Success on Silver Platter: Predecessor's Recruits Help Decide Coach of Year
"I got to buy the groceries and start the meal, but I didn't get to enjoy it," former North Carolina coach Matt Doherty joked about the Tar Heels' 2005 NCAA title. "So that was a little frustrating, but I was very proud of what they accomplished and felt a part of it. And as a result, got some credit for it, too."
It was a role reversal for Doherty, who inherited Carolina's celebrated program from Bill Guthridge and became national coach of the year in 2000-01. This past season, Frank Haith hit the inheritance jackpot at Missouri as successor to Mike Anderson, who had a couple of key seniors originally signed by Quin Snyder help him become national COY three years earlier.
A closer examination of the coaches to profit from someone else's recruits reveals those who assume control of teams and fare well are basically men who go on to establish themselves as premier coaches. Roy Williams twice has been the beneficiary among the following chronological list of individuals who capitalized on someone else's signees in en route to becoming national coach of the year:
| Year | National Coach of Year | School | Predecessor | Vital Inherited Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Eddie Hickey | Marquette | Jack Nagle | Don Kojis, Walt Mangham, Mike Moran |
| 1973 | Gene Bartow | Memphis State | Moe Iba | Larry Finch, Ronnie Robinson |
| 1976 | Tom Young | Rutgers | Dick Lloyd | Mike Dabney, Phil Sellers |
| 1978 | Abe Lemons | Texas | Leon Black | Gary Goodner, Jim Krivacs (RS transfer), Johnny Moore |
| 1986 | Eddie Sutton | Kentucky | Joe B. Hall | Winston Bennett, James Blackmon, Ed Davender, Roger Harden, Kenny Walker |
| 1987 | Tom Davis | Iowa | George Raveling | B.J. Armstrong, Kevin Gamble, Ed Horton, Bill Jones, Brad Lohaus, Al Lorenzen, Roy Marble, Jeff Moe, Gerry Wright |
| 1987 | Rick Pitino | Providence | Joe Mullaney | Billy Donovan, David Kipfer, Ernie Lewis, Steve Wright |
| 1990 | Roy Williams | Kansas | Larry Brown | Jeff Gueldner, Mike Maddox, Kevin Pritchard, Mark Randall |
| 1991 | Rick Majerus | Utah | Lynn Archibald | Josh Grant, Walter Watts |
| 1994 | Charlie Spoonhour | Saint Louis | Rich Grawer | Erwin Claggett, Scott Highmark |
| 1995 | Kelvin Sampson | Oklahoma | Billy Tubbs | Dion Barnes, Calvin Curry, Ryan Minor, John Ontges |
| 1999 | Jim O'Brien | Ohio State | Randy Ayers | Neshaun Coleman, Jason Singleton |
| 2000 | Larry Eustachy | Iowa State | Tim Floyd | Marcus Fizer, Stevie Johnson, Martin Rancik, Paul Shirley |
| 2001 | Matt Doherty | North Carolina | Bill Guthridge | Jason Capel, Joseph Forte, Brendan Haywood, Kris Lang, Max Owens, Julius Peppers |
| 2005 | Bruce Weber | Illinois | Bill Self | James Augustine, Dee Brown, Luther Head, Roger Powell, Nick Smith, Deron Williams |
| 2006 | Roy Williams | North Carolina | Matt Doherty | David Noel, Bryon Sanders |
| 2009 | Mike Anderson | Missouri | Quin Snyder | Matt Lawrence, Leo Lyons |
| 2012 | Frank Haith | Missouri | Mike Anderson | Marcus Denmon, Michael Dixon, Kim English, Steve Moore, Matt Pressey, Phil Pressey, Ricardo Ratliffe |
NOTES: Rod Barnes (Mississippi '01), Tony Bennett (Washington State '07), Keno Davis (Drake '08), Bill Guthridge (North Carolina '98) and Bill Hodges (Indiana State '79) were promoted from assistant coach. . . . Finch and Robinson competed on freshman squad in Iba's final season as Memphis State's head coach.