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Big East Basketball: Ranking all 10 head coaches for 2019-20 season

By Joey Loose

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 23: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats shakes hands with head coach Ed Cooley of the Providence Friars after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 23: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats shakes hands with head coach Ed Cooley of the Providence Friars after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OHIO – FEBRUARY 24: Travis Steele the head coach of the Xavier Musketeers gives instructions to his team during the 66-54 win over the Villanova Wildcats at Cintas Center on February 24, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OHIO – FEBRUARY 24: Travis Steele the head coach of the Xavier Musketeers gives instructions to his team during the 66-54 win over the Villanova Wildcats at Cintas Center on February 24, 2019 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

9. Travis Steele (Xavier)

The Xavier basketball program is clearly on the rise, evident as a once A-10 power is now a fierce competitor in the Big East. The Musketeers have built some great teams in the past few decades and it’s led many a head coach to promotions elsewhere. Entering his second season, will Steele become the next coach to make a jump?

A Butler alum in his first head coach job, Steele spent the early part of his career coaching high school ball before becoming Thad Matta’s graduate manager at Ohio State. He was video coordinator at Indiana during Kelvin Sampson’s tenure before joining the Musketeers in 2008. He spent ten years as an assistant and then associate head coach, under Sean Miller and Chris Mack. As previously mentioned, both of those coaches left for bigger jobs, leaving the program in Steele’s hands in 2018.

Related Story. Xavier poised for big 2019-20?. light

Xavier went 19-16 in his initial season as head coach. On the surface, this doesn’t seem impressive, though a 3rd place finish is worlds ahead of what Leitao and DePaul have done recently. He led the Musketeers to the NIT and had them competitive in an extremely tight Big East race. While it typically takes a few years to determine how a coach will fare, Steele’s off to an acceptable start at Xavier.

Obviously, it’s too early to consider putting Steele any higher on this list. He certainly played a role in the last decade of Xavier’s success, though it’s much different as the man leading the charge. With just one season in the books, we just don’t know what’s going to happen for him and Xavier in the coming years. Can he join in the footsteps of Mack and Miller before him and continue this program’s elevation?

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