NCAA Basketball: Grading the biggest 2022 CBB coaching hires two years later

Matt Norlander, senior writer for CBS Sports, has an interesting spin when discussing the biggest coaching carousel hires. Instead of grading the hires immediately, he waits four years to let the results play out. The four-year sample size allows an appropriate window for coaches to make their mark on their respective programs, for better or worse. 

Here, we will do the same exercise, except we will not follow Norlander’s traditional four-year window. Rather, we will follow a two-year window. Amidst the chaos and frenzy of the transfer portal era, one certain thing is that it can be used to rebuild a program immediately -- and resurrect it quickly.

Gone are the days of a four or five-year grace period for head coaches. For example, it took Leonard Hamilton seven years to get Florida State to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. John Beilein didn’t make the second weekend in his first five seasons until the eventual runner-up finish in 2013. Scott Drew needed time to rebuild Baylor. Even Tom Izzo didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons at Michigan State.

So, is a two-year sample size appropriate to understand how successful (or not) a coaching hire was (or will be)? Absolutely not. Or at least not most of the time.

However, in this ever-changing transfer portal era, a two-year sample size is appropriate for grading where a respective program is heading because coaches in this cycle have already made an impactful mark on their program -- either good or bad.

With that in mind, here, we will revisit and grade the biggest 2022 college basketball coaching hires -- two years later.

Thad Matta, Butler Bulldogs: B-

After a five-year hiatus from his departure at Ohio State, Thad Matta returned for a second stint at Butler, his alma mater, in 2022. In two seasons, the Bulldogs have shown steady improvement despite the lack of an NCAA Tournament appearance. They endured a strenuous first year, however, the Bulldogs were knocking on the NCAA Tournament’s door for most of last year before suffering a lethal five-game slide in mid/late February. The Bulldogs have recently made a splash on the recruiting trail, reinforcing the positive influence Matta has had on the program. Matta hasn’t necessarily knocked it out of the park, but the early returns are positive.