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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Georgia head coach Dennis Felton (Photo by Matthew Sharpe/WireImage)
Georgia head coach Dennis Felton (Photo by Matthew Sharpe/WireImage) /

4. Dennis Felton – Western Kentucky (2000-2003)

Before getting his shot to run a program, Felton bounced around as an assistant, including six years at Providence and Clemson under current Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. Western Kentucky offered him that first job in 1998, and by the turn of the century, things were going well for the Hilltoppers. He’s not the first name on this list, but he is a main reason why this program was successful during this century.

Honestly, Felton should be much higher on this list, seeing as he led Western Kentucky to the NCAA Tournament three seasons in a row. Though they couldn’t pull off any wins during those runs, he did win three regular-season titles and finished 39-5 in the Sun Belt. Winning 76 games in three years isn’t impressive enough; Western Kentucky dominated the conference during this stretch.

Felton parlayed that success into the Georgia job, but could only lead the Bulldogs once to the Tournament before being fired in 2009. He’s bounced around in the years since, including an ugly two-year stint leading Cleveland State. It’s irresponsible to say that Western Kentucky wasn’t his best coaching performance, and it’s something he clearly couldn’t replicate elsewhere. No matter what happened after 2003, winning three league titles in three years will get you on a list like this.