What makes a College Basketball head coach overrated? After polling over 100 of them, Roy Williams of North Carolina was picked by 24% as the most overrated HC in the sport, mostly because he’s a great recruiter but a sub-par game management type of coach, which is something most of the guys on the list have in common.
Tommy Amacker, Harvard
Amaker has been doing great since becoming the Harvard head coach in 2007, but his team are consitently more talented than the rest of their conference. His Michigan tenure (2001-2007), in which he failed to make the NCAA tournament, going 43-53 in Big Ten play, got him here. Quoting one head coach – Now he’s a good coach? Because he won the Ivy League with way better players than everybody else?
Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
Boeheim has been Syracuse’s head coach since 1976, having a record of 355-185 in the Big East conference. He won the national title with the team in 2003 and obviously a lot of people consider him to be a great coach if he’s been there for so long, but his numbers have been achieved due to longevity, and the argument around Boeheim revolves around the question of whether or not he’s had the kind of talent to take him and the Orange to more than just three final fours.
Ben Howland, UCLA
Howland has been with the Bruins since 2003, making the final four three times in a row (2006-2008), but since losing Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook, despite having quite a lot of talent in his team, especially when compared with the rest of the Pac-12, he hasn’t been past the tournament’s second round, and is another one of the coaches criticized for being nothing more than a good recruiter.
Jay Wright, Villanova
Wright has been with the Wildcats since 2001, making the NCAA tournament for the last 7 years while accumulating a 99-69 record in the Big East, winning the conference title once and reaching the Final Four once. Like most others on this list, his game management and actual coaching skills aren’t highly regarded, along with his lazy preparation for games, according to people who’ve worked under him.
Steve Lavin, St. John’s
Lavin is regarded by many to be a fantastic recruiter, managing to bring pretty impressive talent to St. John’s over the last couple of years, hoping that 2012-2013 will be the year of the breakout. But despite the impressive classes, his UCLA record from 1996-2003 didn’t have a single appearance in the Final Four, which is very hard to digest for most Bruins fans.
Scott Drew, Baylor
Drew helped rebuild Baylor from the ashes of the big scandal, making the Elite Eight twice over the last three years, but the consensus is that Baylor have enough great talent on the team each year to be more of a threat in the Big 12 and the national tournament.
Rick Barnes, Texas
Barnes, who has been the Texas head coach since 1998, has taken Texas to the NCAA tournament in each of his 14 seasons, including one final four and two more Elite eights. But he hasn’t been past the second round five out of the last six seasons despite usually having the best or second best recruiting class in the Big 12. He was chosen by 17% of the coaches in the poll.
Roy Williams, North Carolina
There’s no doubt regarding Williams’ recruiting skills, still putting his all into it after 25 years in the business. But the thesis is that when you’re coaching Kansas and North Carolina, how hard can it be? He’s won two national titles with the Tar Heels and four more Final Fours with them and the Jayhawks. It’s not about the numbers and achievements. Williams got picked by 24% because of his mediocre (at best) game management skills and possibly because he usually brings among the top 5 recruiting classes each year.