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

By Joey Loose | Jul 15, 2020

DAYTON, OH - MARCH 20: The Siena Saints celebrate a double overtime win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at University of Dayton Arena on March 20, 2009 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

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SPOKANE, WA – MARCH 19: Head coach Fran McCaffery of the Siena Saints (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

2. Fran McCaffery – Siena (2005-2010)

When McCaffery came to Siena in 2005, he did so with some pretty significant experience already. He had coached and led Lehigh to the NCAA Tournament before he had even turned 30, then spent over a decade on the staff at Notre Dame. He took UNC Greensboro the NCAA Tournament in 2001 before departing to join the Saints a few years later.

McCaffery did some of his best work with Siena, turning the Saints into the premiere MAAC program. After solid years in his first two seasons, McCaffery led Siena to three straight regular and conference tournament titles. What’s most impressive is that he won a pair of upsets in the NCAA Tournament, knocking out 4-seed Vanderbilt in 2008 and 8-seed Ohio State in 2009. In those final three seasons, Siena won 77 total games, was 46-8 in the MAAC, and made all three NCAA Tournaments.

That phenomenal success made McCaffery the head coach at Iowa, where he remains today following a decade of hard work. It’s hard to match the consistency and success he attained at Siena, especially when you consider those rare postseason victories. This Siena program just hasn’t been anywhere close to this potent since his departure, though Iowa is certainly reaping the benefits.