NCAA Basketball rewind: Most impactful coaching hires after 2013 season

1. Brad Underwood (Stephen F. Austin)

Albeit a D1 team for nearly three decades, Stephen F. Austin wasn’t exactly a household name. Members of the Southland Conference, they had actually competed quite well in the league, but bringing home tournament titles had been difficult to this point. With Danny Kaspar leaving the program, the Lumberjacks were in the hunt for a head coach. They found their man, and achieved more success than anticipated.

Brad Underwood had not yet been a D1 head coach, though he had helmed a few junior college programs. He had a ton of assistant coaching experience, with the last six years coming on Frank Martin’s staffs, primarily with Kansas State. The longtime Western Illinois aide had spent the last season at South Carolina, but was ready to transition to Texas to lead the Lumberjacks.

What he accomplished in just three seasons was magical. Stephen F. Austin made the NCAA Tournament all three years, losing just one Southland game in that entire stretch. Not only did Underwood average nearly 30 wins a year, but his Lumberjacks pulled a pair of first round upsets, knocking out 5-seed VCU in 2014 and 3-seed West Virginia in 2016. Underwood left for Oklahoma State, leaving this program in extremely good shape for the present and future.

At long last, we’ve finished our deep dive into the top coaching hires from 2013; which of these coaches do you think were the best hires for their respective programs?