BE COY

[RideMyBuycks]

John Calipari seems to do it every year.

His Freshmen don't play limited minutes

[chapman]

Hard to see a postseason-ineligible coach take the honors. I agree. I think it's between Buzz and that Georgetown guy

Bill O'Brien says hi.  Though Ollie didn't walk into half the hell; probably his only shot is winning out.

[honkytonk]

Could be. How many coaches lose 2 NBA draft picks, add a freshman who plays limited minutes and stays in contention for the league title?

LOL. How many PROGRAMS lose a HoF coach, 2 underclassman lottery picks and a couple of transfers due to an APR violation that the current coach had no part of?????

OR--

A coach that lost 2 underclassmen to the NBA draft (one being a lottery pick) and 4 of 5 players that were on the court last year to close out games but no longer are around due to graduation and early entry to the nba (Fab, Joseph, Waiters, Scoop)?

[NavinRJohnson]

Bill O'Brien says hi.  Though Ollie didn't walk into half the hell; probably his only shot is winning out.

Just what I was thinking, though looking ath their schedule, winning out may not be as far fetched as it sounds. If they did, he'd have my vote.

[MU82]

Damn.  I didn't know they came back to the BE.

I believe Larranaga was a response to national honors as mentioned in the previous post. And yes, barring a complete fade, that would be my guess, too. Crean will get plenty of support, BTW.

As for Big East honors, I'd agree that it's probably between Buzz and JT3. In preseason coach poll, GT was picked to finish 5th and we were picked for 7th (as usual).

[Hubert Davis]

I think if we end up winning 13 Big East games Buzz definitely deserves to be the Coach of the Year.

[keefe]

Not one mention of Pitino or Boeheim?? Funny, because one of them stands a greater chance than Buzz.

For national it will be Larranaga. God I hope so.

ABC, ABC, ABC (Anyone But Crean!)

[Goose]

If season ended today it would be hard to vote against Buzz. The guy makes the most of what he has and they play hard every night for the most part.

[Hards Alumni]

If season ended today it would be hard to vote against Buzz. The guy makes the most of what he has and they play hard every night for the most part.

It would be hard to vote against Buzz except that Miami is playing out of its mind.

[mu_hilltopper]

Who votes for BE COY?  Is it the coaches or media?

[TSmith34, Inc.]

As for Big East honors, I'd agree that it's probably between Buzz and JT3. In preseason coach poll, GT was picked to finish 5th and we were picked for 7th (as usual).

I'm sure some Scooper knows this, but has Buzz ever underperformed pre-season expectations?  Maybe his first season when he inherited the Three Amigos and Dom got injured?  Seems like every single year MU is picked middle of the pack and ever single year he has us fighting for the double bye.

[Golden Avalanche]

Not one mention of Pitino or Boeheim?? Funny, because one of them stands a greater chance than Buzz.

For national it will be Larranaga. God I hope so.

ABC, ABC, ABC (Anyone But Crean!)

Boeheim didn't get it last year when Cuse dominated the conference. Heath, who finished fifth, took it.

There's something in there about achievement relative to expectation.

[MUMonster03]

I think Buzz gets BE coach of the year if we finish in top 2 in conference.

If Miami continues and gets a 1 seed in the tournament IMO Larranaga gets the national award easily with some others, possibly Buzz getting some votes.

Crean may get some national votes but they were expected to be good and had the talent there to be as good as they are so the coaches who did more with less will probably get more of the votes.

[NavinRJohnson]

Lots of candidates for national COY. Larranga is the obvious choice at the moment, but Mark Few,  Buzz, Bo, Crean, JT3...Jim Crews might actually get my vote if they keep doing what they've been doing...plenty to shake out over the next couple weeks.

[RJax55]

Crean may get some national votes but they were expected to be good and had the talent there to be as good as they are so the coaches who did more with less will probably get more of the votes.

IU was the preseason #1. They were expected to be good.

Right now, national COY is Larranga.

[T-Bone]

1-2-3-4-5 : hatch-hatch-hatch-hatch-ohsh!t

[Bricky]

We were pegged as 7th-8th with lots of unproven talent. Media thought we would be in the bottom half. We assumed our best player was a transfer from a weaker conference. The two players, who basically made up the entire 11-12 team, went on to the NBA. We lost a couple players before the season started, one of which was a proven contributor. This site thought we were having a rebuilding year.

Currently we're in 1st.

I'd say that's COY worthy.

[The Equalizer]

I didn't know whether the history has been to award coaches who have have low pre-season expectations, but outperform, or whether to award elite-level coaches who do what is expected.

It looks like there is no set pattern.  Here are the AP and Naismith winners for the last 10 years.  The coaches typically fall into two categories:  A strong performing team from a lower-performing conference (labelled "Unknown").  Or a coach of a #1 or #2 seeded team from a BCS-level conference (for lack of  a better term, I've labelled these "Elite").

Year	AP	Category
2003	Tubby Smith, Kentucky	Elite
2004	Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's	Unexpected
2005	Tubby Smith, Kentucky	Elite
2006	Roy Williams, North Carolina	Elite
2007	Tony Bennett, Washington State	Unexpected
2008	Keno Davis, Drake	Unexpected
2009	Bill Self, Kansas	Elite
2010	Jim Boeheim, Syracuse	Elite
2011	Mike Brey, Notre Dame	Elite
2012	Frank Haith, Missouri	Elite

Year       Naismith       Category       2003       Tubby Smith, Kentucky       Elite       2004       Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's       Unexpected       2005       Bruce Weber, Illinois       Elite       2006       Jay Wright, Villanova       Elite       2007       Tony Bennett, Washington State       Unexpected       2008       John Calipari (2), Memphis       Elite       2009       Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh       Elite       2010       Jim Boeheim*, Syracuse       Elite       2011       Steve Fisher, San Diego State       Unexpected       2012       Bill Self, Kansas       Elite    Big Time coaches who lead teams to #1 or #2 seeds win nearly 3/4 of the time, so I have to think that  if the awards were picked today, the short list of most likely winners would include Izzo, Crean, Boeheim, Donovan, Kryszewski--maybe Beilein and Self. For the rest, right now, Larranga has got to be the hand-down favorite for the "unexpected" vote.  He's a nice guy, been around a long time, and bringing success to a place where nobody would have expected it.  Mark Few presents is an interesting case. Might be considered in any other year, but I have to think the anti-elite vote this year is going to Larranaga. Buzz is probably stuck between these two. Nobody has us as a #1 or #2 seed yet, so he probably woudn't get the same consideration as Brey, Wright or Dixon have in the past. And even with a #2 seed, I think a lot of people looked at Brey getting the AP award and went "huh?". On the other hand, we're too big a program to get the type of consideration that Martelli, Bennett, Fisher or Keno Davis got.  Buzz doesn't have the recruitng challenges that you have at St. Joseph, Washington State, San Diego State or Drake.

[hoyasincebirth]

BE COY goes to the coach who has exceeded expectations the most. It's a 2 horse race between JT3 and Buzz. Who ever finishes higher will win it. If Whittington hadn't been suspended I would think Buzz could win it if they were a spot or two below JT3 but what JT3 has done missing his second best player is quite impressive.

[dwaderoy2004]

Assuming MU keeps winning, I think Buzz wins COY, while Porter wins POY.

[Silkk the Shaka]

I didn't know whether the history has been to award coaches who have have low pre-season expectations, but outperform, or whether to award elite-level coaches who do what is expected.

It looks like there is no set pattern.  Here are the AP and Naismith winners for the last 10 years.  The coaches typically fall into two categories:  A strong performing team from a lower-performing conference (labelled "Unknown").  Or a coach of a #1 or #2 seeded team from a BCS-level conference (for lack of  a better term, I've labelled these "Elite").

Year	AP	Category
2003	Tubby Smith, Kentucky	Elite
2004	Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's	Unexpected
2005	Tubby Smith, Kentucky	Elite
2006	Roy Williams, North Carolina	Elite
2007	Tony Bennett, Washington State	Unexpected
2008	Keno Davis, Drake	Unexpected
2009	Bill Self, Kansas	Elite
2010	Jim Boeheim, Syracuse	Elite
2011	Mike Brey, Notre Dame	Elite
2012	Frank Haith, Missouri	Elite

Year       Naismith       Category       2003       Tubby Smith, Kentucky       Elite       2004       Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's       Unexpected       2005       Bruce Weber, Illinois       Elite       2006       Jay Wright, Villanova       Elite       2007       Tony Bennett, Washington State       Unexpected       2008       John Calipari (2), Memphis       Elite       2009       Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh       Elite       2010       Jim Boeheim*, Syracuse       Elite       2011       Steve Fisher, San Diego State       Unexpected       2012       Bill Self, Kansas       Elite    Big Time coaches who lead teams to #1 or #2 seeds win nearly 3/4 of the time, so I have to think that  if the awards were picked today, the short list of most likely winners would include Izzo, Crean, Boeheim, Donovan, Kryszewski--maybe Beilein and Self. For the rest, right now, Larranga has got to be the hand-down favorite for the "unexpected" vote.  He's a nice guy, been around a long time, and bringing success to a place where nobody would have expected it.  Mark Few presents is an interesting case. Might be considered in any other year, but I have to think the anti-elite vote this year is going to Larranaga. Buzz is probably stuck between these two. Nobody has us as a #1 or #2 seed yet, so he probably woudn't get the same consideration as Brey, Wright or Dixon have in the past. And even with a #2 seed, I think a lot of people looked at Brey getting the AP award and went "huh?". On the other hand, we're too big a program to get the type of consideration that Martelli, Bennett, Fisher or Keno Davis got.  Buzz doesn't have the recruitng challenges that you have at St. Joseph, Washington State, San Diego State or Drake.

Well, Miami will likely get a 1 or 2 seed, therefroe falling into your "Elite" category, not "Unexpected" for Larranga.

[KenoshaWarrior]

HaywardsHeroes32

Remember, this is the same f***ing bozo troll who
claims the board is "better when we lose."

Well it is.

Way more pages of info after we lose than when we win.

Lab Warrior=Smug Dick of the year!!

[keefe]

Heath stole one last year

Somehow I don't think Stan Heath will be under consideration for that honor this year

[RJax55]

Somehow I don't think Stan Heath will be under consideration for that honor this year

Understatement

[The Equalizer]

Well, Miami will likely get a 1 or 2 seed, therefroe falling into your "Elite" category, not "Unexpected" for Larranga.

Good point.

Still think Buzz would be well behind Izzo, Crean, Beilein, and Donovan--as well as Larranaga--if the vote were held today.