NCAA Basketball rewind: Most impactful coaching hires after 2016 season

By Joey Loose | Jul 16, 2021

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - JANUARY 07: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks on during the second half of the college basketball game against the Baylor Bears on January 07, 2020 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball Travis Ford Saint Louis Billikens (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

5. Travis Ford (Saint Louis)

When Saint Louis brought in legendary head coach Rick Majerus back in 2007, he helped push this Billikens program back on the road to success, their first real success since joining the A-10 a few years earlier. After his death in 2012, the program remained successful under Jim Crews, but Crews just couldn’t carry the ball moving forward. Saint Louis had struggled to two pretty bad seasons and needed a new voice.

That new voice became Travis Ford, a young coach who already had nearly two decades of head coaching experience. After playing his college ball at Kentucky, he spent solid years as head coach at Campbellsville, Eastern Kentucky, and UMass before landing the Oklahoma State job in 2008. He took those Cowboys to five NCAA Tournaments in eight years before being relieved, but landing at Saint Louis became the next great step for him.

Ford got busy, both on and off the court, and turned Saint Louis back into a contender. By his third season, he led the Billikens not only to 23 wins but back to the NCAA Tournament after a surprise run at the A-10 Tournament. These last two seasons have both ended in 4th place finishes, and Ford has clearly elevated this program back into a contender in the nation’s toughest mid-major league.

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