Sometimes, all you need is the right coach.
Look at Kansas State last season. Jerome Tang, in his first year leading a college program, steered the Wildcats to a 12-win improvement from the previous season and an Elite Eight appearance. Dennis Gates authored a 13-win improvement at Missouri, which made the NCAA Tournament second round for the first time since 2013. Kevin Willard took Maryland to the NCAA Tournament in his first year in College Park, while Sean Miller brought Xavier — which hadn’t played in the big dance since 2018 — to the Sweet 16.
Advertisement
Which first-year power-conference head coaches could have the same kind of impact this season? That’s the latest question we posed to our panel in our series of preseason college basketball predictions. Before you scream “Rick Pitino” as the answer, we beat you to the punch. Picking a Hall of Fame coach with two national titles seemed too much of a layup, so to make this a more interesting challenge we eliminated him as an option. So … who else you got?
| Coach | Team | Votes |
|---|---|---|
Kim English | 4 | |
Grant McCasland | 4 | |
Adrian Autry | 1 | |
Ed Cooley | 1 | |
Josh Eilert | 1 | |
Micah Shrewsberry | 1 |
* — excluding Rick Pitino
Kim English
English turned 35 last month. His head coaching CV is a 34-29 record and no postseasons in two years at George Mason. Some might wonder how he’s already in the big chair at a Big East program. But English just has a way of impressing people. From Brian Hamilton’s story this summer:
“English got in front of Providence athletic director Steve Napolillo and wowed him. ‘First five minutes,’ Napolillo says, ‘I was like, ‘This is my guy.’’ He exchanged scripture passages with Providence president Rev. Kenneth Sicard. And he received an unsurprising endorsement from Rick Barnes, who once upon a time coached at Providence and called his former Tennessee assistant ‘a rising star in the business’ in a conversation with Napolillo. English officially had the job just three days after (Ed) Cooley departed, but unofficially even before that.”
GO DEEPER
A 34-year-old 'rising star' takes over a Big East program — and bets on his brain
English still has to prove himself as a head coach, but unlike others on this list, he inherited an NCAA Tournament-caliber team that didn’t need a complete roster overhaul. Potential All-America forward Bryce Hopkins is back, as is junior guard Devin Carter. Top-50 recruit Garwey Dual stayed on board after Cooley bolted for Georgetown, and English brought in a few of his top players from George Mason, including 6-foot-9 senior Josh Oduro, who averaged 15.6 points and 7.9 rebounds while earning first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors. Providence was picked by the league’s coaches to finish seventh in the Big East, so success is not guaranteed. But things are set up well for English to fire up Friars fans in Year 1. — Brian Bennett
Advertisement
Grant McCasland
Arkansas State won 11 games the year before Grant McCasland arrived. He won 20 in his lone season there. North Texas won eight games before McCasland showed up in Denton. He won 20 in Year 1. Texas Tech won 16 games last season in what was a disastrous end of Mark Adams’ brief tenure as head coach. Now it’s time for McCasland to fix the Red Raiders.
It won’t be easy. Seven of the top nine players on last year’s roster have moved on. But that same team went 5-13 in the Big 12, though, so maybe a clean slate isn’t so bad. McCasland will find wins in Year 1 by turning games into a grind and defending the ball. He did it at North Texas, and he’ll do it at Texas Tech. His last four teams ranked 363rd, 358th, 350th and 350th in adjusted tempo, while his last three ranked inside the top 30 nationally in defensive effective field-goal percentage.
McCasland doesn’t have a ton of talent (yet), but he has players who bring size (7-foot fifth-year center Warren Washington), shot-making (Pop Isaacs), versatility and spot-up shooting (Darrion Williams), experienced guard play (Joe Toussaint), athleticism (Devan Cambridge), shooting (Kerwin Walton), high upside (KyeRon Lindsay) and more. It won’t always be pretty, and it might take time to come together, but this is a group that can play the physical brand of ball that McCasland demands. Not too long ago, Texas Tech was one of college basketball’s great success stories. It’s turned into a place that expects to win, and I don’t envision McCasland coming in with a prolonged rebuilding plan.
Life is tough in the Big 12, but it’s reasonable to envision these pieces and his style of play reaching .500 in conference play. That, along with a light nonconference schedule, should have the Red Raiders sniffing 20 wins and an NCAA Tournament bid. — Brendan Quinn
Adrian Autry
It’ll be weird seeing anyone but Jim Boeheim on Syracuse’s sideline … but I don’t necessarily think it’s the worst thing that the Orange have moved on.
Advertisement
For all Boeheim accomplished, ’Cuse had clearly slipped the last two seasons. His once-vaunted 2-3 zone had become stale and more of an invitation for 3-point shooters than an offensive detriment. (Just ask Boeheim’s one-time successor, Mike Hopkins, how that system is working out for him at Washington.) Plus, frankly, the Orange needed an influx of new energy, something Boeheim was simply unable to offer at the late stage of his career.
GO DEEPER
With Jim Boeheim retired, can zone defense still work in college basketball?
So the fact that Autry is embracing modern man-to-man defense — at least as much as he can without disgracing Boeheim’s legacy — is a strong start. But he’s also inherited a fairly intriguing roster. That starts with guard Judah Mintz, who almost certainly would’ve been drafted had he declared, but returned for his sophomore year with the hopes of improving his 3-point shot. His new backcourt mate, J.J. Starling, was a five-star recruit before a season of (too much) heavy lifting at Notre Dame; on paper, there’s potential here for a top-3 backcourt in the league. Junior wing Benny Williams took strides last season, and both Chris Bell and Maliq Brown are intriguing perimeter players. Plus, in 7-foot-4 Florida State transfer Naheem McLeod, Syracuse finally has some size it’s been missing for the past few seasons.
GO DEEPER
‘My name, my neighborhood and Syracuse’: After 47 years, a monumental transition brings a new innovator
Put it all together, and you can see the faint outline of … something. This isn’t a top-3 ACC side, but being on the NCAA Tournament bubble in late February — and in a best-case scenario, the right side of it — isn’t out of the question by any means. — Brendan Marks
Ed Cooley
Providence fans aren’t happy that Cooley bailed for Georgetown, and the move is a bit curious given his success level at home and the Hoyas’ declining profile over the past decade. But the guy can recruit and the guy can coach. He can get a fan base excited about a program. It says here he will tap into that history and bring Georgetown back to consistent winning, if not quite back to what it was at the peak of the John Thompson III era, 15 years ago. Cooley, 54, averaged 22 wins a year in the past decade — taking out the COVID-19 season of 2020-21 — and only missed the NCAA Tournament once in that span. — Joe Rexrode
Josh Eilert
I’m betting on the stability and institutional knowledge Eilert brings as the interim head coach, the incoming talent he has in place, and the tempered expectations of a program on the mend. Eilert is stepping into a prickly thicket in the wake of Bob Huggins’ ignominious resignation, but he’s been on staff for 16 seasons in various roles, which should ease that transition. He has something to prove with the interim tag, and did well to hold the Mountaineer program together in the wake of Huggins’ departure. He also has an intriguing roster, including an offseason haul of transfers that could be one of the better groups in the country.
Eilert is implementing a new system with more space and focus on the pick-and-roll, which should benefit point guard transfer Kerr Kriisa (who will be suspended for the first nine games) and big-man transfer Jesse Edwards, both of whom will have major roles this season.
There are a couple considerable question marks: RaeQuan Battle, a Montana State transfer who can fill it up, had his waiver for immediate eligibility denied by the NCAA, but West Virginia is fighting hard on appeal, including a letter of support from Gov. Jim Justice. Also of concern is the health of Akok Akok, a late addition via the portal and potential starter who collapsed on the court during a charity exhibition last week. The status of both players remains unknown for very different reasons, but having one or either would provide a boost.
Advertisement
Eilert is in a tough situation after a tumultuous summer, but what he kept intact at West Virginia should be enough to surprise people. — Justin Williams
Micah Shrewsberry
Thrust into a ground-floor situation in 2021, Micah Shrewsberry took over a Penn State program that had dealt with a season-long interim coach. In two seasons, Shrewsberry had the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten tournament title game and won an NCAA Tournament contest.
An Indiana native, Shrewsberry faces a depleted situation at Notre Dame but similar in turnaround potential. The Fighting Irish finished 11-21 last year, and longtime coach Mike Brey resigned. Only 35 points return from last year, the third-fewest in Division I basketball. But by collecting foundational pieces in the transfer portal and a few potential stars in his first recruiting class, Shrewsberry has the chance to rebuild Notre Dame into his preferred tenacious style.
GO DEEPER
How much can Notre Dame be modernized? Micah Shrewsberry will find out
Shrewsberry plans to install Purdue-like defense and fundamentals, which he acquired in two separate stints under Matt Painter. Then with guard Markus Burton, who was Mr. Indiana Basketball last year, Shrewsberry has a potential playmaker. It will take time to build his system, but the Irish should make immediate strides in Year 1. — Scott Dochterman
(Our panel of voters: Nicole Auerbach, Tobias Bass, Brian Bennett, Scott Dochterman, Brian Hamilton, Brendan Marks, CJ Moore, Dana O’Neil, Brendan Quinn, Joe Rexrode, Kyle Tucker, and Justin Williams.)
Previous predictions:
GO DEEPER
Legendary coach Bob Knight dies at 83
(Top photo of Grant McCasland after North Texas won the 2023 NIT: Candice Ward / USA Today)