NCAA Basketball: Picking each league’s Coach of the Year for 2023-24 season
By Joey Loose
Big East: Dan Hurley (Connecticut)
A few arguments can be made in the Big East. Thad Matta of Butler and Shaheen Holloway of Seton Hall are both exceeding expectations, with their programs fighting for trips to the NCAA Tournament. Instead, we’re looking at the top and for good reason. Despite winning last season’s national championship and looking dominant for most of the year, can you believe Hurley and company weren’t even picked to win the Big East?
Even after this week’s drubbing at Creighton, the Huskies still have a 2.5 game lead over the Marquette team that was picked to win the league. What’s happened instead is that Hurley’s squad has looked perhaps even better than last year’s national champion and have basically sealed their Big East title with three weeks left in the season. It’s an incredible job both recruiting and coaching that Hurley has done in Storrs and it’s not over yet.
Big Sky: Steve Smiley (Northern Colorado)
The Big Sky flies under the radar sometimes in the college basketball world, though that’s a regular affair for these mid-major leagues. One person that isn’t flying under the radar is Dalton Knecht, the Tennessee star who actually transferred from Northern Colorado last season. His absence left quite the hole for these Bears, but Smiley hasn’t let that get this team down.
Despite being picked to finish 9th in this 10-team Big Sky, Smiley has this Northern Colorado team sitting here in 2nd place. The Bears are 10-4 in league play, having much better seasons than several of the teams picked to finish ahead of them. This squad is far from flawless, but the fact that this team has already exceeded last year’s win total (and without Knecht) gives us plenty of reason to laud Smiley’s work.