2019 HLOH Awards - Coach of the Year

[Hall2012]

Vote in the poll and throw some nominations for player of the year in the comments - I or someone else can gather them and throw a poll up for that one too.

[hoyahooligan]

I thought Seton Hall was going to finish 9th or 10th so I have to give it to Willard.

[Hall2012]

I went with Leitao. I realize DePaul finished 10th, but they were far better than I expected them to be, including being the only team to sweep my Pirates.

I might vote Willard as oracle of the year though - preseason he guaranteed a top half finish for his team and said he expected a tourney bid.

[Hall2012]

For a player of the year poll I think Howard, Powell, Ponds, and Booth are obvious candidates. I think Strus and Govan deserve to be included as well. Anyone else?

[jfan]

I went with Coach McD. (homer choice) Creighton was picked 9th preseason and finished T3. We suffered key injuries along the way and threw away at least one or two games and still won 5 straight to end!

[Hall2012]

The relative lack of votes so far just shows how high the expectations Jay Wright created for himself are. He lost what, 4 players to the NBA? ...and still won the regular season title outright.

[Omaha1]

I went with Coach McD. (homer choice) Creighton was picked 9th preseason and finished T3. We suffered key injuries along the way and threw away at least one or two games and still won 5 straight to end!

I understand the sentiment but I can’t vote for Mac when he literally threw away a home win against Marquette that would’ve made us 3rd all alone and Big East play and probably in most brackets right now. Colossally bad coaching in that one end of game which appears to have season long implications.

[Savannah Jay]

I voted for Steele just because the team looked dead in the water mid-season and made a remarkable turnaround. WIllard would have been my other vote if I could have two.

I think Jay Wright love gets watered down because, quite frankly, we expect it from him.

[GoldenWarrior11]

It should be Wright, considering all that he lost, but I wouldn't be shocked to give it to someone new. Thus, it would be Willard.

[Hall2012]

The fact that an argument can be made for so many guys is really encouraging.

-Kevin Willard's getting a lot of credit for what he did despite all the players he lost
-Jay Wright lost the majority of his team too and still won the regular season title - he was just hurt by his own ridiculous expectations
-Wojo was probably a lock for this award until the last 2 weeks of the season
-Travis Steele turned Xavier from a mid-season disaster into a bubble team - I realize the first half of the year counts too but as a first year coach early struggles aren't unexpected
-Dave Leitao had DePaul far more competitive than most expected and was a bounce or two away from having DePaul in serious NIT consideration
-Greg McDermott lead Creighton to a strong finish to exceed expectations within the league as well