Horizon League Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 9, 2020

NEW ORLEANS, LA - MARCH 26: Head coach Brad Stevens of the Butler Bulldogs celebrates with his team after they defeated the Florida Gators 74 to 71 in overtime during the Southeast regional final of the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament at New Orleans Arena on March 26, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MARCH 09: Head coach Scott Nagy of the Wright State Raiders (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

10. Horizon League Basketball rankings – Scott Nagy (Wright State, 2016-2020)

There was a lot of surprise around the Wright State program back in 2016 when previous coach Billy Donlon was fired and Nagy was brought in. Donlon had built success for the Raiders but was cast aside due to a lack of postseason success. Nagy had spent two decades at South Dakota State and accepted the new challenge with the Raiders, and he’d make an immediate impact with the team.

Nagy continued Donlon’s momentum and built Wright State into one of the top teams in the conference. While teams like Butler and Valparaiso have vacated the conference recently, it’s still impressive that Nagy sits at 53-19 in Horizon League play. His team made the NCAA Tournament in 2018 while falling in the conference tournament each of the last two seasons after first-place finishes. Additionally, Wright State has won at least 20 games in each of his first four seasons.

It’s fortunate that Nagy has succeeded at Wright State and he really has made Wright State one of the top two teams in the conference on a consistent basis. The Horizon League certainly isn’t what it once was, but Nagy has the Raiders in shape to yearly threaten for NCAA Tournament bids. If they can build on last year’s 25-7 season, then watch out for Wright State in the years to come.