As coaches switch teams this off season, I'll give my thoughts on the moves for some of the bigger coaches and schools. I'll continue to update this as more coaches switch teams. Please feel free to leave your thoughts on these changes or coaches you would like your favorite team to higher.
1. Kermit Davis to Mississippi
What an excellent hire for the Rebels. Davis is an experienced coach and he has been coaching since the late 1980s. He had been at Middle Tennessee State since 2002-03, and has been wildly successful recently. Since 2009-10, when the Blue Raiders were in the Sun Belt Conference, he has won 6 regular season conference championships and made 3 NCAA tournaments. They didn't miss a beat when moving to Conference-USA, winning the championship in their first year. They made the tournament each of the two seasons before this, and won their regular season title and were ranked in the AP poll this season. He got some excellent recruits at a smaller program, bringing in players like Reggie Upshaw and Giddy Potts, two legends in Mufreesboro .He also worked the transfer market well, getting Jacorey Williams and Nick King to transfer from SEC programs and both won Conference-USA Player of the Year. There is no doubt in my mind that Davis will be able to reverse the fortunes of a Ole Miss team that hasn't been ranked since 2012-13. They have some good young players, and Davis should be able to create a winning legacy in Oxford.
Grade: A
2. Tom Crean to Georgia
Crean has been a very good coach over his 17 year coaching career. He started at Marquette, where he coached Dwayne Wade and brought his team to a Final Four while they were still in Conference-USA. He oversaw his program's transition to the Big East, and didn't miss a beat, making the tournament the first three years they were in the new conference. He then left for Indiana, and turned a 6 win team in his first year to a tournament appearance in just four years. He recruited Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, Yogi Ferrell, and OG Anunoby to the Hooisers, and was the Big Ten regular season champion twice during his tenure in Bloomington. Crean also was an excellent analyst on ESPN this year, and I'll actually miss him during the upcoming season. He has a similar building task in Athens, where the Bulldog's haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 2015, so Crean will have his hands full. He does have a top-40 recruit from last season in Rayshaun Hammonds, so there will be some talent on his roster. I think Crean was a good hire and I can see Georgia competing in a few seasons.
Grade: B+
3. Penny Hardaway to Memphis
Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway was a star back in his playing days with the Tigers. He played two years in Memphis before being taken third overall in the NBA Draft. He has been coaching AAU and high school basketball at Memphis East Side. He is just 46 and will provide some great energy to a struggling Tigers program. After a long run of success under John Calipari and Josh Pastner, they have been floundering in recent times, having missed the tournament each of the past 4 years. The Tigers are returning each of their top 5 scorers from last season, and they did win 21 games last year, so Hardaway should have a good chance at success in Memphis. His biggest advantage will be in recruiting, where he has lots of energy and connections to some top recruits, including James Wiseman, who is ESPN's top recruit in the 2019 class, and Chandler Lawson, who is #26 in that class, both of whom he coaches at Memphis East Side. While I don't love his lack of experience, if he makes the right hires on his staff, such as a former coach, Hardaway should be able to bring in the type of recruits to make Memphis nationally relevant again.
Grade: B
4. Dan Hurley to UConn
The son of coaching legend Bob Hurley and brother of former Duke point guard and current Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, Dan has been around basketball his whole life. He played at Seton Hall, where he had a successful career. He coached at Saint Benedict's High School in New Jersey for 9 years before taking over at Wagner in 2010-11. He was only there for two seasons, but he took a team that was 5-26 the year before he took over and made them a 25-6 team which finished second in the NEC when he left for Rhode Island. Once again, he took a struggling program that went 8-21 in his first season, and over the next five seasons made Rhode Island into the class of the A-10, leading them to a conference tournament championship, a regular season championship, two NCAA tournament appearances, and they reached #16 in the AP Poll. He recruited some excellent players to Rhode Island, such as E.C Matthews, Jeff Dowtin, and Jared Terrell. He will look to rebuild another program in Connecticut, as the Huskies have fallen on hard times recently. They won the national title in 2014 behind Shabazz Napier, but haven't made the tournament since 2016 and have had losing records each of the past two seasons. Despite having lots of talented players like Jalen Adams and Terry Larrier, they struggled in the AAC, finishing eighth. I think Hurley was a great hire for UConn, as he can both recruit talent and get that talent to play up to its potential. If he can come close to the success he had at his previous two stops, the Huskeis will be returning to the tournament sooner rather than later.
Grade: A
5. Jeff Capel to Pittsburgh
The Panthers had been linked to multiple head coaches before hiring Capel, including Sean Miller and Mark Schmidt. Instead, they went with the Duke associate head coach. He has previous head coaching experience at VCU and Oklahoma. He started with the Rams in 2002 and coached there for 4 years, leading them to one NCAA tournament after winning the Colonial regular season and conference tournament. He then moved to Oklahoma, where he coached the Sooners to two NCAA tournaments and a 30 win season in 2008-09. He was able to pull in big recruits such as Blake Griffin. All of the programs wins in 2009-10 were vacated due to an ineligible player, and Capel was fired after the following season. He then latched on at Duke where he has been ever since. He has been instrumental in recruiting and he coached the Blue Devils when Coach K was recovering from back surgery. He will take over a reeling Pittsburgh team who only won 8 games last season and none in conference play. Capel will need to completely revamp the program, as they have no current recruits and only two players who haven't requested their release to transfer. I think Capel will be able to bring in recruits, but I question his actual in-game coaching abilities. I think it'll be an uphill battle for Capel, but I think he can bring in some good recruits and have the Panthers competing in a few years, but these next few could be tough.
Grade: C+
6. Chris Mack to Louisville
Chris Mack has been the head coach at Xavier for the past nine years, and he has done an amazing job with the Musketeers. He won 2 Atlantic-10 Championships with Xavier and reached 3 tournaments while in the league, and oversaw the transition into the new Big East, where Xavier didn't miss a beat. He made the tournament once moving to the Big East and managed to knock off Villanova for the Big East regular season title last season. He has had a winning record in all of his seasons and has done it without the best players. He has managed to find less-heralded recruits and turn them into very good players, guys like Trevon Bluiett and and J.P. Macura. He is a winner, plain and simple, and there is no reason that won't continue at Louisville. The school has come under the fire of the NCAA due to recruiting violations and former head coach Rick Pitino was fired before the season. They missed the tournament two out of the last three years so Mack will have to get them back to their glory days. He will certainly have the talent to do so, as three of their top five scorers still may return and Mack will be well set up for recruiting with a large program playing in the ACC. He may have to navigate around sanctions from the NCAA, but I trust Mack to win games and bring Louisville back to the top of the ACC. He is a fantastic coach and I believe he is one of the best coaches in college basketball, so Louisville absolutely knocked this hire out of the park.
Grade: A+
1. Kermit Davis to Mississippi
What an excellent hire for the Rebels. Davis is an experienced coach and he has been coaching since the late 1980s. He had been at Middle Tennessee State since 2002-03, and has been wildly successful recently. Since 2009-10, when the Blue Raiders were in the Sun Belt Conference, he has won 6 regular season conference championships and made 3 NCAA tournaments. They didn't miss a beat when moving to Conference-USA, winning the championship in their first year. They made the tournament each of the two seasons before this, and won their regular season title and were ranked in the AP poll this season. He got some excellent recruits at a smaller program, bringing in players like Reggie Upshaw and Giddy Potts, two legends in Mufreesboro .He also worked the transfer market well, getting Jacorey Williams and Nick King to transfer from SEC programs and both won Conference-USA Player of the Year. There is no doubt in my mind that Davis will be able to reverse the fortunes of a Ole Miss team that hasn't been ranked since 2012-13. They have some good young players, and Davis should be able to create a winning legacy in Oxford.
Grade: A
2. Tom Crean to Georgia
Crean has been a very good coach over his 17 year coaching career. He started at Marquette, where he coached Dwayne Wade and brought his team to a Final Four while they were still in Conference-USA. He oversaw his program's transition to the Big East, and didn't miss a beat, making the tournament the first three years they were in the new conference. He then left for Indiana, and turned a 6 win team in his first year to a tournament appearance in just four years. He recruited Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller, Yogi Ferrell, and OG Anunoby to the Hooisers, and was the Big Ten regular season champion twice during his tenure in Bloomington. Crean also was an excellent analyst on ESPN this year, and I'll actually miss him during the upcoming season. He has a similar building task in Athens, where the Bulldog's haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 2015, so Crean will have his hands full. He does have a top-40 recruit from last season in Rayshaun Hammonds, so there will be some talent on his roster. I think Crean was a good hire and I can see Georgia competing in a few seasons.
Grade: B+
3. Penny Hardaway to Memphis
Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway was a star back in his playing days with the Tigers. He played two years in Memphis before being taken third overall in the NBA Draft. He has been coaching AAU and high school basketball at Memphis East Side. He is just 46 and will provide some great energy to a struggling Tigers program. After a long run of success under John Calipari and Josh Pastner, they have been floundering in recent times, having missed the tournament each of the past 4 years. The Tigers are returning each of their top 5 scorers from last season, and they did win 21 games last year, so Hardaway should have a good chance at success in Memphis. His biggest advantage will be in recruiting, where he has lots of energy and connections to some top recruits, including James Wiseman, who is ESPN's top recruit in the 2019 class, and Chandler Lawson, who is #26 in that class, both of whom he coaches at Memphis East Side. While I don't love his lack of experience, if he makes the right hires on his staff, such as a former coach, Hardaway should be able to bring in the type of recruits to make Memphis nationally relevant again.
Grade: B
4. Dan Hurley to UConn
The son of coaching legend Bob Hurley and brother of former Duke point guard and current Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, Dan has been around basketball his whole life. He played at Seton Hall, where he had a successful career. He coached at Saint Benedict's High School in New Jersey for 9 years before taking over at Wagner in 2010-11. He was only there for two seasons, but he took a team that was 5-26 the year before he took over and made them a 25-6 team which finished second in the NEC when he left for Rhode Island. Once again, he took a struggling program that went 8-21 in his first season, and over the next five seasons made Rhode Island into the class of the A-10, leading them to a conference tournament championship, a regular season championship, two NCAA tournament appearances, and they reached #16 in the AP Poll. He recruited some excellent players to Rhode Island, such as E.C Matthews, Jeff Dowtin, and Jared Terrell. He will look to rebuild another program in Connecticut, as the Huskies have fallen on hard times recently. They won the national title in 2014 behind Shabazz Napier, but haven't made the tournament since 2016 and have had losing records each of the past two seasons. Despite having lots of talented players like Jalen Adams and Terry Larrier, they struggled in the AAC, finishing eighth. I think Hurley was a great hire for UConn, as he can both recruit talent and get that talent to play up to its potential. If he can come close to the success he had at his previous two stops, the Huskeis will be returning to the tournament sooner rather than later.
Grade: A
5. Jeff Capel to Pittsburgh
The Panthers had been linked to multiple head coaches before hiring Capel, including Sean Miller and Mark Schmidt. Instead, they went with the Duke associate head coach. He has previous head coaching experience at VCU and Oklahoma. He started with the Rams in 2002 and coached there for 4 years, leading them to one NCAA tournament after winning the Colonial regular season and conference tournament. He then moved to Oklahoma, where he coached the Sooners to two NCAA tournaments and a 30 win season in 2008-09. He was able to pull in big recruits such as Blake Griffin. All of the programs wins in 2009-10 were vacated due to an ineligible player, and Capel was fired after the following season. He then latched on at Duke where he has been ever since. He has been instrumental in recruiting and he coached the Blue Devils when Coach K was recovering from back surgery. He will take over a reeling Pittsburgh team who only won 8 games last season and none in conference play. Capel will need to completely revamp the program, as they have no current recruits and only two players who haven't requested their release to transfer. I think Capel will be able to bring in recruits, but I question his actual in-game coaching abilities. I think it'll be an uphill battle for Capel, but I think he can bring in some good recruits and have the Panthers competing in a few years, but these next few could be tough.
Grade: C+
6. Chris Mack to Louisville
Chris Mack has been the head coach at Xavier for the past nine years, and he has done an amazing job with the Musketeers. He won 2 Atlantic-10 Championships with Xavier and reached 3 tournaments while in the league, and oversaw the transition into the new Big East, where Xavier didn't miss a beat. He made the tournament once moving to the Big East and managed to knock off Villanova for the Big East regular season title last season. He has had a winning record in all of his seasons and has done it without the best players. He has managed to find less-heralded recruits and turn them into very good players, guys like Trevon Bluiett and and J.P. Macura. He is a winner, plain and simple, and there is no reason that won't continue at Louisville. The school has come under the fire of the NCAA due to recruiting violations and former head coach Rick Pitino was fired before the season. They missed the tournament two out of the last three years so Mack will have to get them back to their glory days. He will certainly have the talent to do so, as three of their top five scorers still may return and Mack will be well set up for recruiting with a large program playing in the ACC. He may have to navigate around sanctions from the NCAA, but I trust Mack to win games and bring Louisville back to the top of the ACC. He is a fantastic coach and I believe he is one of the best coaches in college basketball, so Louisville absolutely knocked this hire out of the park.
Grade: A+
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