https://images.app.goo.gl/ZzxJRwEnV1jqMGtr5

1) Nate Oats
2) Rick Barnes
3) Chris Beard
4) John Calipari
5) Bruce Pearl
6) Mark Pope
7) Buzz Williams
8) Todd Golden
9) Rodney Terry
10) Chris Jans
11) Porter Moses
12) Lamont Paris
13) Dennis Gates
14) Mike White
15) Matt McMahon
16) Mark Byington

Discuss…I am curious for one RE the objective reasons for ranking Pope with currently zero career wins in NCAA tournament over a guy like Buzz.

Also that list has Mike white at #14. Everyone Remember when he was hired at Florida and was described by some as the 'next Billy Donovan' hire for them?

Beard over Cal and Pearl is idiotic. I'd probably argue Buzz over Pope as well. Pope has a lot of potential, but he's only been to the NCAAs twice and never won a game.

Edit - probably also depends on what this list is really trying to accomplish. Best coach? Best coaching potential in 2024? Best coaching potential going forward?

If it's just best coach and you look at resume, Cal, Pearl and Barnes are your top 3 in some order. If it's a combo of best coach and best future potential, then Oats at No. 1 makes sense.

I think #6 would be fair for Buzz

Buzz is better than Beard, Pope, and Cal in my opinion.

Why is Cal so high? Beard has shown next to nothing so far at OM. I'd put Buzz above both at this point . Not enough info on Pope to have an opinion there.

Jmo but Jans is significantly underrated.

Hasn't Beard already been to a national championship at Texas Tech in his fairly short (9 year D1 coaching career)? He also has a 70%+ winning percentage for his overall career.

Is it a lifetime award?

halfastros81 said:

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Why is Cal so high? Beard has shown next to nothing so far at OM. I'd put Buzz above both at this point . Not enough info on Pope to have an opinion there.

Jmo but Jans is significantly underrated.

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Well, Cal has a championship, been to at least 2 other, 6 final 4s at multiple schools, etc. He has been "not great" the last 4 years, but he has proven to be an elite basketball coach. Even if this list is a forward-looking list, he's still earned a higher ranking than Buzz.

With the run of HOF coaches retiring over the last 4-5 years, Cal might be the 2nd most decorated and successful active men's basketball coach, behind Bill Self.

Beard gets A LOT of run out of that 1 FF at Tech, IMO.

They played in the championship game…

I guess I interpreted the ranking wrong. My interpretation is who has their program in the best spot to compete and win sustainably . Admittedly that criteria is not fair to guys that just took their new jobs within the last yr or 2.

Certainly is a really vague, unclear list/ranking.

Does kinda feel like it's a "who is going to be best going forward" ranking … but even then I'd probably have Cal over Beard because history has to mean something and Arky is still a higher level program than Ole Miss. Same with Pearl (over Beard).

If it's a forward-looking list, that's probably why Pope is so high, simply because the UK will name will attract big-time talent no matter the coach. Pope hasn't done anything that impressive to warrant being a top 5ish coach in the SEC.

Could say the same thing about Terry at Texas … has been pretty underwhelming at tu, was bad at UTEP and had a few decent/good years at Fresno State a decade ago. The tu name is the only thing he has going for him, he's probably a bottom third coach in the conference based on results.

Mark Pope at 6 is very generous. I guess because Kentucky hired him, that automatically bumps him up 5 spots.

halfastros81 said:

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Why is Cal so high? Beard has shown next to nothing so far at OM. I'd put Buzz above both at this point . Not enough info on Pope to have an opinion there.

Jmo but Jans is significantly underrated.

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I think Buzz would say Jans is underrated

How tf is pope at 6

To do anything than "coach of the year" on something like this is stupid unless you are going to have a whole article explaining history. And, since they have coaches at their new destinations, it's even more stupid and ambiguous.

Stupid poll, click bait.

Y'all are seriously downplaying popes coaching acumen. The dude will win at Kentucky. I 100% think the SEC got harder with him at Kentucky and Cal at piggie now.

Legalize-It-Ags said:

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Y'all are seriously downplaying popes coaching acumen. The dude will win at Kentucky. I 100% think the SEC got harder with him at Kentucky and Cal at piggie now.

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That may be so but he hasn't coached a game in the SEC nor has he ever won a game in the NCAA Tournament.

Quote:

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Could say the same thing about Terry at Texas …

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Yeah Terry at 9 is some wild stuff.

I'd rather have a new thread with our rankings rather than just keep shredding this list.

The premise would basically be, in order, who would you trade Buzz for right now and who wouldn't you trade him for, with these clarifications:

1) our ability to hold onto the coach doesn't matter for this
2) we assume our NIL fund is comparable to our peers, but behind the top tier
3) we assume the coach intends to coach through at least an initial five-year contract before retiring

wacarnolds said:

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If Mark Pope was a former player for Vanderbilt University and was hired to replace their old coach, I can say with 100% certainty he would not be ranked #6 on this list

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This