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NCAA Basketball: Top 10 National Coach of the Year candidates for 2020-21

By Benjamin Zacher

COLLEGE PARK, MD - DECEMBER 31: Head coach Juwan Howard of the Michigan Wolverines watches the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center on December 31, 2020 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - DECEMBER 31: Head coach Juwan Howard of the Michigan Wolverines watches the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center on December 31, 2020 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball Gonzaga Bulldogs James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
NCAA Basketball Gonzaga Bulldogs James Snook-USA TODAY Sports /

6. Mark Few (#1 Gonzaga)

  • 2020-21 record: 22-0 overall, 13-0 WCC

There are so many reasons why Mark Few could be considered the favorite for the National Coach of the Year award, and it would be impossible to deny any of those arguments.  After coaching what may have been his most talented team ever last season, Few has returned with an even better squad – and has run the tables in historic fashion.

Entering the 2020-21 season as the number-one team in the nation, the Bulldogs ripped through their non-conference schedule without a single blemish, all the while collecting some of the best wins among any college basketball team – including over Kansas, Auburn, West Virginia, Iowa and Virginia.  The WCC regular season has played out the exact same way, with the Bulldogs winning all of their conference games by double-digits.

To date, just one of Gonzaga’s games has been decided by single-digits – an 87-82 win over West Virginia back in December.  The Bulldogs currently maintain the nation’s highest points-per-game average with 93.4 – and are holding teams to just 69.1 points, meaning they are outscoring teams by a striking margin of 24.3 points.

Obviously, the Bulldogs have not moved from their position as the top team in college basketball – and their stats only cement their status even further.  Few’s squad owns the second-most efficient offense and the fourth-most efficient defense in the nation – as well as an offense that ranks first nationally in effective FG% (61.1%) and 2P% (64.5%), all the while playing the sixth-fastest tempo in college basketball.

It is no mystery just how good – and how well-renowned – Gonzaga’s core group of Drew Timme, Corey Kispert, Jalen Suggs, Joey Ayayi, Andrew Nembhard, and the recently surging Anton Watson have been.  Considering that Timme and Kispert are both, arguably, among the top ten players in all of college basketball, and Suggs is one of the best freshmen, it is no wonder that the Zags are as good as they are.

The reason why Few is not higher on this list is because the Zags were expected to be the top team in the nation – and they have matched those expectations.  Additionally, Few’s chances of winning the actual award are a bit limited because he earned it in 2017 – and repeats, within a certain timespan, tend to be avoided.

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