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

By Joey Loose | Jul 20, 2020

CHARLOTTE, NC - NOVEMBER 15: Head coach Greg Marshall of the Winthrop Eagles cheers on his team during a game against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels November 15, 2006 at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo By Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 15: Head coach Tim Craft of the Gardner-Webb Runnin Bulldogs (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

5. Tim Craft – Gardner-Webb (2013-2020)

Craft’s coaching career began slowly with hard work at the high school level before eventually winding up on the Gardner-Webb staff in 2004. He spent five seasons under Jeff Lebo at Auburn and East Carolina, and that SEC experience certainly helped him land the Gardner-Webb job in 2013. He inherited one of the best teams in program history from Chris Holtmann, and he took full advantage of that progress.

Craft has led the Runnin’ Bulldogs to general success in the Big South. They haven’t won a regular-season title, but have finished at or above .500 in conference play each season. In 2019, he led Gardner-Webb to their first NCAA Tournament and his 127-105 record is pretty solid when you consider the state of the program before his arrival.

While he remains at Gardner-Webb, the former Auburn assistant likely has his eyes on a greater prize. His Runnin’ Bulldogs gave Virginia a legitimate scare before their national title run, but there’s plenty more work to be done. Craft has been extremely solid to make this a competent program and perhaps their first regular-season title could come in the near future.