NCAA Basketball: Butler, SDSU headline National Coach of the Year rankings
1. player. 472. . . . LaVall Jordan
Butler has been the most pleasant surprise in the country so far this season. After being picked to finish eighth in just the Big East, the Dawgs are now slotted at No. 6 in the AP poll and advanced metrics agree with that current placement. Head coach LaVall Jordan has instilled a tremendous winning mentality in his entire roster and every player is seemingly answering the call. “The Butler Way” appears to be alive and well under his leadership as the program is experiencing a defensive resurgence.
After ranking 123rd in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency a season ago, the Dawgs are ranked fourth in that category right now. While some personnel changes certainly have made a difference, Coach Jordan deserves a ton of credit. Everyone in the program, including the coaching staff, has rededicated themselves to the defensive end of the floor and it shows.
The Dawgs contest every shot and display their tremendous discipline by ranking seventh nationally in defensive rebounding rate. Quite simply, Butler is not a team that is going to beat itself very often. The Dawgs play smart basketball and work as a team. Coach Jordan showcased his chops as a recruiter during this past offseason and is now displaying his scheming ability on the sidelines as well.
Butler currently sits at 13-1 (2-0 BE) this season with a ton of quality wins. If the NCAA Tournament started right now, the Dawgs would have a very legitimate argument for a No. 1 seed. That is just a testament to how the team has performed so far this season and the coaching staff continues to stress staying hungry and taking each game one at a time.
In addition to Butler’s superb play so far this season, LaVall Jordan is also easily the youngest coach on this list at 40-years-old (the next youngest is 47). The future is bright in Indianapolis.
Next. Week 10 National Power Rankings. dark
That concludes this look at my 10 current frontrunners for the National Coach of the Year award. Who were the biggest snubs from this list right now? Would you make some shifts within these rankings? Let me know!