They never score a point, never drive the basket or put up a 3-point shot. They never grab a rebound and deliver an outlet pass to start a fast break. And they never set a pick or get in an opponent’s face with defensive pressure before coming away with a steal.
Nope, coaches don’t do any of those things.
What they do is put their players in position to score every point, grab every rebound, start every fast break and apply defense to stop the other guys, and they also influence the numbers at NCAAB betting sites long before the opening tip.
With that in mind, here are four coaches to keep an eye on as they try to navigate their teams through what are often stormy seas during conference tournaments, each with their eye on securing the automatic bids to the big dance.
Kelvin Sampson – Houston
Might as well start at the top, where the Cougars have been in the AP and coaches’ polls the last two weeks. Sampson’s squad has also been at or near the top of the Ken Pomeroy and NET rankings most of the season.
Houston has been knocking on the door for several seasons now. Sampson guided the Cougars into the 2021 Final Four, returned to the Elite Eight the following season and earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region a year ago.
A couple of those years, injuries left the Cougars at less than 100% when the NCAA Tournament rolled around, and that just might be the most remarkable part of the job Sampson has done this time around after Houston lost sophomore guard Terrance Arceneaux in mid-December.
The Cougars boast the nation’s leading scoring defense – by 2 full points over Virginia in 2nd – and are tied with Tennessee by holding opponents to a 38.3% field percentage, not bad numbers for a team that resides in the toughest and deepest conference.
Dan Hurley – Connecticut
And while we’re at the tip-top of the polls, we might as well say a few words about the man guiding the No. 2 team, especially since the Huskies are defending national champs.
Hurley’s coaching prowess was evident long before he got to UConn, even before he held the head coaching positions at Rhode Island and Wagner, or any other coaching position. It all began growing up with a hall-of-fame high school coach for a father.
Even without the 2023 NCAA Championship, Hurley deserves accolades for coming to Connecticut during some of its darkest days and turning the program around to regain its national prominence.
Just like the run-up to the 2023 Big East Tournament, Hurley has the Huskies peaking with 16 wins in their last 17 games entering the final week of the regular season, and that has come with a fine 12-5 mark against the NCAAB odds during that stretch.
Matt Painter – Purdue
Hey, why not? It’s only appropriate that while we’re talking about the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the poll, the No. 3 Boilermakers and their head coach deserve a little ink.
Painter has Purdue on top of the Big Ten with a second consecutive regular season crown, the first team in 17 years to win two in a row without sharing the honors with another team, and he’ll look to coach them to a 2nd-straight tournament title next week in Minneapolis.
The real scrutiny on Painter and his team will come at the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers became just the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 last season, and Purdue will be under pressure to repeat in the same manner as the first No. 1 to fall in such fashion, Virginia in 2019 winning the championship a year after being upset by a No. 16.
Painter might want to apply a little extra Dapper Dan pomade before taking the Boilers on the floor in the NCAA opener this time, especially if they’re a No. 1 again.
Hubert Davis – North Carolina
It’s never easy to lead a program with such a rich tradition as the one in Chapel Hill, and it’s made even more difficult to follow in the footsteps of a coaching legend like Roy Williams.
However, it was all set up for Davis to succeed at UNC when Williams left the program brimming with talent, so much so that the Tar Heels were the college basketball pick as the No. 1 team in the nation entering the 2022-23 campaign.
Not only did North Carolina become the first preseason No. 1 to miss the dance completely, but the Tar Heels threw a tantrum by turning down an invite to the NIT. That only turned the heat up on Davis and the Tar Heels to make up for that this time around.
Davis certainly has a team capable of making up for last season’s fall from grace. The Tar Heels can secure the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament with a win over Duke in the regular season finale, and adding the tournament title could be the ticket to a No. 1 seed at the NCAA tourney.
