College basketball can be a confounding fantasy sport to participate in because the players are always changing, as the best ones only stay in school for a season or two. We should be able to rely on colleges to keep their coaches, but with the pressure to perform, schools are also swift to axe the men in charge. This offseason, there were two distinct chains on the coaching carousel that arose because Brian Gregory and Trent Johnson were fired from Georgia Tech and TCU, respectively. You might not expect those jobs to be in great demand, but filling them set off a coaching domino chain.
Josh Pastner
Pastner's tenure at Memphis was of diminishing returns. Despite consistently recruiting well, particularly for the American Athletic Conference, Pastner only won two NCAA tournament games in seven seasons after taking over for John Calipari. Perhaps the 38-year-old coach will be able to forge his own path with the Yellow Jackets. The team won eight conference games last year, its high-water mark under Gregory's reign. Quinton Stephens, who averaged 5.0 points per game, is the team's highest returning scorer. The team should take a step back in Pastner's first season, but he may get some veteran help from the state of Michigan in forwards Kellen McCormick (from Western Michigan) and Jodan Price (from Eastern Michigan).
Tubby Smith
Since becoming a head coach at Tulsa in 1991, Smith has made his way around the country and has generally been successful. He is the only new
College basketball can be a confounding fantasy sport to participate in because the players are always changing, as the best ones only stay in school for a season or two. We should be able to rely on colleges to keep their coaches, but with the pressure to perform, schools are also swift to axe the men in charge. This offseason, there were two distinct chains on the coaching carousel that arose because Brian Gregory and Trent Johnson were fired from Georgia Tech and TCU, respectively. You might not expect those jobs to be in great demand, but filling them set off a coaching domino chain.
Josh Pastner
Pastner's tenure at Memphis was of diminishing returns. Despite consistently recruiting well, particularly for the American Athletic Conference, Pastner only won two NCAA tournament games in seven seasons after taking over for John Calipari. Perhaps the 38-year-old coach will be able to forge his own path with the Yellow Jackets. The team won eight conference games last year, its high-water mark under Gregory's reign. Quinton Stephens, who averaged 5.0 points per game, is the team's highest returning scorer. The team should take a step back in Pastner's first season, but he may get some veteran help from the state of Michigan in forwards Kellen McCormick (from Western Michigan) and Jodan Price (from Eastern Michigan).
Tubby Smith
Since becoming a head coach at Tulsa in 1991, Smith has made his way around the country and has generally been successful. He is the only new coach to have won a national championship (in 1998 at Kentucky with a crew largely assembled by Rick Pitino). Smith proved he could improve a program at Texas Tech, who finished ninth in the Big 12 in his first season and made the NCAA tournament last year in his third season. Now he will try to wipe away the odor of vague disappointment from the Pastner era. The Tigers have a star player in Dedric Lawson (15.8 points, 9.3 rebounds per game), and Smith will hope that Memphis will be the seventh school he has coached into the Big Dance.
Chris Beard
Beard only spent one season on the Arkansas-Little Rock bench, but it was so impressive that two schools hired him over the offseason. The 43-year-old helped the Trojans dominate the Sun Belt and pull off a 12-5 upset of Purdue in the NCAA tournament. He was hired by UNLV to replace Dave Rice, but jumped ship to Texas Tech after Smith left. Beard spent 10 years on the Red Raider bench as an assistant under Bob and Pat Knight. His style should fit well with the returning TTU roster, as he has five players who averaged at least 8.5 points per game, including forward Zach Smith (10.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.5 blocks) and center Norense Odiase (8.5 points, 4.2 rebounds in 18.2 minutes).
Marvin Menzies
It may be that Beard chose the familiarity of Texas Tech, but it is also a possibility that he looked at the empty UNLV roster and looked for greener (or redder) pastures. The Runnin' Rebels brought in Menzies, whose New Mexico State squad had dominated the WAC over the last nine seasons. He will be able to quickly mold UNLV into the fast-paced team he preferred with the Aggies. The top returning player is Dwayne Morgan, who averaged 10.9 points per game last year. Menzies can also look at St. John's transfer Christian Jones (8.4 points, 5.2 rebounds) and junior college transfer Kris Clyburn to produce. Just to close this loop, Menzies was replaced at New Mexico State by Paul Weir, his former assistant.
Jamie Dixon
Dixon's 13-year tenure at Pittsburgh was one of the longest in the country, but he decided to head to his alma mater after Johnson was fired. The Panthers made the NCAA tournament 11 times, but only advanced past the Sweet 16 in the 2008-09 season when they were led by Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. After excelling in the Big East, the Panthers were a middle-of-the-pack ACC team. No one would call TCU middle-of-the-pack since they joined the Big 12, as the team has only won eight conference games in the past four seasons. The good news is that the Horned Frogs have four returning starters, including center Karviar Shepherd, who averaged 7.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season, and guard Malique Trent (11.6 points, 2.7 assists). Jaylen Fisher is a top point guard recruit who joined Dixon after initially committing to UNLV.
Kevin Stallings
Perhaps the Panthers were looking for someone with a longer tenancy when they searched for a Dixon replacement. Stallings had been at Vanderbilt since 1999 and led Commodores to the NCAA tournament seven times, but only once in the last four seasons. He will try to push the Panthers to play at a faster pace with the talented frontcourt duo of Michael Young (15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds) and Jamel Artis (14.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists). The Panthers' backcourt is in flux, as the point guard role could be handled by Damon Wilson or freshman Justice Kithcart, but neither player is a known commodity.
Bryce Drew
In five years since replacing his father as the coach of Valparaiso, Drew helped the Crusaders win more than 70 percent of their games, with a 65-19 record in the Horizon League. The team made two NCAA tournament appearances, which is as many as his new school has made. Two players from last year's squad, Wade Baldwin and Damian Jones, had their names called in the NBA draft, but the Commodores' cupboard is not bare for their new coach. This could be the season that Vanderbilt legacy player Luke Kornet (8.9 points, 7.3 rebounds) becomes a star. The team also has guard Matthew Fisher-Davis (9.7 points) and forward Jeff Roberson (9.3 points, 5.6 rebounds) at Drew's disposal.
Brad Underwood
Underwood is not connected to either of the two coaching chains, but he deserves mention. In three years at Stephen F. Austin, Underwood's team only lost one conference game and pulled off two NCAA tournament upsets. As a 12-seed, the Lumberjacks beat VCU in 2014 and ousted West Virginia last year as a 14-seed. The Cowboys made three of the last four NCAA tournaments under Travis Ford but only won one tournament game and were just 3-15 in conference play last season. Underwood's team will be led by guards Phil Forte and Juwan Evans, who each had their seasons cut short last year by injury. Fortunately, the coach did not have much size at SFAU, so he should be able to improve the height-deprived Cowboys.
