NCAA Basketball: Ranking best head coaching hires from the year 2000

4. Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech)

The scene in college basketball can greatly change over the course of a few decades and things were certainly different back in 2000. Georgia Tech surprised everyone by winning this year’s ACC Tournament, but two decades ago they were a competitive program making regular appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Come 2000, they were forced to replace the great Bobby Cremins, finding themselves one of the talented mid-major coaches to take over the program.

Paul Hewitt spent time on staff at Fordham and Villanova before beginning his head coaching career at Siena in 1997. His Saints won a lot of games in his three years in charge, including an NCAA Tournament and an NIT bid. Though great success transpired in the MAAC, Hewitt was facing a significant challenge taking over an ACC program, especially with Duke and North Carolina on top of their game.

Hewitt would spend eleven years leading the Yellow Jackets, and while there would be ups and downs, the 2004 NCAA Tournament made it all worth it. Hewitt’s Georgia Tech squad won five games and made it all the way to the national championship game before falling to Connecticut.

In total, Hewitt made five NCAA Tournaments with the Yellow Jackets and kept the program in pretty solid shape. Considering how things have fallen off in recent memory, Hewitt’s work is pretty fantastic.