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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 Baylor Bears Scott Drew Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
NCAA Basketball Baylor Bears Scott Drew Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Scott Drew (#2 Baylor)

  • 2020-21 record: 18-0 overall, 10-0 Big 12

In many ways, Scott Drew and Baylor are in the same boat as Mark Few and Gonzaga.  Drew is coming off a season where he coached, arguably, his best team ever at Baylor – and was rewarded for it with a preseason number-two ranking nationally, and the Bears have almost cruised to an undefeated mark.

After earning the number-one spot in the national rankings last season for over a month, the Bears skidded a bit to end the season, dropping three of their final five games.  Additionally, Baylor entered this year with a gigantic question mark inside, with the graduation of starting center Freddie Gillespie – and, seemingly, no real definitive replacement in sight.

Drew and the Bears have quelled those worries with no issue, however.  With their four-guard lineup of Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell, MaCio Teague, and Mark Vital returning, Drew’s insertion of Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Flo Thamba inside has paid off dividends, and the Bears have asserted themselves as the only consistent threat in overtaking Gonzaga’s number-one spot.

Baylor’s pedigree this season includes romps over a handful of nationally-ranked teams, including Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas, and Kansas.  Like Gonzaga, Baylor has been stifling on both ends of the floor, scoring a second-best 86.4 points per game while holding teams to just 63.3 – producing an average margin of defeat of 23.1 points.

Naturally, that has translated statistically, as well – the Bears rank in the top ten in both offensive and defensive efficiency nationally, while sitting first in both categories in the Big 12.  They currently own the nation’s best three-point shooting percentage at a blistering 43.2%, maintain the second-best mark in effective FG%, and are fifth in offensive rebounding percentage at 37.7%.

Having Few and Drew back-to-back is, essentially, a flip of a coin, as both are deserving of being among the top names considered for this award.  Drew has endured a bit more this year by way of close games, seeing three games be decided by single-digits – but Baylor has frequently had to rely on execution to overcome or pull away from multiple teams this year, making Drew’s performance all that more warranting of recognition.

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