Big Ten Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches in 2023 offseason

By Joey Loose | Apr 17, 2023

Feb 16, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter fist bumps Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo after the game at Mackey Arena. The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Michigan State Spartans 75 to 65. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

5 of 15

Mar 19, 2023; Albany, NY, USA; Indiana Hoosiers guard Jalen Hood-Schifino (1) talks with head coach Mike Woodson during the second half at MVP Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /

11. Mike Woodson – Indiana

Woodson was a star guard at Indiana in the late 70’s under Bob Knight and was later a first round draft pick by the New York Knicks. He’d spent more than a decade playing in the NBA before spending the majority of his coaching career on those same NBA benches Woodson has worked for half a dozen franchises, and was head coach of both the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks, taking both to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

He returned to his alma mater as head coach in 2021, ending a 41-year absence from the college game. While many NBA hires have not worked in the past, Woodson has actually been solidly successful in leading these Hoosiers. He’s averaging 22 wins a season and led the Hoosiers to a 2nd place finish in the Big Ten this past season, including a pair of upsets over rival Purdue. Most importantly, Indiana has made both NCAA Tournaments since Woodson took over, winning their opening-round game this past season as well.

While Indiana isn’t exactly cutting down nets or putting up new banners, Woodson has this program going in a great direction at the moment. Things were getting quite stagnant in the years before his arrival and it’s hard to be disappointed so far. That being said, there’s a lot of moving pieces this offseason and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of performance these Hoosiers have next season. Winning at least 21 games and making the NCAA Tournament in each of your first two seasons at the helm is certainly a good start.

Home/Big Ten