Feels like Beilein at #10 is too low. But, honestly, I can see the case for all of those guys being ahead in terms of relative success. Marshall and Drew are the two that immediately spring to mind – but like the article notes Drew has turned Baylor into a consistent Big 12 program after a literal murder scandal. Mid-majors are tougher because Wichita State (under Turgeon) and Butler had been very good teams nationally and elite on the mid-major level. But Stevens and Marshall pushed them into the realm of elite on the national level. Really fun list!
I feel like Kansas, Kentucky and UNC - blue bloods with unlimited “resources” to get recruits - should not really have coaches on this list. I’d rank JB in the top 5 at least - we hadn’t made the tourney for 9 years when he arrived, MSU was a huge instate power (and we had drawn even by the end of his tenure), and he accomplished everything he did while maintaining a reputation as the cleanest coach in college basketball. Scott Drew is a notorious “not clean” coach. He’s done a nice job with the coaching aspect (although, no FFs), but his recruiting tactics are like Will Wade’s.
Really? I feel like he dabbled in 5 stars for a bit and it was really unsuccessful for him. Not saying you’re wrong cause I think I’ve heard that before, but I wonder where it comes from. He doesn’t come to mind at all when I think of those types of coaches, and he’s usually recruiting guys in the 50-200 range(plus a lot of JuCo guys)
I’ve heard that for a long time, and about the entire Drew clan, even the dad. I thought it was very “interesting” that Vandy (where I attended law school) landed two five star recruits with Bryce coaching - it was a huge departure from the way Vandy used to do business. When I was there, for example, Ron Mercer (a Nashville native) was denied admission and obviously went to UK instead.
At any rate, Scott has landed a number of prize recruits at Baylor. None have ever really developed into high end NBA talents, but they were elite recruits.