Busting Brackets
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Sun Belt Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose

PHOENIX - MARCH 27: Head coach Darrin Horn of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers yells at his team during the second half of the West Regional Sweet 16 game against the UCLA Bruins at the U.S. Airways Center on March 27, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
PHOENIX - MARCH 27: Head coach Darrin Horn of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers yells at his team during the second half of the West Regional Sweet 16 game against the UCLA Bruins at the U.S. Airways Center on March 27, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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FAYETTEVILLE, AR – FEBRUARY 14: Head Coach John Pelphrey (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR – FEBRUARY 14: Head Coach John Pelphrey (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

6. John Pelphrey – South Alabama (2002-2007)

Before Pelphrey’s coaching career, he was a solid player at Kentucky, watching his career end in the Elite Eight on Christian Laettner’s shot in 1992. He spent his assistant coaching career under former coach Eddie Sutton and then Billy Donovan, helping the latter build Florida into a national title threat. In 2002, he left for South Alabama to begin his head coaching career.

Pelphrey got to work with the Jaguars, and even if the results were slow, they were certainly worth it. After three seasons under .500, South Alabama had a breakthrough in 2006, winning 24 games and returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years. In his final season, he led the Jaguars to 20 wins and an NIT bid, notching their second straight Sun Belt division title.

Pelphrey used this success to land the Arkansas job in 2007, though things did not end well for him or the Razorbacks. He’s back at the mid-major level, facing a long rebuild with Tennessee Tech in the OVC. His best work is clearly his time with the Jaguars, even if he did lead the Razorbacks to an NCAA Tournament win in 2008. He took the program out of the basement and back to the promised land, setting South Alabama up well in the immediate future as well.