Ranking the Big 12 Coaches.



  • I think I’d go as follows:

    1. Bill Self - obviously a top notch recruiter and tactician

    2. Fred Hoiberg - he’s still underrated in my opinion

    3. Lon Kruger - wins wherever he goes

    4. Bob Huggins - always gets a lot out of his players, although I think his recruiting has slipped

    5. Tubby Smith - His recruiting is pretty weak at this point, but he’s good with tactics. Unfortunately, at TT, he needs to recruit to win.

    6. Scott Drew - underrated developer in my opinion. He’s had some high profile recruits, but has done most of his damage has been done with fairly middling players.

    7. Travis Ford - he’s a very up and down coach to me. He’s okay as both a tactician and recruiter, but won’t succeed against the cream of the crop.

    8. Trent Johnson - had some success at Nevada and Stanford, but struggled at LSU. Probably a better west coast recruiter, which has hampered him elsewhere. Solid on tactics, but not strong enough to overcome a lack of talent on the floor.

    9. Rick Barnes - He’s a good but not great recruiter and not a strong tactician at all. If he has talent, he can do pretty well, but if he doesn’t have tons of talent, his teams struggle, as we have seen recently.

    10. Bruce Weber - He’s a weak recruiter and I have not seen any tactical skills to overcome that. If you don’t have Jimmy’s, Joe’s, X’s or O’s, you can’t win much.



  • This is kind of tough. 1 Scott Drew I think he beat us once

    2 Rick Barnes I think he beat us a couple of times

    3 Travis Ford I think he beat us once

    4 Trent Johnson He creamed us once

    5 Fred He beat us once

    6 Lon He beat us once

    7 Tubby I think he almost beat us once

    8 Bob He beat us once

    9 Bruce He beat us once

    10 HCBS The guy lost to all of these chumps. The guy’s garbage. He’s worse than Weis.



  • @wissoxfan83 So, you were an Oriole’s fan ??



  • @nuleafjhawk did you see end of game?



  • I like that all the good coaches are on the left side of the picture and all of the bad coaches are on the right side.



    1. Bill-82 W&L, 10 titles, one ring, winner at Tulsa and Illinois

    2)Tubby-ring at UK and some pretty good teams there, but foolishly went to UMinn

    3)Huggins-739-303 at lesser programs, Final Four and Elite Eight, alas the father of thug ball

    4).Kruger- 611, Elite Eight and Final Four, Kansas boy

    1. Barnes-Final Four, Elite Eight

    2. Fred-could become second best on this list if health and time permit, but I value what’s been done more than what might be done, until it gets done.

    7-8Travis and Trent–knowledgeable, but hard luck coaches.

    9-10 The B12 lacks a 9th and a 10th coach; instead it has interim head coach Bruce and pretend head coach Scott



  • @Crimsonorblue22 I did! Thanks again.



  • @nuleafjhawk

    No, not quite following your drift on the Orioles question.



  • @wissoxfan83 Just being smart - thinking since you (jokingly) had Bill #10 that you must be sour about something!!



  • @jaybate-1.0

    2)Tubby-ring at UK and some pretty good teams there, but foolishly went to UMinn

    He did not as much “foolishly” left for Minnesota as he was given the choice of resigning or getting fired. He did not make a Final Four in his last 9 seasons at UK, the longest stretch in the program’s history, and fans were placing “For Sale” sign on his front lawn.

    He inherited a programs from Pitino that was 69-7 or .907 and 29-3 or .906 in conference, in the previous two yeas and in his last two years before leaving for Minnesota he was 44-25 or 0.638 and 18-14 or 0.56 in conference, not a record that UK fans would accept any more than KU fans would.

    His record at Minnesota was a pedestrian 124-81 or 0.605 and 46-62 or 0.426 in conference; his record at Texas Tech. is even worse. Again, I think he is way overrated.

    I am curious as to why you think he is better than all the conference except for Coach Self?



  • Bill; Fred; the rest



  • If I can be serious for a minute ( I’ll give it a try anyway ) - I’m not 100% on the Freddy wagon. I know, I know, he’s young and energetic, full of charisma and a good looking stud ( so they say ), but his career coaching stats are not anything to jump up and down about.

    90 - 47 overall record ( .657 ) 37 - 33 conf. record ( .529 )

    His best record so far is 28-8.

    He may be a HOF coach down the road a ways. A long ways.



  • @nuleafjhawk The magic words…ding,ding,ding…WE HAVE A WINNER!



  • @nuleafjhawk

    28-8 is better record than KU had last year and better than KU’s record in 5 of the last 11 years; also, ISU beat KU in the Conference tournament last season, right? Keep in mind that winning big at ISU is more difficult than winning at one of the elite programs…just sayin’

    I believe Hoiberg is the real deal.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I think he’s a good coach too - just not a great one. Yet.

    I can tell you this, if Bill Self hung up his whistle today, would Freddy be your first choice to replace him?

    Me either.



  • @JayHawkFanToo

    The foolish part was not leaving UK under pressure; that was the smart part.

    The foolish part was taking the UMinn job. That has always been a basketball black hole, unless you cheat like ever loving crazy.

    And the reason Tubby rightly left UK under pressure without really putting up a fight was probably that UK was such a cess pool in the back ground that he would have been for more tainted by rocking the boat and possibly triggering an investigation with what might have surfaced than by leaving quietly.

    I am not suggesting Tubby was cheating. I am saying that UK has a history of carrying on behind the backs of coaches that wouldn’t go along, and in the fronts of coaches that would.



  • IMHO I think,Tubby,at UK and,Prince at,KSU football mirrored each,other. Very.difficult,to,measure up to,the.former,coach in a program with success. I don’t think either coach was kissing butt with the alums with money. KSU’s program in football does not go back beyond Snyder but it is really fresh on the minds of such alums, and if you lose and don’t kiss butt you are toast,

    As for a Tubby he was winning. But not enough ( and since he didn’t work the crowd) important alums he sealed his own fate.

    .



  • I have to admit I like Tubby and probably over-valued his abilities.

    And I’m not a big Huggie fan so I may have under-valued him.



  • @nuleafjhawk

    I have always indicated that my first choice would be Brad Stevens; however, Hoiberg would not be a bad choice. Having said that, it would be highly unusual for a coach to move to another conference school, and even more difficult for him to leave his Alma Mater. KU could do a lot worse than Hoiberg and I can think of maybe a couple of other coaches I would pick over him; obviously I think he is the real deal.



  • @jaybate-1.0

    Schools were not lining up to talk to Tubby after he left UK and he took the only available job. After Minnesota, even fewer school were willing to give him a chance and this is how he ended up a Texas Tech., not a prime college basketball destination which along with TCU, is at the bottom of the conference prestige wise. I just don’t see him getting a position at a bigger, more prestigious program in the near future.



  • Bill Self Lon Fred Huggins Tubby Trent Weber Barnes Ford Drew



  • @TheDrunkenJhawk

    Do you realize that Barnes has been Conference Coach of the year 4 times (including last season)? This is the same number as Bill Self. Barnes is very underrated even when he has been successful everywhere he has coached.



  • @nuleafjhawk He’d have a better record, but you know the refs are always screwing ISU when we play them. If it weren’t for the refs, he’d be perfect against KU and probably perfect against all others too.



  • @JayHawkFanToo I’m honestly not trying to be “that guy”, but Barnes, in my opinion is the most overrated coach there’s ever been in the Big 12. With the incredible talent he’s had at Texas during his time there, he should have won several championships and advanced in the NCAA’s much further than he has.

    I am being that guy, aren’t I ? Sorry.



  • @nuleafjhawk

    No worries. This is what the forum is for…



  • Self Kruger Hoiberg Huggins Smith Barnes Weber Johnson Ford Drew

    I actually think Weber is not that bad, but he needs to be able to recruit. I have a tough time with Smith, because I’m not sure what he has accomplished other than the NC (no small feat). Barnes’ teams seem to underperform too often. I don’t see what Johnson has accomplished. Drew-can only recruit.


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