It is June and with full disclosure in mind, every sports writer in America (omitting those covering the World Cup or baseball) is scratching and clawing – just looking for something to write about. ESPN’s recent attempt to rank the top coaches in college basketball was a great example.
I was glad to see that I wasn’t the only one out there with major issues as to how ESPN went about that poll (in which Fred Hoiberg notably was ranked 15th).
CBS saw some flaws and decided to come up with a "rankings system" of its own. Here are the rules that were given by Gary Parrish.
If you could pick any man to run your college basketball program for the next five years, and you don’t have to worry about that man retiring or changing jobs, which man would you pick? Forget credentials. Forget records and recent results. Only look forward. You can pick any man to run your program for the next five years. Which man would you pick?
So CBS had a draft and Hoiberg was picked ninth, of course, by a guy more "all-in" on the Cyclones than Paul Rhoads himself, one Jon Rothstein. Below is just a portion of what Rothstein wrote about his selection.
"The Mayor" is as good an X’s and O’s coach as there is in college basketball and gives his players the freedom they so desperately crave on the offensive end. He treats his players like they’re professionals, and that’s something you don’t see at most college programs."
Who went before Hoiberg? The names John Calapari, Rick Pitino, Bill Self, Sean Miller, Mike Krzyzewski, Billy Donovan, Tom Izzo and Jim Boeheim. Brad Stevens of the Celtics rounded out the top 10 after Hoiberg.
I think we can all agree that is some decent company for Iowa State’s head coach to be mentioned with.
