What is the story about?
With Duke’s loss to UConn in the Elite Eight, every team in the ACC is now in off-season mode, other than Boston College, which is waiting for Huskies assistant Luke Murray to move to Beantown, which he can’t do until UConn’s season ends.
Over the last few years, we’ve argued that the issue with the ACC being down was coaching. A lot of Athletic Directors seem to have realized that, and adjustments have been made.
Everyone other than BC and UNC now has a coach in place, and the ACC roster should be
much more imposing.
- Boston College – Luke Murray. Obviously unproven as a head coach, but widely credited with much of UConn’s recent success.
- Cal – Mark Madsen – Did well at Utah Valley, winning 28 games in his final season. Got Cal to a 22-win season and nearly to the NCAA Tournament this year.
- Clemson – Brad Brownell – An elite developer of talent, Brownell is the best coach in Clemson history. That’s a weak standard, but he’s a brilliant coach.
- Duke – Jon Scheyer – In four seasons, he’s made one Sweet 16, two Elite Eights, one Final Four, and has won more through four seasons than any coach in history.
- Florida State – Luke Loucks – Highly impressive first season.
- Georgia Tech – Scott Cross – Won 27 games at UT Arlington, and got Troy into back-to-back NCAA tournaments. He’s a builder, but Georgia Tech is not a wealthy program.
- Louisville – Pat Kelsey – Terrific first year, up and down this year, but he had limited availability from star freshman Mikel Brown. Still vastly superior to Kenny Payne.
- Miami – Jai Lucas – Brilliant first season. Sky’s the limit.
- North Carolina – ? – For historical symmetry, we were hoping the Rick Pitino rumor was true: bring in a star New Yorker to keep up with the neighbors. It worked with Frank McGuire until it didn’t. Actually, the more we think about Jerry Stackhouse there, the more we like it. That’s not being sarcastic. He could do very well in Chapel Hill for a number of reasons.
- NC State – Justin Gainey – Unproven head coach, but tremendous assistant. Rick Barnes raves about him.
- Notre Dame – Micah Shrewsberry – Erratic and volatile. Injuries hurt the Irish this season, but so has the focus on football. Needs an NIL sugar daddy.
- Pitt – Jeff Capel – Capel has proven he can coach at VCU and Oklahoma, but has struggled at Pitt. Probably a make-or-break season.
- SMU – Andy Enfield – The man behind FGCU’s Dunk City. SMU will not lack for resources. Got the Elite Eight at USC.
- Syracuse – Gerry McNamara – Siena’s performance against Duke made his name, but Siena was only third place in the MAAC. He’ll probably do well, but he’s still green, and Syracuse resources are thin.
- Stanford – Kyle Smith – Clearly brilliant, but can his nerd game overcome admissions? Stanford should be well-covered for NIL resources.
- Virginia – Ryan Odom – Brilliant first season. How many coaches have won 30 or more games in their first season? About 11, including Bill Guthridge, who inherited Dean Smith’s roster, Bill Hodges, who had Larry Bird, and Brad Stevens. Also on the list: Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd and Illinois’ Brad Underwood, both in the Final Four.
- Virginia Tech – Mike Young – No one doubts his coaching IQ, but NIL limits his potential in Blacksburg.
- Wake – Steve Forbes – NIL will be a problem at schools like Wake Forest until it isn’t, but Forbes has proved he can coach.
