mater needs to turn things around.
4. Shaka Smart, Texas
7 of 10
Career: Seven years, 183-69 (72.6%), six NCAA tournaments, one Final Four (2011)
Tenure with Longhorns: One year, 20-13 (60.6%), one NCAA tournament
Were this a list of Big 12 coaches that we'd want our favorite school to sign to a 10-year contract, Shaka Smart would rank no worse than No. 2. VCU has always been good, but he turned the Rams into an annual mid-major powerhouse on par with Gonzaga, winning at least 26 games in each of his six seasons there. And within his first few weeks with the Longhorns, it was already apparent that he has this program trending in the right direction.
But seven years isn't enough to stack up against the Big 12's top three coaches, who have 84 combined years of D-I head coaching experience.
Give it time, though, and Smart's career should—at worst—rival those of Lon Kruger and Bob Huggins.
What's most exciting about Smart's future is finding out how well he can do with legitimate recruiting strength. He did what he could at VCU, but, he was only able to sign two 4-star recruits (Melvin Johnson and Terry Larrier) during his time in Richmond—and Johnson only ended up at VCU after backing out of his commitment to Miami.
This year alone, Smart has already signed a trio of 4-star recruits and is believed to be the favorite to land 5-star big man Jarrett Allen.
Granted, the in-conference level of competition is substantially higher, but if Smart was able to consistently win at VCU with 3-star recruits, just wait until a year or two from now when he has a roster full of 4- and 5-star guys that he handpicked.
And be sure to give him a pass on this coming season if the Longhorns struggle. They lost five seniors, and starting point guard Isaiah Taylor opted for the NBA draft. Barring the late addition of a few graduate-transfers—Jordan Mathews sure would be a fun add to this lineup—it will be the least experienced roster he has had by a wide margin.
3. Bob Huggins, West Virginia
8 of 10
Career: 31 years, 719-296 (70.8%), 22 NCAA tournaments, two Final Fours (1992 and 2010)
Tenure with Mountaineers: Nine years, 201-110 (64.6%), seven NCAA tournaments, one Final Four (2010)
Long before bringing his stool and short-sleeved tracksuit to West Virginia, Bob Huggins was God's gift to the state of Ohio.
Huggins spent three seasons at NAIA Walsh College in North Canton, Ohio. In his final season, he led the team to a 34-1 record.
A few years later, he became the head coach of an Akron program that went 37-71 over the previous four seasons. In five years with the Zips, he won at least 21 games four times.
After that, he was off to fix up Cincinnati, which had missed the NCAA tournament in 12 consecutive seasons before his arrival. By year three, he had the Bearcats in the Final Four in what was the start of a 14-year streak of dances.
Yet, with more than three decades of experience and a pair of trips to the Final Four, the most impressive thing about Bob Huggins' career might be his recent ability and willingness to completely redesign his strategy.
Three years removed from the 2010 Final Four, West Virginia's Big 12 debut was a disaster, going 13-19 overall and finishing the season on a seven-game losing streak. The following year wasn't much better, as the Mountaineers went 17-16 before losing Eron Harris and Terry Henderson to the transfer market.
Then, out of nowhere, West Virginia became Press Virginia. An average defense for half a decade, the 2014-15 Mountaineers suddenly transformed into a swarm of killer bees, forcing 257 more turnovers than the previous year. While nearly all the other revered head coaches have gone the one-and-done route, Huggins is turning no-name recruits into stars in his unorthodox system.
2. Lon Kruger, Oklahoma
9 of 10
Career: 30 years, 590-361 (62.0%), 17 NCAA tournaments, two Final Fours (1994 and 2016)
Tenure with Sooners: Five years, 111-57 (66.1%), four NCAA tournaments, one Final Four (2016)
Throughout his career, Lon Kruger has been the ultimate fixer-upper.
Texas-Rio Grande Valley was 5-20 in the season before handing Kruger his first D-I head coaching job. By his fourth season, the Vaqueros went 20-8.
Kansas State had a combined record of 56-59 and missed the NCAA tournament in all four years before Kruger's arrival. But in four seasons, he went 81-46 and went dancing each year.
After that, Kruger took over a Florida team that went 7-21 under Don DeVoe in its first season after Norm Sloan forcibly resigned due to NCAA infractions. By year four, the Gators were in the Final Four and the roots were planted for Billy Donovan to excel. Likewise, Kruger's four seasons at Illinois paved the way for Bill Self to become a coaching icon.
UNLV struggled to get over the hump in the first decade after Jerry Tarkanian left, but Kruger won 69.4 percent of his games with the Rebels over the course of seven years.
And since then, he has taken the mess at Oklahoma left behind by Jeff Capel and turned it into a Final Four team in just half a decade.
Kruger has never stayed with a program for more than seven seasons, but they are always in much better shape after he leaves than they were before he arrived. In his fourth season with each of those six schools—after the inherited players are gone and his recruits have had a chance to make an impact—he has a combined record of 139-60 (69.8%).
1. Bill Self, Kansas
10 of 10
Career: 23 years, 592-188 (75.9%), 18 NCAA tournaments, two Final Fours (2008 and 2012), one national championship (2008)
Tenure with Jayhawks: 13 years, 385-83 (82.3%), 13 NCAA tournaments, two Final Fours (2008 and 2012), one national championship (2008)
The Big 12 is absolutely loaded with outstanding coaches, but not one of them can even hold a candle to Bill Self.
Self has not lost more than 10 games in a season since making his Tulsa debut in 1997-98. Even Mike Krzyzewski has had a pair of 11-loss seasons during that time. That was also the last time a Self-led team finished below second place in the conference standings.
In case counting years isn't your forte, that's 18 consecutive years without finishing third or worse in a conference, including 16 regular-season conference championships. Final Fours and national championships have been hard to come by, but as far as regular-season success is concerned, we haven't seen anything like that since John Wooden and UCLA owned the AAWU and Pac-8 in the 1960s and 1970s.
And let's not act like Self has struggled in the NCAA tournament. Despite a few infamous early losses to the likes of Bucknell, Bradley and Northern Iowa, Self has a career tournament record of 40-17 with 11 Sweet 16s and eight Elite Eights.
At just 53 years of age, Self is already one of the titans of the industry. He has averaged 27.9 wins per season over the past two decades and is tallying 31.3 Ws per year over the past decade. On pace to get there before 2030, he is on the short list of coaches who could conceivably reach 1,000 career wins.
All recruiting information via 247sports.com unless otherwise noted.
Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
.png?w=600 "Ranking KD Trade Ideas, Landing Spots 📍")
