Miami. Virginia. Villanova. Texas A&M. VCU. South Florida. Iowa. Penn.
The majority have momentum heading into champ week. All have first-year head coaches. And at least five of the eight are locks to be in the NCAA Tournament in year one.
Jai Lucas took over a Miami program that seemed to have gone sideways once Jim Larranaga was done. The former Duke assistant recruited the portal exceptionally well (see Indiana’s Malik Reneau leading the ‘Canes in scoring) as well as the high school scene (freshman Shelton Henderson is third on the team in scoring).
Lucas made a controversial decision to leave Duke’s staff prior to the NCAA Tournament to focus on Miami. The plan worked, as Miami finished third in the ACC (13-5 and 24-7 overall), and he has the ‘Canes in position to get a single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Ryan Odom has won at every stop: UMBC, Utah State and VCU. He went to the NCAA Tournament at each school. And in just one season he has Virginia back to being where Tony Bennett had them — a contender for a top-three finish in the ACC.
Virginia enters the ACC Tournament at 15-3 as the No. 2 seed and 27-4 overall. The Cavaliers will be a top four line seed when the bracket comes out on Selection Sunday.
Kevin Willard is no stranger to rebuilds or taking over historic programs (see Maryland to the Sweet Sixteen last season). But in less than a year he has put his stamp on Villanova and has the Wildcats back in the mix in the top three in the Big East. He’s recruited the type of players who fit at Nova (see big guard and likely Big East Freshman of the Year Acaden Lewis). The Wildcats feel and look like a Jay Wright-type team and program. Willard is a winner and Villanova will be a regular challenger in the Big East going forward. But they aren’t done yet after finishing 15-5 in the Big East and 24-7 overall, with a likely single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament forthcoming.
Bucky Ball is thriving at Texas A&M. Bucky McMillan has the Aggies in the NCAA Tournament and a real pest to knock out in the SEC. He was a winner at Samford, claiming two regular-season titles and one Southern Conference Tournament for an NCAA Tournament berth. He was an out-of-the-box hire by the Aggies, but he had a high-octane style that is a hit. He’s got the Aggies at 11-7 in the SEC and 21-10 overall. The Aggies have scored more than 100 points six times, and 90-plus eight times. This is an entertaining group to watch.
VCU is a hotbed of coaches who thrive in Richmond and continue to go onto higher-profile jobs. Let’s see if Phil Martelli Jr. continues the trend or stays put. Martelli Jr. has the Rams on the verge of a possible NCAA Tournament at-large berth if they don’t win the A10 automatic berth. The Rams have won 13 of 14 games, including a victory at Dayton to earn a share of the A10 regular-season title in year one. The Rams at 15-3, 24-7 overall and will be a tough team to take down in Pittsburgh this week.
Bryan Hodgson got the South Florida job under difficult circumstances. The position was open after the season due to the shocking and tragic death of Amir Abdur-Rahim in the preseason a year ago, and Hodgson has taken great care of the program since coming from Arkansas State. The Bulls won the American and are going to be the top seed in the conference tournament. They may not get in as an at-large, but he led the Bulls to the top of the American with a scoring average of 88.5 points a game. To beat South Florida, teams better be on their A-game. Hodgson has them rolling.
Fran McCaffery’s time at Iowa was up. He and the school were ready to move on, but he wasn’t done coaching. And he has done a marvelous job reviving his alma mater at Penn. The Quakers qualified for the Ivy Madness four-team tournament by finishing in third place at 9-5 and 16-11 overall. They are scoring 76 points a game and enter the tournament winners of seven of eight.
McCaffery’s replacement, Ben McCollum, has done what he does: win. He won four national titles at Division 2 Northwest Missouri State, he won a Missouri Valley title at Drake last season and a game in the NCAA Tournament, and he’s got Iowa in the NCAA Tournament this season. The Hawkeyes struggled down the stretch but they will be in the field.
Other notes from around the country
• The success of Jon Scheyer at Duke is a model for other schools on how to handle a succession plan. Duke had Scheyer as an assistant and then a coach in waiting for a year. Scheyer told Hoops HQ how much that one year helped him understand what moving one seat down would mean. We have seen so many misses on succession plans (see Villanova with Kyle Neptune). Michigan State needs to get on board with one eventually for Tom Izzo. Creighton coach Greg McDermott told me last week how relieved he was to know Alan Huss would succeed him. Huss played and coached there and is the coach in waiting with the Bluejays. Having the support from the administration and understanding how Creighton works will help Huss make the transition much more smooth.
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• Time to move all senior day/night festivities to pregame. I’ve done so many of these events, and there is a stark difference between the two approaches. Having the senior ceremony before the game ensures the emotions are focused on the seniors and their families. If the fans can get there early enough, there is appreciation in advance of the game. To do it after the game can lead to all sorts of emotions that can go sideways. If it’s a loss, especially a disheartening one, I’ve seen the players, the coaches and the fans lose the momentum of the moment. No one really wants to be there after a loss.
Oh, and on the idea of seniors being celebrating when they are there for one season. Well, I’m not sure how we get around that in this current climate. The lack of seniors who actually start and end their career in one place is stark. The stat that circulated had only 22 on power-five rosters that fit that criteria. That number is likely to go down in the coming years.
• Coaches have lost the leverage of saying that they can’t recruit if they only have one year left on their contract. Bobby Hurley coached at Arizona State with only one year remaining. No matter what happened this season, that wasn’t going to be a factor in recruiting. Why? The majority of teams are made up of rosters that are going to be built in the spring and summer. We have entered a new era of new rosters each season.
Meanwhile, athletic directors and presidents need to stop worrying about coaches leaving and cut down on the buyouts. We are all replaceable and so are coaches. There’s no reason for schools to get saddled with massive buyouts and have situations like the one Kansas State, where the university owes Jerome Tang $18 million but is fighting to not pay him for cause (there will be plenty of lawyer fees on this one).
• Mark Schmidt’s announced retirement at St. Bonaventure shouldn’t come as a shock. He spent 19 seasons with the Bonnies and did an amazing job at arguably one of the hardest jobs in a top-10 conference. Olean is hardly on a direct route from anywhere. Winters are hard. But Schmidt understood how to find players who wanted to be there and did a great job of getting players from Canada, or under-recruited players who could flourish in his system. Schmidt won 339 games with the Bonnies and made three NCAA Tournament appearances. The Bonnies were always one of the toughest outs in the A-10 Tournament.
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