The 10 toughest places to coach and win
by Bill Kintner
There are a lot of schools in college basketball where it is tough to win. Just go look at the bottom 30 schools in the RPI, with schools like Bethune-Cookman, North Florida, Longwood, Prairie View A & M, and it would be a safe assumption that those schools would be tough places for a coach to get some wins.
Those schools have programs that are under-funded and they do not have a history of winning, or at least a recent history of winning. It would be tough for a coach to win at one of those schools, but since expectations are so low, it would not be as tough to coach there as it would be to coach at a school where there is an expectation of winning and the school does not have a recent history or tradition of winning.
I have put together a list of schools where there is an expectation to win, but where it has traditionally been tough to consistently secure wins. Here are my top 10 toughest places to coach and win. Let the dissenting e-mails begin.
10. Penn State: A football school where basketball is an after-thought. It is located in an isolated part of Pennsylvania that is not easy to get to. That has not been a problem in getting good football players, but it has been tough to get good basketball players into the program. As a Big 10 football power, money for the program is not a problem, but that has not translated into winning on the court.
9. Central Michigan: Nothing central about where it is located, which would be “way up there” in Michigan. This Mid-American Conference team has had good teams every now and then, which is enough to raise the expectations enough to put a coach on the hot seat every few years.
8. University of South Florida: As a Big East school, there are expectations to win. Seth Greenberg had some winning seasons while in Conference USA, but he got the heck out as soon as he could, to take the Virginia Teach job. USF is one of the few schools on this list located in a major metro area, Tampa. The completion from other schools in Florida may be cutting into their home recruiting turf.
7. South Carolina: The SEC is a killer league and winning is expected. They play in a great arena and South Carolina is located in a nice area of the country. For some reason multiple coaches have not been able to win consistently at South Carolina. If you asked five coaches why the Gamecocks have not been able to be a consistent winner, you will probably get different answers.
6. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers have had some modest success in the past, but with the bar set high by the football program, this team is an underachiever in the Big 12. Even with the modest gains (some off the court) that Barry Collier achieved in his six years as coach, the fans wanted more wins. Nebraska has decent facilities, but they lack a natural close-by recruiting base. Basketball also plays second fiddle to football.
5. Texas Tech: It’s located out in the middle of nowhere, but the fans have tasted some success and they want more. Even one of the greatest coaches in basketball history had only minor success here. It is tough to get top recruits to go to Lubbock, Texas.
4. East Carolina: Located in Greenville, North Carolina, the Pirates have avoided consistent success. They have so-so facilities and a mid-major budget. They are recruiting in the crowded Carolinas loaded with schools of all sizes trying to get players.
3. Northern Illinois: The Huskies compete in the Mid-American Conference and for some reason they have had trouble getting players that want to go to school on the frozen tundra of Northern Illinois. They play in a fairly new arena, but that has not helped them become a winning program.
2. Washington State: Another school that is located out in the boonies, far from any big cities. They play in an arena that screams 1970s and they compete in the very competitive Pac-10. Tony Bennett has done a great job in his two years as head coach, but it is tough to find anyone that thinks if he leaves, the winning will continue.
1. St. Bonaventure: Located in Olean, NY which is really located in the proverbial “middle of nowhere” in northwest Pennsylvania, or is it southwest New York? Anyway it is not easy to get to. There is no close-by recruiting base to tap into. They are a “have-not” in the Atlantic-10 Conference with a much smaller budget that other A-10 schools like Xavier and Dayton. Other than a good Catholic education they don’t have a lot to offer recruits compared to schools they are expected to recruit against.
