Busting Brackets
Fansided

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

By Joey Loose

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)
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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 11
Next
MIAMI – MARCH 20: Coach Gary Waters of the Cleveland State University Vikings (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)
MIAMI – MARCH 20: Coach Gary Waters of the Cleveland State University Vikings (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images) /

6. Horizon League Basketball rankings – Gary Waters (Cleveland State, 2006-2017)

When Waters arrived in Cleveland in 2006, he was a retread hire that still brought some excitement for the Vikings. He had led Kent State to an NCAA Tournament upset before sputtering out at Rutgers, spending five years with both schools. As he settled in with the Vikings, he inherited a program that had been mightily struggling in recent years, winning just 23 games in their last three seasons combined.

Under Waters, Cleveland State became a top-level team in the Horizon League. His third team in 2009 made the NCAA Tournament and walloped 4-seed Wake Forest in the process, scoring him another upset win at the mid-major level. His Vikings finished in the top 4 of the conference all but one year between 2008 and 2015, securing a slew of other postseason bids. Even while Butler, Valparaiso, and Northern Kentucky took turns dominating the conference, they remained competitive.

Waters retired in 2017 and the Cleveland State program has hit dormancy in recent seasons again, losing more than 20 games for five straight years. While Waters was around for the beginning of that nosedive, we can only wonder how he would have fared instead of Dennis Felton and Dennis Gates helming this program. Any coach who can bring a team like Cleveland State to an NCAA Tournament win is doing great things and Waters left behind a legacy that won’t soon be forgotten.