NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 353 D-I head coaches for 2019-20 season
By Joey Loose
20. Mike Brey (Notre Dame) (Last year: 17)
- Overall record: 516-273
Brey soon begins his 20th season at Notre Dame and the former Duke assistant has built a pretty solid program in the process. The Fighting Irish struggled last season, but made Elite Eights in 2015 and 2016. In all, he’s made 14 NCAA Tournaments in his career, two of those at Delaware, and has done nice work to lead this team from the Big East to the ACC. As mentioned, last year was pretty bad, but fewer injuries and new talent will help turn the tide moving forward.
19. Bruce Weber (Kansas State) (Last year: 20)
- Overall record: 463-244
- Final Four in 2005
Weber will enter his eighth year at Kansas State after things didn’t work out at Illinois. The highlight of his career was clearly leading the Illini to the national title game in 2005, but he never came close to the same amount of success. Weber can also boast leading Southern Illinois to the Sweet Sixteen and an unheralded Kansas State squad to the Elite Eight a few seasons ago. Honestly, he’s a good head coach with tons of experience and we’ll see if he can lead the Wildcats to a fourth straight NCAA Tournament.
18. Jamie Dixon (TCU) (Last year: 14)
- Overall record: 396-164
If you need another reason why Dixon is a successful basketball coach, look not only at what he’s done but what his programs have done without him. He made the NCAA Tournament a regular ending to the season in his 13 years at Pitt just for Kevin Stallings to tear it all apart in two seasons. In 2016, he took the job at TCU, his alma mater, and immediately made them a competent Big 12 program, a humongous ask for previous head coaches. He’s 68-41 and TCU and enters his fourth year looking to continue that success.
17. Bruce Pearl (Auburn) (Last year: 24)
- Overall record: 331-171
- Final Four in 2019
Pearl was already an impressive head coach before leading Auburn to the Final Four this past season. He won a D2 title at Southern Indiana, led Milwaukee to the Sweet Sixteen and achieved regular success at Tennessee. After a few years of rebuilding, he turned Auburn not only into an SEC contender, but a national one as well. A slight talent reload is coming for the Tigers and another Final Four is likely not happening, but it’s impossible to deny that Pearl has pulled off one of college basketball’s greatest turnarounds at Auburn.
16. Dana Altman (Oregon) (Last year: 21)
- Overall record: 645-339
- Final Four in 2017
Altman begins his 31st season as a D1 head coach, though he’s clearly done his best work since joining Oregon in 2010. There was success at Marshall, Kansas State, and certainly at Creighton, though his Final Four run back in 2017 is clearly the highlight of his career. Altman has turned Oregon into the Pac-12’s premiere program right now, leading his team to the Sweet Sixteen again this past season. How will the Ducks fare as the rest of the conference gets stronger again?
15. Lon Kruger (Oklahoma) (Last year: 16)
- Overall record: 639-409
- Final Four in 1994, 2016
Kruger’s been at Oklahoma since 2011, just the latest stop on a long, successful coaching career. He’s led both Florida and Oklahoma to the Final Four and parlay his success at Illinois into the Atlanta Hawks coaching job. Right now, he’s been doing a great job bringing talent to the Sooners, making six NCAA Tournaments in his first eight years while competing in a tough Big 12. Who knows what the future holds for Kruger, who could be close to finding another hidden gem in college basketball.
14. Sean Miller (Arizona) (Last year: 12)
- Overall record: 384-136
Things almost came tumbling down after scandal, but Miller will indeed begin his 11th season at Arizona with an impressive young recruiting class. Miller is still hunting for his first Final Four, coming just short four times, with Elite Eight’s at both Xavier and Arizona. Last year’s team mightily struggled, but his Wildcats will bounce back this season. Getting that elusive Final Four will go a long way towards asserting Miller as one of the nation’s best coaches.
13. Rick Barnes (Tennessee) (Last year: 13)
- Overall record: 692-364
- Final Four in 2003
While time ran out for Barnes at Texas (he also coached George Mason, Providence and Clemson), he’s done pretty good work in his first four seasons at Tennessee. After making 16 NCAA Tournaments in his 17 years at Texas, he’s led Tennessee to the top two in the SEC each of the last two seasons after rebuilding the program. The SEC is insanely competitive these days but Barnes wasted no time building an impressive roster that made serious noise in the postseason. How will he follow this up in 2020?
12. Bob Huggins (West Virginia) (Last year: 9)
- Overall record: 788-337
- Final Four in 1992, 2010
While last year was certainly a struggle, Huggins’ coaching career has been long and successful. He’s built consistent, promising programs at both Cincinnati and West Virginia, including a trip to the Final Four at both schools. He’s made 24 NCAA Tournaments and his teams have caused plenty of damage when they’ve gotten there. He’s made three Sweet Sixteens in his last five years with the Mountaineers and should have this team playing better ball after a collapse last season.
11. Chris Beard (Texas Tech) (Last year: 35)
- Overall record: 106-36
- Final Four in 2019
No basketball coach has had a quicker rise to greatness than Beard. Four seasons ago he was just beginning his D1 head coaching career at Little Rock, but led that team to 30 wins and an NCAA Tournament upset. His rise at Texas Tech has been even more meteoric, with an Elite Eight in year two before last year’s appearance in the national title game. We’ll have to see what happens next for Beard, who may be knocking on the doorstep of a national championship if he can keep bringing this kind of talented defense to his programs.