Stock Watch for Coaches at New Schools in College Basketball in 2015-16
A whopping 40 college basketball teams hired new head coaches this past offseason, with over 11 percent of Division I undergoing a leadership change. This included several big-name programs that brought in an array of replacements with varying resumes to get things moving in the right direction.
The 2015-16 season is only a few weeks old, but it's not too early to give an assessment of how some of the top new coaches are doing.
We've evaluated 10 of the most notable first-year bosses, giving a stock assessment based on what they have to work with and how things have gone so far.
Rick Barnes, Tennessee
1 of 10
Run out of Texas after 17 seasons and 402 wins, Rick Barnes wasted little time finding his next job by taking over a Tennessee program that's been through near-constant turmoil the last few seasons. The school had to fire two coaches and a third left for another job during a five-year span, and Tennessee is hoping Barnes can provide stability.
Barnes inherited a team that's undergone major roster turnover but so far has been able to play rather well together. The Volunteers' losses were by two at Georgia Tech and by three Friday against George Washington in Brooklyn, New York.
Tennessee was picked to finish 12th in the SEC this season, so all it's looking for in Barnes' first year is a sign that things are headed in the right direction.
Stock status: Rising
Ben Howland, Mississippi State
2 of 10
Ben Howland, Mississippi State
Every year, it seems like a big coaching name who'd been away from the game for a bit gets back into the action, hoping to tap into what worked for him in the past. Ben Howland led UCLA to three consecutive Final Fours between 2006-08, but over his final five seasons he missed the NCAA tournament twice and didn't get past the first weekend the other three times.
Howland last coached in March 2013, when he was fired and replaced by Steve Alford. Now, he's taking over a Mississippi State team that went 13-19 last season and hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2009.
It won't be getting there this year, but if Howland continues to recruit like he has and can keep those players in Starkville for a little bit, the wait won't be much longer.
This year's team is 2-3, with losses to Miami and Texas Tech in the Puerto Rico Tipoff but also an embarrassing home setback to SWAC team Southern. Star freshman Malik Newman is averaging 13 points per game despite struggling with his shot, though he has amazing upside.
Stock status: Holding steady
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State
3 of 10
The Mike Krzyzewski coaching tree has many branches and is spread across the country, though Bobby Hurley didn't get his start as part of one of Duke's staffs like most of the other limbs. The ex-Blue Devils point guard instead worked under brother Dan at Wagner and Rhode Island before getting his first head-coaching gig at Buffalo in 2013.
He parlayed two strong years there, including an NCAA tournament bid last spring, into the Arizona State job after Herb Sendek was let go after nine seasons but only two NCAA tourney appearances.
Hurley's time in Tempe didn't get off to a great start after losing his debut at home to Sacramento State, but the Sun Devils won their next three including a win against North Carolina State to reach the Legends Classic final in New York. It was there that ASU fell to Marquette—coached by another former Duke guard, Steve Wojciechowski—by five points.
ASU plays an ambitious nonconference schedule in Hurley's first season, with upcoming games against Texas A&M, Kentucky and UNLV, so the results might not be as important as the effort.
Stock status: Rising
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Avery Johnson, Alabama
4 of 10
One of several new coaches in Division I who have never worked at the college level, Avery Johnson spent the last two years working as an NBA analyst for ESPN after coaching the New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets for two-plus seasons. He also coached the Dallas Mavericks, leading them to the NBA Finals in 2006.
Johnson's knowledge of the game, regardless of the level, is what intrigued Alabama. The school had to understand there'd be a learning curve at first, particularly after several notable players from Anthony Grant's final Crimson Tide team either graduated or transferred.
Alabama is 3-2 after Friday's 64-60 win over Wichita State in the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, a day after it lost by 19 to Xavier. It's been up and down so far for Johnson's team, which has won both its home games but lost by 32 on the road to Dayton.
Stock status: Holding steady
Chris Mullin, St. John's
5 of 10
College jobs are usually open because the previous coach didn't meet expectations, and in many cases the situation got so bad that it's hard to expect the replacement to be able to do well right away.
And then there's St. John's, which is basically an entirely new team under Chris Mullin than the one Steve Lavin won 21 games with and got into last season's NCAA tournament. Eleven players from that team left the program in some fashion, basically causing Mullin and his staff to have to start from scratch.
That's not the best scenario for a first-time coach at any level to find himself in. But as one of the greatest players in St. John's history, Mullin was brought in first and foremost to re-establish the program's reputation. He was part of the school's 1985 Final Four team and enjoyed a 16-year NBA career before working in pro front offices and doing TV, but this is his first-ever coaching gig.
St. John's is a respectable 4-2 so far, with its losses coming to Indiana and Vanderbilt in the Maui Invitational after losing by 32 to a Division II school in an exhibition.
Stock status: Holding steady
Mark Price, Charlotte
6 of 10
Avery Johnson and Chris Mullin managed to hog the NBA-to-college headlines despite getting hired after Mark Price, a former Cleveland Cavaliers star who had been an assistant in the NBA the last eight seasons. He hadn't coached in college since 1999-2000 at Georgia Tech, but he was well known in the area, having been on the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets' staff the last two years.
Charlotte had an opening because previous coach Alan Major had stepped down because of health issues. The 49ers were 14-18 and finished 11th in the 14-team Conference USA.
Price's first team could be hard-pressed to top that mark after losing all three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis, starting 1-5 including a 55-point loss to Michigan.
Stock status: Falling
Steve Prohm, Iowa State
7 of 10
It's a tough life having to take over a team that returns most of its best players from a 25-win squad, one that began this season ranked seventh in the Associated Press Top 25. But in some ways it couldn't be easy for Steve Prohm, a well-regarded mid-major coach who excelled at Murray State, to have to follow someone as beloved as his predecessor.
Fred Hoiberg, a favorite son in Iowa State whose nickname—The Mayor—harkens back to his playing days with the Cyclones, won 115 games in five seasons before leaving to coach the NBA's Chicago Bulls. He was so beloved by ISU's fans that whoever came in after him would have a lot to live up to, and any struggles might be amplified because of this.
But ISU is playing like a potential Big 12 and national title contender, winning its first four games by an average of 22.5 points. None of the opponents have been particularly tough, but considering the number of significant upsets that have befallen power-conference teams so far this season, the 4-0 start is worth celebrating.
The Cyclones play Illinois on Saturday in the finals of the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida.
Stock status: Rising
Shaka Smart, Texas
8 of 10
The man behind VCU's “Havoc” style of aggressive defense, Shaka Smart first made a name for himself in 2011 when he took the Rams from the First Four portion of the NCAA tournament to the Final Four. That introduced the world to this hot young coach, who was seemingly an annual candidate to jump to a bigger job even after helping VCU move from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Atlantic 10.
After six straight years with at least 26 wins he finally made the jump, taking over a Texas team that had underachieved the last few seasons under Rick Barnes despite great talent.
Smart hopes to make the most of this talent, which includes preseason all-Big 12 guard Isaiah Taylor, but the early going has been rough. It hasn't helped that Texas began its season playing in China and then went to the Bahamas this week for a tournament.
The Longhorns are 2-3 after losing to Michigan on Friday, but six of the next seven—including games against Connecticut and North Carolina—are in Austin.
Stock status: Holding steady
Will Wade, VCU
9 of 10
Having worked for some of the best young coaching minds in college, Will Wade seems far older than his age. He was on Tommy Amaker's staff at Harvard and then spent four years with Shaka Smart at VCU before venturing off on his own in 2013 to become head coach at Chattanooga.
When Smart left for the Texas job it made perfect sense that the school looked to keep things going with someone who was part of VCU's rise to prominence. The 33-year-old Wade was hired less than a week after Smart departed, thus ensuring that no drop-off would happen with the change in leadership.
Wade's two Chattanooga teams finished second in the Southern Conference, going 40-25 overall, but only the first earned a postseason bid—to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
VCU has started 3-2, its losses to Duke and Wisconsin by a combined nine points in the 2K Classic, though this Rams team looks very similar to the previous ones.
Stock status: Rising
Michael White, Florida
10 of 10
Billy Donovan was the winningest coach in Florida history, turning the program into a perennial power via four Final Four appearances and two national championships. He'd once before flirted with an NBA job, backing out of a deal to coach the Orlando Magic in 2007, but in April he took the Oklahoma City Thunder job after only his third losing season in 19 with the Gators.
Whoever replaced Donovan was going to have big shoes to fill, but Florida picked a good one in Michael White. Considered one of the fastest-rising coaches in the game, White led Louisiana Tech to 101 wins and three Conference USA regular-season titles in four seasons.
White didn't have much to work with when he arrived in Gainesville, with Eli Carter having announced his transfer—ending up at Boston College—and others graduating or turning pro. Florida is 5-1 after Friday's win over Florida Gulf Coast, but its only game against a ranked opponent resulted in a 15-point loss to Purdue in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament.
Stock status: Holding steady
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
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