The 2013-14 season for Division I men's college basketball came to a close back in April. In the national championship game, second-year Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie led his hungry Huskies to the 2014 NCAA Tournament title with a win over the young but talented Kentucky Wildcats. UConn's unlikely tournament run as a seven-seed catapulted Ollie into the media spotlight and even garnered him a new, much more lucrative contract with the school.
Elsewhere, in the Mid-American Conference, seven other head coaches also appear to have their respective basketball programs poised for success in the near future. Let's take a look at the hottest names in the MAC.
Keith Dambrot, Akron:
No Zeke Marshall, no problem. Though the 2014 Akron Zips lost their 7-foot superstar to graduation, the team still held its own to go 12-6 in the MAC. That was good enough for a second-place finish in the MAC East division. Akron was even awarded a berth in the CIT, its eighth postseason tournament berth in 10 years. Furthermore, by finishing their 2013-14 campaign with an overall record of 21-13, the Zips have now won at least 20 games consecutively for the past nine seasons.
Simply put, Keith Dambrot's reign of success continues. As the uncontested hottest name in the MAC, coach Dambrot has turned the Akron program into a mid-major powerhouse, leading his teams to three NCAA Tournament appearances over the past six seasons. His stellar resume includes being named the 2013 MAC Coach of the Year. That same year, he produced the 2013 MAC Defensive Player of the Year, the aforementioned Marshall. The Zips have won two MAC regular-season titles over the past three years. Dambrot has twice led his Zips to a school-record 26 wins in a season.
His coaching staff played a major role in the development of Shaka Smart, VCU's highly sought after head coach who led his Rams to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2011. Dambrot, who is coaching at his alma mater, signed a 10-year contract with the school in 2012 before receiving a one-year extension in 2013. The extension will keep the coach at Akron through the 2022-23 season. So, given his ties to the school and his latest contract, it appears Dambrot, who is already in his 50s, is in it for the long haul. Akron basketball fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Though he is surely the top coach in the conference, he is not on the market. Akron's presence in the MAC will continue to be a dominant one with Dambrot on the sidelines.
Chris Jans, Bowling Green:
After the major letdown that was the 2013-14 season for the Bowling Green men's basketball team, head coach Louis Orr got the boot. Orr's last season coaching the Falcons concluded with an overtime loss to Northern Illinois in the first round of the MAC Tournament.
Enter Chris Jans. Jans was hired to be the new head coach back in March. BG managed to hire him away from his job as an assistant coach at Wichita State, another mid-major program that has become a nationally recognized powerhouse over the past couple of years. During their 2013 NCAA Tournament run, the Wichita State Shockers stunned the nation by reaching the Final Four. There, they lost a close game against Louisville, the team that went on to become the national champions. Last season, the Shockers enjoyed a 35-0 start, including winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship and garnering enough respect to earn a one-seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
Fans are anticipating that Jans' presence at BG will do similar wonders for the Falcons. It has been 46 years since the men's team made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This exciting hiring brings much hope and lofty expectations, all of which the new coach is fully aware of. With what he has been able to accomplish these past two years, Jans has made his name one of the hottest on the market. Luckily, for the Falcons, he decided to take his talents to Northwest Ohio.
Bobby Hurley, Buffalo:
Astounding .Unexpected. Those are just a few of the words that come to mind when describing the progress that theBuffalo Bulls made in just one season under new head coach Bobby Hurley. Hurley took over back in April 2013, replacing former head coach Reggie Witherspoon. For what it's worth, Buffalo had been a solid team in recent years under Witherspoon's guidance. After back-to-back disastrous seasons in 2006-07 and 2007-08, Witherspoon coached the Bulls to four winning seasons (three of which included postseason appearances) over the next five years.
The season before Hurley got there, however, the Bulls finished with a disappointing 14-20 overall record. They also went 7-9 in conference play. So, with three years still remaining on his contract, Witherspoon was shown the door. In comes Hurley.
As a first-year head coach at Buffalo during the 2013-14 season, Hurley coached the Bulls to 19 wins overall. The team also dominated in the MAC; they went 13-5 in conference play, good enough for a first-place finish in the MAC East division. The 13 conference wins is a school record for UB.
Under his new coach, senior Javon McCrea was named the MAC Player of the Year while also becoming the school's all-time leading scorer. Hurley was named one of 10 finalists for the Joe B. Hall award, which is given to the nation's best first-year head coach. Three times the charm, as the saying goes. Well, for Hurley, he only needed one. But hey, what else was to be expected? Hurley's own father, Bob Hurley, Sr., is a Hall of Fame basketball coach himself.
Expect Buffalo to continue making a name for itself in the MAC. Hurley has only just begun. Also, similar to Dambrot of Akron, Hurley's recent contract extension, which is set to take him through the 2018-19 season, means he should be head of the program for many years to come. That gives him plenty of time to build on his already-impressive tenure at the school. Hurley is on track to lead the Bulls to their long-awaited NCAA Tournament berth, something that his predecessor failed to accomplish during his entire 14 years with the program.
Rob Murphy, Eastern Michigan:
Rob Murphy has completed three seasons as the head coach of Eastern Michigan thus far. However, in that limited span of time, he has had a tremendous impact on the school's basketball program. Just this past season, for instance, Murphy led the Eagles to 20-plus wins, including trips to the semifinals of the MAC Tournament and the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). EMU's CIT berth was its first postseason tournament berth since the 1997-98 season.
Murphy's coaching tenure also boasts the development of 7-foot center Da'Shonte Riley, a Syracuse transfer who blossomed into a defensive threat in the MAC. As a senior last year, Riley, a ferocious shot-blocker, was voted the 2014 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. Riley's accomplishment marked the first time ever that an EMU basketball player won that award.
As for Murphy, he earned himself a spot as one of 15 finalists for the prestigious Ben Jobe Award. The Ben Jobe Award is an annual accolade that recognizes the recipient as being the top minority coach in Division I men's college basketball. With all of these recent achievements, the future for EMU basketball appears to be brighter than ever. Expect Murphy to continue pushing the program in the right direction during the 2014-15 season. He has quickly established himself as a well-respected name in MAC sports, steadily rising into the ranks of the MAC basketball elite.
Saul Phillips, Ohio:
After the Ohio men's basketball team concluded its 2013-14 campaign, head coach Jim Christian packed his stuff and headed off toward the next chapter in his career. He is now the new head coach at Boston College. During his short tenure at OU, Christian coached the Bobcats to winning seasons for two years (both of which included postseason appearances). He compiled an overall record of 49-22 over that time span. He left OU, and the MAC, as the record-holder for the highest winning percentage (.700) in conference history.
Sound like a lot to live up to? Not to worry. Christian's replacement at Ohio, North Dakota State's former coach Saul Phillips, is no slouch himself. Phillips spent seven years coaching NDSU. He took the program to the NCAA Tournament twice over that period. At the conclusion of the 2008-09 season, Phillips had led NDSU to a 26-7 overall record and a 14-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, his last season with the team, he guided the Bison to another 26-7 overall record and another NCAA Tournament bid. This time, however, his team was a 12-seed in the Big Dance. They became bracket-busters when they upset Oklahoma, a 5-seed, in overtime in the second round.
So, though Phillips has yet to prove himself in the MAC, the Ohio Bobcats have already scored big by landing him. Phillips established himself as one of the hottest names in the nation while at NDSU. He will undoubtedly add to his polished resume during his time at OU. He is another name to keep an eye on during the 2014-15 season and beyond. Expect the Bobcats to continue to excel.
Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo:
In just four short years as the head coach of the Rockets, Tod Kowalczyk has taken the men's program from the bottom of the MAC to one of the premier teams in the conference. Toledo earned itself a share of the MAC regular-season title by going 14-4 in conference play this past season. In March, Kowalczyk's 2014 Rockets fell just one game short of winning the conference tournament championship. Despite the disappointment, UT's outstanding season last year was still enough to secure a postseason berth in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). By finishing 27-7, the 2014 Toledo Rockets had the best overall record in the MAC.
Kowalczyk has made his presence known throughout the mid-majors as UT's basketball program has been miraculously revived under his guidance. His status among the best coaches in the MAC is elevating and the Rockets are sure to continue seeing improvements throughout these next few years. Kowalczyk's triumphs have set him up to be considered for the MAC Coach of the Year award sometime soon. Indeed, it is a good time to be a UT basketball fan.
Steve Hawkins, Western Michigan:
Steve Hawkins has been the head coach of the Broncos for 10-plus years now. In fact, he is currently the longest-tenured head coach in the MAC. The resume he has accumulated during his time in Kalamazoo has been quite impressive to say the least.
For the past four seasons alone, for example, Western Michigan has made postseason appearances three times. The 2014 MAC Coach of the Year led his 2014 Broncos to the MAC Tournament title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The team finished with a 23-10 overall record, the sixth time under Hawkins that the Broncos have finished a season with at least 20 wins. WMU went 14-4 in conference play last year, good enough for a share of the MAC regular-season championship. The 2012-13 Broncos earned themselves a berth in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament where they persevered all the way to the semifinals. Hawkins also led his 2011 squad to a berth in the CIT.
He is one of only eight MAC head coaches to win 200-plus games overall. He is the only coach in WMU history to win 100 games in the conference. In his 10-plus years in Kalamazoo, Hawkins has coached the Broncos to two NCAA Tournament bids. In 2014, he became just the third head coach in program history to be named the MAC Coach of the Year.
It is safe to say that Hawkins' wildly successful tenure in the mid-majors might soon be approaching its end. There are surely some big-time programs out there that have been keeping a close eye on one of the hottest names in the MAC. Hawkins' resume speaks for itself and he would undoubtedly be a welcome addition to any team looking for a boost.