Without an ACC Team in the Final 4, we can go ahead and take a look back at the season and give the ACC basketball coaches some grades.
Remember the post-season is like a Final – some coaches pulled up their grade and some are going to take a hit.
If coaches get the same grade, my ranking breaks the tie.
Coaching grades and rankings : 5-8 | 9-12 | 13-15
1) Tony Bennett, Virginia – A
I had a hard time figuring out what to do with Tony Bennett. He was definitely headed to an A+ with a Sweet 16 run, and maybe even just 1 win in the NCAA tournament, but that loss to UMBC was so incredibly epic and historical points had to be deducted from his grade. A 16 seed had never beat a 1 seed in history. Ask him, and Bennett will probably tell that was the worst coached week of his career.
That’s the ugly – the good is Virginia went 31-3 won the ACC Regular Season by 4 games, and won the ACC Tournament. They basically dominated one of the better conferences in college basketball and by a wide margin. That doesn’t happen by accident. Bennett was the runaway COY in the ACC, and one bad game on the biggest stage closes the gap, but should not undo all the good the Hoos did this year.
2) Brad Brownell, Clemson – A
I came very close to having Brad Brownell overtake Tony Bennett on the strength of getting to the Sweet 16, and his handling of the Clemson team after their best player Donate Grantham went down. Brownwell found answers after the injury, and kept Clemson’s season afloat. The performance against Auburn in the NCAAs was one of the strongest of the NCAA, and the season was one of the best in Clemson history.
3) Kevin Keatts, North Carolina State – A-
Kevin Keatts sparked new life in the NC State this program. Pick to finish 12th in the ACC, the Wolfpack had wins over UNC, Duke, Clemson and Arizona this season and made the NCAA tournament. The Wolfpack did lose 3 of their last 4 games this year, but Keatts exceeded all expectations this year. The future looks very bright in Raleigh.
4) Roy Williams, North Carolina – A-
By beating Duke 2 out of 3 times, I gave the edge to Roy Williams over Coach K in these grades and rankings. North Carolina had a great list of wins this year with victories over Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio State, Clemson, Duke (2).
After back to back Final 4s and being the defending national champions, you thought UNC might have a setback this year. They did, but it was much smaller that many thought it would be. The 2nd round NCAA loss to Texas A&M was ugly, but that shouldn’t completely mar an otherwise solidly coached season by Williams.
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