In past seasons, the college basketball coaching carousel has droned loudly enough to keep the sport in the national headlines past March. While this season's version of musical chairs has been more subtle, there has been a tuba blast or two. In this and next week's posts, we'll look over the changes in the coaching landscape and try to guess what effect -- if any-- these figureheads will be able to forge in the coming season. Let's start with arguably the biggest hire and look at the ripples it created.
Chris Mack
The Rick Pitino era is officially over in Louisville, although none of his ousting was his responsibility (as it never is according to departed leaders). David Padgett kept the Cardinals above water for a season, but he might as well have added the word interim to his name. It looked as if Mack would stay at Xavier for a long time, especially considering he led the Musketeers to the NCAA Tournament eight times and garnered a one-seed in last year's Big Dance. Over his tenure, the coach facilitated a number of high scoring guards: Jordan Crawford, Tu Holloway, and Trevon Bluiett all come to mind. The 2018-19 Cardinals do not appear to have a guard like that can be a big scorer, though graduate transfers Christian Cunningham from Samford and Khwan Fore from Richmond should solidify the Louisville backcourt. Keep an eye on sophomore Malik Williams to possibly break out.
Travis Steele
As they usually do, the Musketeers
In past seasons, the college basketball coaching carousel has droned loudly enough to keep the sport in the national headlines past March. While this season's version of musical chairs has been more subtle, there has been a tuba blast or two. In this and next week's posts, we'll look over the changes in the coaching landscape and try to guess what effect -- if any-- these figureheads will be able to forge in the coming season. Let's start with arguably the biggest hire and look at the ripples it created.
Chris Mack
The Rick Pitino era is officially over in Louisville, although none of his ousting was his responsibility (as it never is according to departed leaders). David Padgett kept the Cardinals above water for a season, but he might as well have added the word interim to his name. It looked as if Mack would stay at Xavier for a long time, especially considering he led the Musketeers to the NCAA Tournament eight times and garnered a one-seed in last year's Big Dance. Over his tenure, the coach facilitated a number of high scoring guards: Jordan Crawford, Tu Holloway, and Trevon Bluiett all come to mind. The 2018-19 Cardinals do not appear to have a guard like that can be a big scorer, though graduate transfers Christian Cunningham from Samford and Khwan Fore from Richmond should solidify the Louisville backcourt. Keep an eye on sophomore Malik Williams to possibly break out.
Travis Steele
As they usually do, the Musketeers promoted internally to find their new coach. The 36-year-old Steele has been at Xavier since 2008 and spent a year as an assistant with Mack under Miller. He was the associate head coach for the last three seasons, so he should have a clear idea of what the strengths and weaknesses of the Musketeer roster are. The goal for Steele will be to push Xavier into the Final Four after three Elite Eight runs under Mack. The Musketeer roster will also have to promote internally after losing its top three scorers, including Bluiett. Sophomore Naji Marshall should be ready for a larger role and Quentin Goodin (4.9 apg) improved as a point guard in his sophomore season. Steele has talked about pressing more, so an athletic forward like Tyrique Jones could be a key player.
Jeff Capel
The Kevin Stallings era in Pittsburgh was brief and terrible. The team only won 24 games in two seasons, which was just about the average winning total for Jamie Dixon before he absconded to TCU. The hiring of Capel should be seen as a big win because we know he can recruit. Before spending the last seven seasons under coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, Capel helped Oklahoma land Blake Griffin. He also led the Sooners to a 30-win season before recruiting issues with players like Tiny Gallon ended his run. Capel is starting with a blank slate in Pittsburgh, which is probably for the best. Swingman Jared Wilson-Frame is the top returning scorer and he will be helped on the perimeter by St. John's transfer Malik Ellison. Freshmen Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens will be thrown into the fire in the backcourt. New Mexico State transfer Sidy Ndir should get plenty of offensive opportunities as well.
Tom Crean
I thought Mark Fox would be successful at Georgia, but he had nine seasons to prove me right and it did not happen. He only led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament twice as a 10-seed in the 2011 and 2015 tournaments. Crean comes to Georgia after taking the 2017-18 season off to recharge after leading Marquette and Indiana for nearly 20 years. Crean had players like Dwyane Wade and Wes Matthews with the Golden Eagles, but was not quite successful enough at Indiana after rescuing the team from the Kelvin Sampson mess. The Bulldogs have a number of rotation players returning, but they will be missing their main man from last year, Yante Maten. Look for players such as Juwan Parker (8.3 ppg) and Rayshaun Hammonds (6.7 ppg) to pump up their production under Crean.
Kermit Davis
Over the last three seasons, Davis led Middle Tennessee State to one of the best win totals in the nation. The Blue Raiders won 81 games to dominate Conference USA and Davis helped the team to a pair of NCAA Tournament wins in 2015 (over two-seed Michigan State) and 2016 (against Minnesota). Davis was in Murfreesboro for 16 seasons and was able to attract talent from the SEC, including JaCorey Williams and Nick King. He should be ready to step into the competitive, power conference. The Rebels return three double-digits scorers in Terence Davis (13.8 ppg), Bruce Stevens (10.8 ppg), and Breein Tyree (10.8 ppg), who all had their moments in 2017-18. Freshman Blake Hinson, who was a two-sport star with football in high school, should help the Rebels on the boards.
Penny Hardaway
After four straight seasons away from the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers looked to their past to find a coach. Hardaway played at Memphis State in the early 1990s and led the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids out of the Great Midwest Conference. Penny takes over for the competitive but unspectacular Tubby Smith, and has looked to make a splash in recruiting by getting local talent to stay home. Guards Alex Lomax and Tyler Harris both played high school ball in Memphis and will join Hardaway with the Tigers in 2018-19. He has also made inroads to keeping the 2019 top prospect, seven-footer James Wiseman, in Memphis. Forward Kyvon Davenport will also be back after averaging 13.3 points and 6.1 rebounds in his first year with the Tigers.
Tubby Smith
Competent but unspectacular: those are damning words to describe Tubby Smith's coaching journey. He will always have the 1998 national championship with Kentucky, but that was largely with players recruited by Pitino (who opens and closes this first column on the new season). The coach led Tulsa, Georgia, and Kentucky to 14 straight NCAA Tournaments from 1994 to 2006. He improved both Minnesota and Texas Tech after being ousted from Lexington. Smith now finds himself at his alma mater after two middling seasons in Memphis. The Panthers have never made the NCAA Tournament out of the Big South, but did not have a losing season in their last six season under Scott Cherry. High Point should have one of the best backcourts in the Big South with Jahaad Proctor (16.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.0 apg) and Brandonn Kamga (10.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg).
