NCAA Basketball: Top 10 impact head coaching hires from 2008 offseason

Take yourselves back to the year 2008. After an impressive comeback in the NCAA Basketball title game, Kansas won the national championship, their first in twenty years. The list of All-Americans included stars like Michael Beasley and Kevin Love, but also featured the emergence of Tar Heels legend Tyler Hansbrough. That season also featured the emergence of Stephen Curry at Davidson among other intriguing stories from the postseason.

With that NCAA Tournament coming to a conclusion, it was time for another offseason and change was in the air for several basketball programs. Several were already facing program-changing decisions, while the coaching carousel was only just beginning to spin. Schools like Indiana and LSU already had openings, while schools like Marquette, Oklahoma State, and Stanford would open as the offseason progressed.

It’s very important for each of these programs, high and low majors alike, to make the right coaching decision when an opening presents itself. Regardless of if a program is on top of the world or struggling to win games, the future hangs on the next head coach and direction of that program.

We’ll be focusing on some of the hires made back in 2008, looking back at some of the biggest and best names that took over programs thirteen years ago. Not every hire can be examined, but the ten best give us plenty to talk about.

Without further ado, let’s get right into the list.