Illinitalk: Conference Coach of the Year?

Monday, February 16, 2009

Conference Coach of the Year?

Big Ten basketball has surprised many on the national level with the overall strength and improvement within the conference. And the recruiting classes headed to the Midwest appear likely to continue this trend.

Much of the credit for the improvement in the conference goes to the coaches. The league has welcomed many newcomers in the past couple season, and they have raised the competitive level of Big Ten basketball. At the same time, the coaches who have been around a bit longer continue to build their reputations.

Consider:

Tom Crean hasn't won many games, but he's done a lot with almost nothing in an effort to rebuild Indiana basketball. And his teams will be competitive soon.
Ed DeChellis has made Penn State a serious threat to any team -- at home or on the road.
Tom Izzo has led his team to a perfect conference road record (so far).
Bruce Weber has engineered the biggest improvement over last season with a very similar roster.
John Beilein's team has faded, but don't forget that his team knocked off two #4 teams during the non-conference season.
Tubby Smith has developed one of the conference's biggest surprise teams.
Although Northwestern has let a few games get away, Bill Carmody built a quality team and coached them to a road with in East Lansing.
Matt Painter has led his team through serious injuries and helped them maintain national ranking.

So, if the season ended now, who would you vote for as Big Ten Coach of the Year?

Labels: Big Ten basketball

# posted by Alma Mater : 10:03 PM

<< Home |

Illinitalk

Monday, February 16, 2009

Conference Coach of the Year?

Contributors

Illini Stuff

Illini Blogs

Media

Other Blogs

Illini in the Pro's

Chief Illiniwek

Big Ten Conference

Inspirational Pioneers

Archives