Short & Sweet: Madlock Didn't Solve Case Winning > 60% of 1-Year Games

April 14th, 2022 - 9:43

Alabama State-bound Tony Madlock moved on from South Carolina State after his only season (15-16 record). But what a majority of media mavens fail to point out is there have been numerous "won-and-done" mentors posting significantly better winning percentages in "short-and-sweet" one-year stints since the generally recognized start of the modern era of college basketball in the early 1950s.

Kyle Neptune nearly joined loser list of one-year wonders (16-16 with Fordham before succeeding Jay Wright at Villanova). Fordham improved by 14 games in Digger Phelps' only season with the Rams in 1970-71, a mark that stood for one-year wonders until Chris Beard broke it with a 15-game improvement after UALR (30-5) went 13-18 in 2014-15. Buzz Peterson, the only coach to win a national postseason championship in his only season at a school (Tulsa), is among the following "one-and-done" coaches who won more than 60% of their games in one-year tenures in the last 50-plus years:

Coach School Single Season W-L Pct. Reason for One-Year Stint
Lute Olson Long Beach State 1973-74 24-2 .923 Became coach at Iowa.
Digger Phelps Fordham 1970-71 26-3 .897 Became coach at Notre Dame.
Chris Beard UALR 2015-16 30-5 .857 Became coach at UNLV.
Carl Tacy Marshall 1971-72 23-4 .852 Became coach at Wake Forest.
Keno Davis Drake 2007-08 28-5 .848 Became coach at Providence.
Matt Painter Southern Illinois 2003-04 25-5 .833 Became coach at Purdue.
Stan Heath Kent State 2001-02 29-6 .829 Became coach at Arkansas.
Paul Weir New Mexico State 2016-17 28-6 .824 Became coach at New Mexico.
Thad Matta Butler 2000-01 24-8 .750 Became coach at Xavier.
Bill Fitch Bowling Green 1967-68 18-7 .720 Became coach at Minnesota.
Jim Harding* La Salle 1967-68 20-8 .714 Forced out by administration.
Buzz Peterson Tulsa 2000-01 26-11 .703 Became coach at Tennessee.
Bob Vanatta Army 1953-54 15-7 .682 Became coach at Bradley.
Larry Shyatt Wyoming 1997-98 19-9 .679 Became coach at Clemson.
Rick Barnes George Mason 1987-88 20-10 .667 Became coach at Providence.
Ron Greene Mississippi State 1977-78 18-9 .667 Became coach at Murray State.
Art Tolis New Orleans 1987-88 21-11 .656 Forced out by administration.
Scott Drew Valparaiso 2002-03 20-11 .645 Became coach at Baylor.
Louis Orr Siena 2000-01 20-11 .645 Became coach at Seton Hall.
Bob Huggins Kansas State 2006-07 22-13 .629 Became coach at West Virginia.
Grant McCasland Arkansas State 2016-17 20-12 .625 Became coach at North Texas.
Brad Underwood Oklahoma State 2016-17 20-13 .606 Became coach at Illinois.

*Harding became coach for Minnesota (ABA) for portion of 1968-69 season.