CBS Sports’ Most Underrated Coaches List Has Some Head-Scratchers
After committing weeks to picking the brains of Division 1 coaches nationwide, the CBS Sports college basketball staff divulged last week a list of the most underrated coaches in the sport. The kicker: the opinions of the coaches themselves—asked to judge and evaluate their peers—determined the list.
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As with any offseason list contingent upon subjective criteria, the list comprised of some strong choices as well as some throwaways. For every thoughtful nominee, there was a glaring omission or a silly inclusion See for yourself.
- Fran Dunphy (Temple): 14 percent
- Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s): 9 percent
- Rick Byrd (Belmont): 7 percent
- Bill Self (Kansas): 7 percent
- Buzz Williams (Marquette): 7 percent
- John Calipari (Kentucky): 7 percent
- Bob McKillop (Davidson): 5 percent
- Bob Huggins (West Virginia): 5 percent
Off the top, the inclusion of Fran Dunphy is in good taste, but he should be much lower down on the list given his NCAA tournament struggles. Sorry, but a coach who’s been at the job for 40 years—the last 22 spent as a Division-1 head coach—and has yet to make a Sweet 16 in any capacity forfeits the right to headline an underrated coaches list.
Bennett (St. Mary’s) and Byrd (Belmont) are worthy choices. Bennett, for establishing a program that has emerged as a viable challenger to Gonzaga, despite resource limitations and a home gym that resembles a barn more than a basketball facility. Byrd, for guiding one of the most consistent and fundamentally sound mid-majors in all of college basketball, a perennial favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference ever since the team began playing strictly with Byrd’s recruits in 2005.
From there, the list gets dicey.