NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 68 head coaches in 2022 NCAA Tournament
By Joey Loose
24. Juwan Howard (Michigan)
1 NCAA Tournament (3-1)
Howard returned to Michigan in 2019 after a long playing career in the NBA. The former Miami Heat assistant got right to work with success at his alma mater, leading the Wolverines to a regular-season Big Ten title and trip to the Elite Eight last season. While this year was a step in the wrong direction, compounded by his late-season suspension, Howard still has this program trending upwards.
23. Fran McCaffery (Iowa)
10 NCAA Tournaments (6-10)
McCaffery’s coaching career has been quite the ride. Long before starting at Iowa in 2010, he was a longtime assistant at Notre Dame and took Lehigh, UNC Greensboro, and Siena each to the NCAA Tournament, scoring a pair of upsets with the Saints. This is bid number six with the Hawkeyes, though McCaffery is still looking for that first sustained postseason run at Iowa.
22. Shaka Smart (Marquette)
8 NCAA Tournaments (7-8)
Year one at Marquette has Smart leading a third different team to the NCAA Tournament. Everyone remembers how he led VCU from First Four to Final Four back in 2011, but the Tourney wins have been few and far between since then. He didn’t win a single Tournament game in six years at Texas but looks to bounce back with Marquette, hoping to snap a personal six-game losing streak in the Big Dance.
21. Greg McDermott (Creighton)
9 NCAA Tournaments (5-9)
McDermott’s D1 head coaching career got started by leading Northern Iowa to three straight NCAA Tournaments. After failing at Iowa State, he’s been really good with Creighton, leading the Bluejays since 2010. Last season, he led Creighton to their first Sweet Sixteen in 47 years and he’s regularly leading this program into the postseason, even now in a strong Big East.