Atlantic 10 Basketball: Top 5 coaching performances of 2017-18

Dan Hurley: Rhode Island Rams

Yes, the Rams were the most talented team in the conference, so it’s not surprising that they finished at top of the standings. Still, it has to be appreciated that a lot could have gone wrong, or at least not nearly as well as it did. The Rams started 13-0 in conference play, which is hard to do no matter who’s on your roster. Expectations were extremely high for the Rams coming into the season, and they more than lived up to them. They snagged wins over Providence and Seton Hall, and their only non-conference losses were to Virginia, Alabama, and Nevada, all three of whom would reach the NCAA Tournament (Virginia as a #1 seed).

The only “failure” for the Rams was losing in the A10 Tournament to Davidson. Still, making the final is no small feat, and it’s not like they got routed in that game. They went on to redeem that loss in the Big Dance with a win over Tre Young and Oklahoma, ultimately making it the furthest (the round of 32) of any A10 team.

The bottom line is that the Rams were incredibly deep with Senior talent and had no excuse for being bad, but that also put extremely high expectations on them and gave them the most to lose of any team in the conference. They lived up to those expectations and came through with a great run, and coach Hurley deserves some credit for that.