NCAA Basketball: Top 10 head coaching hires from the year 2002

10. Jerry Wainwright (Richmond)

There’s never really been a time when Richmond was considered one of the best programs in the nation, but that’s not to say the Spiders haven’t had their runs of success. In 2002, they watched West Virginia poach John Beilein and needed a new voice to keep this program headed in the right direction. Much like with Beilein five years earlier, they found a coach with head coaching experience.

Jerry Wainwright had already been around the game of basketball for more than three decades, with much of that early experience coming at the high school level. He spent a decade on the coaching staffs at Xavier and Wake Forest before getting his first collegiate head coaching job at UNC Wilmington. He led the Seahawks to a pair of NCAA Tournaments in his eight years at the school and was more than ready for the step up at Richmond.

Wainwright didn’t revolutionize Richmond basketball nor did he make the Spiders a household name, but he put forth three solid seasons for a program that had only recently joined the A-10. His first season ended in the NIT while year two’s success led the Spiders back to the NCAA Tournament. Wainwright won just 54% of his games at the school but sustained the success of the program before departing for DePaul in 2005.