NCAA Basketball: Grading all head coaching hires for 2019-2020
By Joey Loose
Nate Oats – Alabama (A)
Oats is set to take over Alabama after leading Buffalo to new heights in the last four years. He’s a former high school head coach with limited experience at the D-1 level, but leading Buffalo to a 32-win season is nothing to scoff at. Oats proved that he could build a talented roster, even in the MAC, and had the Bulls among the nation’s top 25 teams for most of the year. His hire came quick in the offseason and was a fantastic grab for the Crimson Tide. The only concern will be geography, as his prior coaching experience came in Wisconsin, Detroit, and Buffalo. Regardless, this still feels like a great hire, and the results are already apparent as he puts together next year’s Alabama roster.
Dustin Kerns – Appalachian State (B+)
Kerns is a young up and coming coach who spent the last two seasons leading Presbyterian. A former Wofford assistant, he helped build some of Mike Young’s Tourney teams with the Terriers while leading the Blue Hose to a 20-win year in 2019. The Clemson alum has nearly two decades of D1 experience, and Appalachian State seems like a nice next step for his coaching career. He showed growth with Presbyterian and will replace a coach in Jim Fox who couldn’t grow this program back into a winning team. It might take a few years, but I think Kearns can get the job done inevitably.
Eric Musselman – Arkansas (C)
The Razorbacks couldn’t quite land Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, but Musselman is certainly more than a consolation prize. The former NBA head coach produced impressive results these last four years at Nevada; his 110-34 record speaks for itself. The issue with Musselman is his tendency to lean on transfers instead building with four-year players. Outside the problems with over recruiting, his Nevada team this past season didn’t seem to gel when it mattered most, being bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after another impressive season. He’s a great coach with a fine pedigree, but will his methods work in a suddenly powerful SEC?
Casey Alexander – Belmont (A)
When Rick Byrd announced his retirement, Alexander emerged in all likelihood as the perfect candidate. He played for Byrd and coached under him for 16 seasons. His head coaching career saw him produce solid results at Stetson before leading Lipscomb to the NCAA Tournament last season. He won’t even have to move as he returns to his alma mater, though he will have work to do to replace Dylan Windler. Belmont is constantly a top team in the OVC and Alexander has shown at Lipscomb that he’s going to keep this program right there. Belmont completely nailed this hire.