[Cracked Sidewalks]Some Coaching Candidates By The Numbers

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

Some Coaching Candidates By The Numbers


Source: Some Coaching Candidates By The Numbers

[Henry Sugar]

I was hesitant to put this out there, because honestly, who the heck knows what is really going on with the coaching search? Speculating on current coaches isn't something I really like doing. I don't like it when other schools do it.

Having said that, I started poking around at the Pomeroy coaching profiles for the top three rumored candidates and thought it'd be useful to share. Here they are:

Rumor #1 - Shaka Smart



Shaka's overall profile is very interesting. First, for all the emphasis on "Havoc", the defensive performance has actually been inconsistent. There have been two very good defensive years and a few bad defensive years. The offensive performance has been better than I expected as well, but again it has been inconsistent.

Note that the offense and defense haven't been very good at the same time in the same year. Either the offense is really good and the defense suffers, or the defense is really good and the offense suffers. However, the overall ranking has been pretty good overall and very good the last two years. Finally, Shaka isn't really bringing in many top 100 recruits.

Summary - He's the hot name and has very good, but inconsistent offensive and defensive performance.

Rumor #2 - Ben Howland



If you are looking at someone that brings in top 100 recruits, it's Ben Howland. Using a quick scan, he has twenty eight top 100 recruits in his tenure from 2003-2013.

In addition, that stretch from 2006-2008 (or 2009) was remarkable. Three Final Fours, ranking top 15 or better four times, and consistent top 10 offensive or defensive rankings.

However, the wheels really fell off starting in 2010, not only by UCLA standards, but by Marquette's standards as well. Overall rankings were around the 50s (or worse), there was nothing very good offensively or defensively, and the NCAA performance reflected that.

Summary - Ben Howland has by far the best recruiting track record and the best overall NCAA/rankings of performance. But which Howland do we get... '06-09 or '10-13?

Rumor #3 - Gregg Marshall



I was not expecting much, if anything, about Gregg Marshall. Plus, he spells his name funny and looks like Tom Crean.

But I've got to be honest... I LOVE this guy's stat's profile. It is amazing. His Winthrop teams got better pretty much every year starting in 2004. Since taking over Wichita State, every ranking has gotten better every year (except for the 2013 offensive rank). In the last four years, Wichita State has had an average offensive ranking of 20 and an average defensive ranking of 27. This is kind of important, if you go back and reflect on recent set of posts about Final Four and Elite Eight profiles. The WSU overall ranking has been an average of 15, which is way better than Marquette over the same period.

However, there is one big concern. Marshall has recruited zero top 100 players. Can Marshall bring in the players to compete at the highest level?

Summary - Has the best overall profile for the coaches, but zero top 100 recruits

Conclusion

Again, I hate looking at other coaches like this, but since these are the top names, I thought it was important to put the information out there. If MU ends up with any of these guys, that's pretty fantastic.

[T-Bone]

For the sake of looking at progression, I'm curious to see what Pumpkinhead Brent has done over his career (the UNO year would be interesting to see).

[Galway Eagle]

For the record Shaka HS 3 top 100s signed for this years recruiting class

[TheTulsaWarrior]

With all respect to Ben Howland recruiting in sunny LA is a lot different than Milwaukee.  I think the recruiting comparison that should be looked at for him is his time in Pittsburgh.

[Wade for President]

I was not expecting much, if anything, about Gregg Marshall. Plus, he spells his name funny and looks like Tom Crean.

Awesome

[Henry Sugar]

For the record Shaka HS 3 top 100s signed for this years recruiting class

I used RSCI and only found one player in the 2014 class.

For the sake of looking at progression, I'm curious to see what Pumpkinhead Brent has done over his career (the UNO year would be interesting to see).

(using the same approach)

Buzz Williams

Buzz had a great five year stretch for Marquette. He was bringing in about two top 100 recruits a year, had a top 25 offense or defense in four years, and had a stretch of going S16-S16-E8.

His first year at New Orleans doesn't show much except that it was terrible defensively.

The big concern when looking at this profile on Buzz is the 2014 year. After a long run and lots of top 100 recruits, MU was pretty bad this year and didn't even make the tourney.

Summary - Consistent, good performance for most years. Would be a good hire. Was 2014 an abberation?

[T-Bone]

With all respect to Ben Howland recruiting in sunny LA is a lot different than Milwaukee.  I think the recruiting comparison that should be looked at for him is his time in Pittsburgh.

Right, but he's also recruited Pittsburgh in the BE.  His last few years at UCLA he ran afoul of some of the AAU teams out there and didn't sign many guys from CA.

Pumpkinhead only seemed to recruit Texas his first few years.  It changes over time.

[Galway Eagle]

I used RSCI and only found one player in the 2014 class.

ESPN has 3 that's what I was using.

[Wisco]

That is correct...Shaka has signed 3 top 100 ESPN recruits. It has been said that his fourth recruit in the class is on the verge of breaking in to the top 100. I'm not really as familiar with the RSCI database so I can't speak to that.

The defensive rankings were poor the first two years for an obvious reason: Shaka was using Anthony Grant's recruits that were brought in for a completely different system, all while trying to implement his press/uptempo style. He has discussed that fact in a few of his press conferences and really found his grove with it in his third year.

Some fans have voiced their concerns over the occasional offensive issues. This year was definitely not a highlight in that department. I'm optimistic that things will begin to change with next season, as Shaka's ideal recruits will finally be on the floor: 6'6" to 6'9" swing players with explosive offensive games that can also press/trap at a high rate.

Overall, nice post. I enjoyed it.

[Skatastrophy]

That is correct...Shaka has signed 3 top 100 ESPN recruits. It has been said that his fourth recruit in the class is on the verge of breaking in to the top 100. I'm not really as familiar with the RSCI database so I can't speak to that.

The defensive rankings were poor the first two years for an obvious reason: Shaka was using Anthony Grant's recruits that were brought in for a completely different system, all while trying to implement his press/uptempo style. He has discussed that fact in a few of his press conferences and really found his grove with it in his third year.

Some fans have voiced their concerns over the occasional offensive issues. This year was definitely not a highlight in that department. I'm optimistic that things will begin to change with next season, as Shaka's ideal recruits will finally be on the floor: 6'6" to 6'9" swing players with explosive offensive games that can also press/trap at a high rate.

Overall, nice post. I enjoyed it.

RSCI - Recruiting Services Consensus Index. It combines the rankings from well known recruiting experts into a single, consensus ranking.

It takes the guesswork out of which recruit ranking service got it right.

[Wisco]

RSCI - Recruiting Services Consensus Index. It combines the rankings from well known recruiting experts into a single, consensus ranking.

It takes the guesswork out of which recruit ranking service got it right.

Thanks. Curious to know - would you/others consider it to provide a much better overall picture than a singular service such as ESPN?

[Henry Sugar]

Thanks. Curious to know - would you/others consider it to provide a much better overall picture than a singular service such as ESPN?

I exclusively use RSCI, mostly because it smooths out some of the variability between the different recruiting websites.

[T-Bone]

Buzz Williams

Thanks for throwing that out there.  Pretty much what I expected to see. 

[Skatastrophy]

Take Sandy Cohen for example

RSCI

Avg

Dev

VC

ESPN

Scout

Rivals

PrepStars

247Sports

Total

Ht

Pos

City

College

82

81

9.2

Sandy Cohen

77

84

84

97

75

71

118

6-5

WG

Seymour, WI

Marquette

Some of the guys have a much higher deviation, which is what makes RSCI convenient.

[mu_eyeballs]

This is what I have been waiting for...Thanks Sugar!

[UticaBusBarn]

Well, if the rumour hysteria is correct, we might all pause a moment and take another look at what MU might be getting.

[UticaBusBarn]

I realize I may be one of the few people who actually believes numbers "do not have an opinion."

Given all the smoke javascript:void(0);, let me ask a (serious) question. How are Brian Wardle's numbers?

[Henry Sugar]

I realize I may be one of the few people who actually believes numbers "do not have an opinion."

Given all the smoke javascript:void(0);, let me ask a (serious) question. How are Brian Wardle's numbers?

Not good. Best Offensive ranking over four years is #123. Only one defensive ranking better than #132 in the four years, and that was #56