NCAA Basketball: 10 most unappreciated head coaches in 2022
By Joey Loose
6. Ben Jacobson – Northern Iowa
When we’re talking about the great mid-major head coaches, the answer changes on a regular basis, mostly due to power conference teams scooping up these coaches when they get a chance. This past year alone saw names like Matt McMahon, Dennis Gates, and Lamont Paris hired away by bigger schools. One name that never gets snatched up (and never gets the right respect) is the man calling the shots at Northern Iowa.
Jacobson served under Greg McDermott for five seasons before assuming head coaching duties at Northern Iowa in 2006. Since then, he’s built a handful of successful teams, including numerous conference champions. He’s led the Panthers to four NCAA Tournaments and four Tournament wins, including that monumental second-round upset of top-seeded Kansas in 2010.
Northern Iowa has won two of the last three MVC regular-season titles and certainly looks like one of the perennial favorites for years to come, even if the program has to reload talent every few years. If Jacobson had been hired away after that success a decade ago, maybe he wouldn’t be an underrated coach, but maybe he would have flamed out after a few years coaching in the Big Ten or Big 12. Instead, he returns for year seventeen with the Panthers, hoping to lead that program back to the Big Dance once again.