For 3 ex-Cats turned coaches, this college hoops season has been brutal
In all the United States, there are only 353 jobs as an NCAA Division I men’s basketball coach.
For the 2018-19 season, former Kentucky Wildcats men’s hoops players hold seven of those positions.
What should be a source of pride to backers of UK basketball is leavened this winter by the fact that three of the ex-Cats turned major-college head men are enduring brutal years.
Let’s check in on how all seven of the former Cats turned Division I college head men are faring so far in 2018-19:
Travis Ford
Team: Saint Louis
Record: 12-4, 3-0 Atlantic 10
NET ranking (the new NCAA metric which replaced the RPI): 61 of 353
The skinny: It’s taken Ford three seasons, but the ex-UK point guard (now 41-41 as Billikens’ head man) has Saint Louis in position to contend for a league title. Currently, the Billikens are tied with Davidson and Dayton atop the A-10.
In the non-conference, Ford’s crew defeated Seton Hall and Butler from the Big East and Oregon State of the Pac-12.
Telling fact: Saint Louis is winning with defense. The Billikens can’t shoot much, making only 41.9 percent on field goals and 31.2 percent of treys. But Saint Louis is limiting foes to 40.7 percent from the floor and 31 percent on treys.
Mark Pope
Team: Utah Valley
Record: 12-6, 1-2 Western Athletic Conference
NET ranking: 129 out of 353
The skinny: Pope, a contributing front-court player on Kentucky’s 1996 NCAA title team, has done good work at Utah Valley. In the three years prior to this, the Wolverines’ win total progressed from 12 to 17 to 23.
Telling fact: Utah Valley lost two starting guards from last season’s 23-11 team. It has shown this year, as the Wolverines have turned the ball over a whopping 243 times while forcing only 211 turnovers from foes.
Scott Padgett
Team: Samford
Record: 11-7, 1-4 Southern Conference
NET ranking: 150 out of 353
The skinny: Padgett, one of the heroes of UK’s 1998 NCAA Championship drive, was in the news earlier this month after referee Karl Hess appeared to charge at him during a timeout in what became an 81-72 overtime loss at East Tennessee State.
Telling fact: Why do coaches “down the food chain” hate the graduate transfer rule? Samford has commited 256 turnovers this season, five more than it has forced.
Meanwhile, ex-Henry Clay standout Christen Cunningham, who grad transferred from Samford, is thriving (10.6 points per game, 53 assists vs. only 27 turnovers) as Louisville’s point guard.
Walter McCarty
Team: Evansville
Record: 8-9, 2-2 Missouri Valley Conference
NET ranking: 165 out of 353
The skinny: A starter on Kentucky’s 1996 NCAA title team, McCarty is in his first season as head coach at his hometown university. McCarty has led the Purple Aces to a win over Loyola, last season’s Final Four darling. But Evansville’s most impressive result might have been its 66-64 near-miss loss at Murray State.
Telling fact: Evansville is being outrebounded by an average of 3.2 boards per game and has turned the ball over more often (236 times) than its foes (234).
Allen Edwards
Team: Wyoming
Record: 4-13, 0-4 Mountain West Conference
NET ranking: 307 out of 353
The skinny: Owner of 1996 and 1998 NCAA championship rings as a Kentucky swingman, Edwards won 23 games in his first season as Wyoming head coach (2016-17) and won 20 last season. However, having lost four starters from 2017-18, Edwards’ third year as Cowboys’ head man has been a slog.
Telling fact: With all its struggles, Wyoming defeated the SEC’s South Carolina 73-64 on Dec. 5 in Laramie. It gave Edwards a coaching win over the Gamecocks’ Frank Martin, one of his high school coaches.
Steve Masiello
Team: Manhattan
Record: 3-13, 1-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
NET ranking: 338 out of 353
The skinny: Kentucky’s “human victory cigar” as a walk-on guard (1996-2000), Masiello took Manhattan to the NCAA Tournament in in 2013-14 (25-8) and 2014-15 (19-14). Since then, the Japsers have gone 13-18, 10-22, 14-17 and have really struggled this season.
Telling fact: Of Masiello’s three wins, two came in Kentucky. Manhattan beat Coastal Carolina 55-53 and UNC Asheville 54-38 in the Kemi Northern Kentucky Basketball Classic. The Jaspers are 1-10 since.
Sean Woods
Team: Southern
Record: 1-15, 0-3 Southwest Atlantic Conference
NET ranking: 350 out of 353
The skinny: Woods, the point guard for the 1992 Kentucky team whose heart was broken by Christian Laettner, inherited only one starter in his first season at Southern. The Jaguars have also played a schedule filled with “guarantee games” at Alabama, Baylor, Louisville, Iowa State and Marquette.
Telling fact: In his first head coaching job at Mississippi Valley State, Woods inherited a similar situation and built from seven wins in 2008-09 to 21 victories and the NCAA Tournament in 2011-12.
