NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 68 head coaches in 2021 NCAA Tournament
By Joey Loose
20. Mick Cronin (UCLA)
11 NCAA Tournaments (6-11)
It was quite the surprise when Cronin took the UCLA job in 2019, though after his past success he certainly had the pedigree. He took Murray State to a pair of NCAA Tournaments before taking Cincinnati to nine straight bids. The knock on Cronin is that his teams haven’t exactly had much success once they get to the NCAA Tournament and he’ll need that to change if he wants to stay at UCLA long term.
19. Mark Turgeon (Maryland)
9 NCAA Tournaments (9-9)
Since joining the Big Ten in 2014, Maryland has been very competitive in their new league thanks to Turgeon’s hard work. Formerly a winner at both Wichita State and Texas A&M (leading the Aggies to four NCAA Tournaments in four years), he’s been a great hire for the Terrapins. He’s managed little more than a single Sweet Sixteen run, especially disappointed after last year’s Big Ten regular-season champion team didn’t get a chance at March Madness.
18. Kelvin Sampson (Houston)
16 NCAA Tournaments (15-16)
Sampson built success at Washington State and led Oklahoma to a Final Four, but it all came unraveled for him when scandal ended his tenure at Indiana after less than two seasons. He’s bounced back marvelously, building Houston into the best team in the AAC, having just won the AAC Tournament title. His Cougars have stood out in a much-weakened AAC, but this program is in its best shape in decades since Sampson’s arrival.
17. Chris Holtmann (Ohio State)
5 NCAA Tournaments (6-5)
When Holtmann took over for Thad Matta at Ohio State, there was no guarantee the program would continue to succeed. Holtmann had built success at Gardner-Webb and taken Butler to three NCAA Tournaments, but anything was possible in Columbus.
With the Buckeyes, Holtmann has continued to build a top-level power conference program, one that just lost the Big Ten title game in overtime. Holtmann is another rising star in the coaching world, but can he lead Ohio State to the promised land in the near future?