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

Bob McKillop: Davidson Wildcats

McKillop earned such a high placement on this list for not only winning the A10 tournament but for doing it with perhaps the thinnest roster of the top 4 teams. Yes, the Wildcats had an outstanding trio in Peyton Aldridge, Jon-Axel Gudmundsson, and rookie phenom Kellan Grady, but beyond that options 4-8 were average A10 players (talent wise) at best. McKillop found a way to use their specific strengths and get the most that he possibly could out of them.

 Rusty Reigel, Will Magarity, Oskar Michelsen, and KiShawn Pritchett are not superior athletes, but they all bought into their roles and became important parts of the system because of it. Davidson was a real “team,” in the truest sense of the word, and that’s thanks to Coach McKillop as a leader and chemistry builder.

Beyond winning the conference tournament, Davidson put a real scare into a far superior, at least on paper, Kentucky team in the NCAA Tournament. The fact that McKillop held his own against a coaching giant like John Calipari, perhaps the best-known example of someone who consistently gets the most out of their teams, and with a much less celebrated roster at that, speaks volumes about his ability. Coming into this season, people are once again skeptical about Davidson’s depth, but McKillop’s given us more than enough reason to believe in his ability to make it work.