We don't usually pay any attention to a list such as this because there really is no way to 'measure' the top or the best or even the better assistant coaches. To his credit, Jason Belzer does qualify his picks with an solid explanatory introduction.
What would really be interesting is to poll (granting anonymity of course) the head coaches of each league as to who they believe are the better assistants in their conference (not allowing voting for their own staff) and also requiring the why behind each selection.
We have no way of knowing but would Nevada's David Carter have been included in Belzer's list if he hadn't ascended to the top spot in Reno? How about Don Verlin with Utah State/Idaho? What about Nikita Johnson, the associate head coach at Louisiana Tech? Any others?
Top 25 Mid-Major AssistantsGo here for the remainder.
Jason Belzer
College Insider.com
July 6, 2009
Ranking the quality of a team is never easy. Ranking the quality of a coach is even harder. Ranking an assistant coach is well… almost down right impossible. There are so many factors that go into determining what exactly makes a good assistant coach; work ethic, servants mentality, reliability, attention to detail, recruiting skills, overall basketball knowledge, the list goes on and on. What is most imperative to remember is that even though assistant coaches are integral parts of each program, they are not irreplaceable. A good assistant supports his head coach, and not the other way around...
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3 comments:
The list seems to be based on the success of the team and the length of service. Those are valid selection methods but also an easy shortcut to not look deeper.
Kevin---collegeinsider.com considers the WAC a major conference...so it's assistants were not considered.
Ray Lopes at Idaho is an incredible coach, he had some baggage but kept his nose clean here under verlin. Anytime you can have a second HC on your team it is a good thing.
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