Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: Grading recent coaching hires of 2020 offseason

By Daniel Benjamin

15 Mar 1998: Guard Bryce Drew of the Valparaiso Crusaders talks to his father and coach Homer Drew during a game against the Florida State Seminoles in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Myriad in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Florida State defea
15 Mar 1998: Guard Bryce Drew of the Valparaiso Crusaders talks to his father and coach Homer Drew during a game against the Florida State Seminoles in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Myriad in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Florida State defea /
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TUCSON, AZ – NOVEMBER 21: Head coach Jeff Linder of the Northern Colorado Bears (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ – NOVEMBER 21: Head coach Jeff Linder of the Northern Colorado Bears (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /

Grade: B-

Jeff Linder, Wyoming

Wyoming struggled the last two seasons under Allen Edwards, compiling a 17-48 record overall, including going 6-30 record in Mountain West play. Nothing went right for the Cowboys the previous two seasons, but their offense was the biggest issue. The Cowboys finished 334th in the nation in offensive rating in 2019 and 339th in 2020. Six players also transferred from Wyoming over the last two seasons.

Enter Jeff Linder, who resigned from Northern Colorado on March 17 to become the 22nd head coach in Cowboy program history. Linder posted an 80-50 record, which includes three straight winning seasons where the Bears won at least 21 games in each of those years, in four years at UNC. The 2019 Big Sky COY led Northern Colorado to a College Invitational Tournament championship in 2018. Still, the Bears never captured a conference crown — they finished second in each of the last two years. Before his arrival to Greeley (CO), the Bears hadn’t won 20 games in a season since 2010-11.

“Jeff possesses many important qualities I was looking for in a new head coach for Cowboy Basketball,” AD Tom Burman said Tuesday. “His brand of basketball will be great for our Cowboy fans to watch, as his teams play with great offensive efficiency and play a tough, hard-nosed style of defense. We couldn’t be more excited to have Jeff lead Wyoming Basketball into a new era.”

Offensive efficiency and hard-nose defense were two of the most prominent traits of Linder’s teams during his tenure with Northern Colorado. The Bears improved its offensive efficiency in each of the last four seasons and ranked 11th in the country this past season (111.8). They also were 58th in defensive ranking at 94.4, which was the team’s best under Linden.

Linden does need to show that he can recruit in the Mountain West. The good news for the Cowboys is that four of their top performers from the past four seasons are expected to return, led by leading scorer and rebounder Hunter Maldonado (15.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.0 apg).

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