From Downtown Coach of the Year Frontrunners

In the last article, we covered the 10 frontrunners for From Downtown’s Player of the Year award, and the best way to follow that up is by doing the same for coaches. The criteria for coaches, though, is a little different than the criteria for players. A team exceeding expectations, succeeding without a star player, using ingenuitive gameplay ideas, or, in some cases, a mix of these items can land a coach on this list. Without further ado, here are the top From Downtown 10 Coach of the Year Frontrunners!

10) Steve Pikiell - (Rutgers, 16-7, 15th KenPom)

In the preseason, 7 Big Ten teams clouded the top of the rankings, with nearly every analyst or predictive metric giving a different order of the top 7 teams. However, Rutgers was not among those teams. Despite this, they now sit as the sole owners of 2nd place in the Big Ten, and project comfortably in the tournament as well (Jerry Palm’s Bracketology currently has the Scarlet Knights as a 7th seed). A lot of this success can come off the back of Steve Pikiell. Cliff Omoruyi and Paul Mulcahy are a dangerous duo, but not exceptional compared to some of the talents in the Big Ten such as Purdue’s Zach Edey, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis, or Maryland’s Jahmir Young. Pikiell gets a spot on this list due to his ability to contain some of those great players in their games. Edey scored just 19 points in Purdue’s loss to Rutgers, and Jackson-Davis scored a strangely low 13 points. Pikiell is game planning for star players incredibly well, which will serve him well in the tournament. Rutgers has the 2nd best defense on KenPom, and Pikiell has this team incredibly disciplined. Unfortunately, Rutgers has taken quite a few ugly losses that prevents Pikiell from being any further up on this list. Nonetheless, he has had a standout 22-23 season!

9) Randy Bennett - (St. Mary’s, 21-4, 7th KenPom)

Randy Bennett is doing incredible things in the WCC, but nobody is watching! The Gaels recently upended Gonzaga to extend their win streak to 12, which is the 2nd longest win streak in the country. Bennett has led this school to 8 of their 11 total NCAA tournaments, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance. The Gaels are within striking distance of a 2nd Sweet Sixteen appearance, and it is primarily on the back of Bennett’s coaching. The Gaels have a top 5 defense according to KenPom, but Bennett’s real knack is this team’s consistency. A single 2-point loss to Colorado State separates this team from complete consistency. The Gaels sustained a single 3-game losing streak, but Bennett turned the season around in 2023 by not losing a game in the new year. Freshman Aidan Mahoney is the standout players ere, but Logan Johnson, Mitchell Saxon, and Alex Ducas give Mahoney veteran support. It turns out Any good mid-major season should be recognized, but Bennett in particular is doing an incredible job deserving of this recognition!

8) Ed Cooley - (Providence, 17-6, 28th KenPom)

Ed Cooley is having himself yet another standout season in the Big East. Providence is in contention for a tournament split for the 2nd straight year, and a large portion of their success can be attributed to Cooley’s coaching prowess. As mentioned in a previous From Downtown spotlight article, Providence is among the best rebounding teams in the country, and that takes discipline. They are also quite strong in the clutch, with their recent overtime loss against Xavier being a rare exception to their ability to win a close game. The Big East is no joke this year either, with Marquette (Marquette’s Shaka Smart would have been #11 on this list), Xavier, UConn, and Creighton all being viable Big East Tournament contenders. Add in that Miami and TCU are 2 of their 3 non-conference losses, and Providence is very upset-proof as well. Providence’s coach is curtailed from being higher on this list due to his relatively tame record in away games. Still, Cooley is doing a tremendous job in recent years for Rhode Island’s prized team, and he absolutely deserves his spot on this list!

7) Jim Larrañaga - (Miami, 18-5, 37th KenPom)

Miami’s head coach, Jim Larrañaga, is corralling a team with considerable talent that has trouble gelling. Players such as Isaiah Wong, Norchad Omier, and Nijel Pack are all monsters on the offensive side of the ball, but can be defensive liabilities. This is evidenced by by Miami’s rankings in KenPom: they have top 10 offense, but their defense is outside of the top 100. Being able to win in spite of such a lopsided team is a testament to Larrañaga’s coaching skill. Miami is winning huge games as well, with their away win on Saturday against Clemson and earlier win against Virginia being incredible ACC victories. Larrañaga is, on a game to game basis, designing strategies to allow his team to excel in their strong areas and mitigate their weaknesses simultaneously. Additionally, Larrañaga is an excellent motivator, and this is yet another team that is undefeated at home. Again, Miami has a concerning away-game record, which curtails Larrañaga from being higher on this list. Nonetheless, Miami has exceeded expectations, and is a ranked team with a great coach!

6) Dusty May - (FAU, 22-2, 34th KenPom)

By far the biggest surprise on this list comes from the Florida Atlantic University Owls, and their coach, Dusty May. May led the FAU to 20 straight wins en route to what will likely be FAU’s 2nd ever appearance in the NCAA tournament. This came completely out of left field. Every year, a few mid-major programs manage to catch fire and play incredibly well. For example, last year’s Murray State team lost just 2 games en route to a 7th seed. However, both last year’s Murray State team and this year’s fellow CUSA team UAB were preseason predictions for mid-major success stories. The Owls, however, were not. Nonetheless, FAU is likely the best mid-major team in the country (depending on your thoughts on the American and WCC), and a 20 game win streak for any team is incredibly impressive. Naturally, the coach is a tremendous reason for this team’s success. For this reason alone, M0ay earns himself a spot on this list.

5) Nate Oats - (Alabama, 20-3, 5th KenPom)

Head Coach Nate Oats exploded onto the scene in 2021, and got Alabama a #2 seed in the tournament. Unfortunately, they encountered a piping hot UCLA team and lost in an overtime thriller. In last year’s tournament, Alabama tapered off, and got upset in the tournament by Notre Dame. This year, however, Oats has this team back in title contention, and the Crimson Tide have the opportunity to land an even greater seed than 2021’s season. Oats is greatly benefitted by the presence of Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney, 2 future NBA players. With that being said f, the SEC is not just a random conference where going 10-0 is not incredible. Oats’ team is incredibly innovative, with a top 20 offense, top 5 defense, and the single fastest pace in the country. Being able to play at such speed and still 20-3 is incredible, and it lands Oats firmly in the #5 spot on this list.

4) Matt Painter - (Purdue, 22-2, 4th KenPom)

The other coach on this list with a top 2 team in the country, Purdue’s Matt Painter is squeezing wine from water with his team this year. As is a commonly touted statistic, none of Purdue’s starting 5 was a top 90 recruit going into college. Nonetheless, they have been dismantling all sorts of teams en route to an almost assured 1-seed heading into March. Painter has taken Zach Edey - a player who was not ranked in the top #400 in his high school class - into the premiere college basketball player in the country. There is an argument for Painter being one of the most consistent coaches of all time, but the fact that he has gotten a team that, on paper, does not project as a top 15 team in the country (as evidenced by the preseason) into nearly the consensus #1 team in the country is an incredible feat. As a result, Painter lands at #4 on this list!

3) T.J. Otzelberger - (Iowa State, 16-6, 19th KenPom)

Iowa State’s head coach, T.J. Otzelberger, is lightning in a bottle. In the 20-21 season, the Cyclones went a poultry 2-22. After hiring Otzelberger, however, they won an additional 20 games and made the Sweet Sixteen. The Cyclones look p[oised to do so again, and a large part of this can be attributed to Otzelberger. A defensive mastermind, Otzelberger is squeezing incredible production from his dynamic duo of Gabe Kalscheur and Caleb Grill. Kalscheur and Grill, while playing very well, are not as talented as some of the other talents of the Big 12. Nonetheless, Otzelberger has Iowa State in sole 2nd place in the incredibly contentious Big 12. With that being said, Otzelberger is unfortunately overshadowed by another Big 12 coach achieving similarly fantastic results. Therefore, he sits at a nonetheless incredibly respectable 3rd place.

2) Tommy Lloyd - (Arizona, 21-3, 9th KenPom)

Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona Wildcats were projected to be a top 20 team heading into the season, but a large portion of that was due to Lloyd’s exploits himself. If Otzelberger’s 1st season was impressive, Lloyd’s was legendary. A crazy statistic: as of February 6th, 2023, head coach Tommy Lloyd is as likely to have won National Coach of the Year for a complete season as the sun rising in the morning. Take overlooked Texas transfer Courtney Ramey as a great example. Ramey was underutilized on a Texas team that a redacted but nonetheless very talented head coach helmed at the time. On Arizona, however, Ramey is starting for the Wildcats and averaging north of 10 points a game. Azuolas Tubelis has emerged as one of the best players in the country, but Tubelis was an unranked recruit that was, in part, cultivated by Lloyd himself. Pelle Larson, Oumar Ballo, and Kerr Kriisa are also all succeeding under Lloyd’s coaching, earning him the deserved 2nd spot on this list!

1) Jerome Tang - (Kansas State, 18-5, 26th KenPom)

Nobody could have predicted Kansas State’s meteoric rise, even From Downtown. Despite this publication being among the most positive on Kansas State in the country, they still were in 9th place on From Downtown’s initial Big 12 rankings. However, Tang delivered a home win against Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks in his inaugural season, breathing life into this program desperate to relive their 2018 tournament glory days. Tang is giving players like Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell the national spotlight, which is incredible. The fact that K State is vying for the Big 12 Regular Season and Tournament Titles in Tang’s first year is incredible, but it is only amplified when you consider this team’s preseason expectations. Tang is the pretty clear frontrunner for this award, but he will need to stay vigilant, as the Big 12 is the strongest conference in the country, and one slip up could send him reeling. Nonetheless, for now, Tang has led Kansas State to a place where he is the clear choice for From Downtown’s National Coach of the Year Award!