The college basketball season has hit the month of February. Coach of the year awards of various kinds will be handed out based on how teams performed in the regular season. Since regular seasons end before the conference tournaments and then the NCAA Tournament, that means only one more month exists before the end of the regular season. The postseason will carry on throughout the month of March and into the first weekend of April at the Final Four, but “COY” designations will be decided on based on how the next month unfolds. This race is getting serious, and time is shorter than many might think. Here is an evaluation of the candidates, sure to generate debate among any college basketball fans.
Jay Wright, Villanova Wildcats
This is a marvelous coaching performance from a man who had a number of returning starters, but who also lost his best post player, Daniel Ochefu, from last year’s national championship team. This Villanova squad does not have an elite low-post player, but it is still getting the job done in virtually every situation. The Wildcats came back from a big deficit to beat Virginia this past Sunday. They know how to win tough games, as cliché as that might sound. Wright deserves the credit for maintaining a very high college basketball standard at Villanova.
Scott Drew, Baylor Bears
The seemingly popular pick among a lot of journalists is Sean Miller, and he’s certainly deserving of strong consideration, but Drew is the better choice. Here’s why Drew gets the nod: Not only has he lost fewer games than Miller, but he has done so with a roster which lacks top-50 recruits. This is an odd patchwork roster of players who do not appear likely to go in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. Baylor and Drew seem to have second-rounders at best, and yet the Bears are in a very good position to get a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. This team has been very consistent. It has won tons of close games with relentless defense and an uncanny ability to always focus harder in the final minutes of a game. (The West Virginia game, the team’s one loss, wasn’t close in the latter stages.) Baylor takes fewer possessions off and goes through shorter lulls than other teams. It minimizes mistakes. That’s coaching. Drew has done a better job than anyone else in the country. His ranking here takes a bit of a hit after falling to Kansas State at home on Saturday.
Sean Miller, Arizona Wildcats
There are reasons to view Drew over Miller, but here’s the comeback: Miller has been coaching a college basketball team which, until recently, did not have one of its star players – not merely a valuable role player, but a true star. Allonzo Trier was suspended for PED use, but he was allowed to return to the court on Saturday, January 21 at UCLA. Trier gave Arizona a level of firepower the team had been missing. Arizona’s ability to do so well without Trier speaks to the kind of job Miller did to hold his team together. That’s huge.
Like many other people on this list, Miller’s team suffered an ugly loss on the weekend and he deserves to take a hit. The Wildcats lost by almost 30 points at Oregon.
Bill Self, Kansas Jayhawks
This is a coach who has won more consecutive conference championships (12) than any coach other than John Wooden. Self has won more conference titles at Kansas (12) than he has lost home games (9). His body of work is phenomenal, and after winning at Kentucky this past Saturday, Kansas is in line for a number one seed. Self is incredible, and so is his work. He does have some explaining to do after yesterday, though, as the Jayhawks fell at home to the Iowa State Cyclones. We’re not docking him or the team too much, though, as Baylor also lost and it was the end of an incredibly challenging week for the Jayhawks. In the long run, they’ll be fine.
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