NBA Superstars as college coaches .....

#1
BigOrangePhoenix

BigOrangePhoenix

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#1
Patrick Ewing - Failure
Chris Mullen - Failure
Danny Manning - Failure
J. Howard - Some early success, but portal hasn't been kind to him. So, he has failed
Penny Hardaway - Not terrible, but not good either.
Damon Stoudamire- Jury is still out. I actually like him.

The question is why......
 
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#2
#2
BigOrangePhoenix said:
Patrick Ewing - Failure
Chris Mullen - Failure
Danny Manning - Failure
J. Howard - Some early success, but portal hasn't been kind to him. So, he has failed
Penny Hardaway - Not terrible, but not good either.
Damon Stoudamire- Jury is still out. I actually like him.

The question is why......
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Just because you can play the game at a high level doesn’t mean you can coach it at a high level.
 
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#4
#4
BigOrangePhoenix said:
Patrick Ewing - Failure
Chris Mullen - Failure
Danny Manning - Failure
J. Howard - Some early success, but portal hasn't been kind to him. So, he has failed
Penny Hardaway - Not terrible, but not good either.
Damon Stoudamire- Jury is still out. I actually like him.

The question is why......
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Because playing and coaching are entirely different worlds.
 
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#5
#5
BigOrangePhoenix said:
Penny Hardaway - Not terrible, but not good either.
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Maybe not terrible, but I'd say closer to bad than good at this point.

It's somewhat surprising because his track record coaching East High School and AAU suggested he'd have more success. Even if you dismiss his stint at East as benefiting from superior talent advantage, he was still successful coaching AAU where the talent was even. (So I read in an article about his AAU stints a few years ago).

Tiger High is getting itself into a quagmire with Penny. He's revered by the city so he's nowhere near a hot seat, but he keeps under performing. If Tiger High eventually decides to move on, they're unlikely to find a replacement that can recruit the level of talent he brings in.
 
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#6
#6
BigOrangePhoenix said:
Patrick Ewing - Failure
Chris Mullen - Failure
Danny Manning - Failure
J. Howard - Some early success, but portal hasn't been kind to him. So, he has failed
Penny Hardaway - Not terrible, but not good either.
Damon Stoudamire- Jury is still out. I actually like him.

The question is why......
Click to expand...
Easy - name recognition and recruiting. Ewing, Mullin, Howard, and Penny are also alums of the schools they coached or are currently coaching at. Penny in particular was an AAU hype man/recruiter that got elevated to being a head coach, which are 2 totally different things. He's actually been pretty good at the former, not so much the latter.
 
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#11
#11
Also, Kelvin Sampson's image rehab is right up there with A-Rod's as one of the most successful of all time. That dude got 2 different programs in trouble and served a 5-year show cause...nobody brings that up anymore, even in passing, when talking about him.
 
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#12
#12
05_never_again said:
Also, Kelvin Sampson's image rehab is right up there with A-Rod's as one of the most successful of all time. That dude got 2 different programs in trouble and served a 5-year show cause...nobody brings that up anymore, even in passing, when talking about him.
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He did, but the rules violations were stupid. Too many text messages/phone calls to recruits. He knew better (certainly did at Indiana after getting Oklahoma in trouble), but did it anyway. He's a really good coach, though, and Houston has a big money donor backing him. Football isn't nearly as big in Houston, so he's the BMOC. Pretty good setup for him. He's really a good guy and I would like to see him win it all this year. If not him, then UT.
 
#13
#13
Boston Vol said:
Never forget that Georgetown hired Patrick Ewing over Dan Hurley.
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Which is truly ironic as the Hurley clan is a powerful bball name for us “seasoned” fans. Ewing couldn’t relate to the kids; he hurt their feels with old school coaching style. On the other hand, no one really likes being cussed and yelled at.
 
#14
#14
BigOrangePhoenix said:
Patrick Ewing - Failure
Chris Mullen - Failure
Danny Manning - Failure
J. Howard - Some early success, but portal hasn't been kind to him. So, he has failed
Penny Hardaway - Not terrible, but not good either.
Damon Stoudamire- Jury is still out. I actually like him.

The question is why......
Click to expand...
Almost all of those guys, if not all, played at least 1 generation if not 2 before today's kids were born. I don't think the name really means anything except to the school's boosters/donors who remember their success as players decades ago. I could be wrong, often am, but I think that HS/JH kids today are looking at today's hot NBA players, not tape of a guy from 30/40 years ago.

There have been some successful NBA coaches who were at least good, if not great, players. Steve Kerr comes to mind immediately. I don't know how well he would do in college, though. Different game and wholly different environment.
 
#16
#16
Okie said:
He did, but the rules violations were stupid. Too many text messages/phone calls to recruits. He knew better (certainly did at Indiana after getting Oklahoma in trouble), but did it anyway. He's a really good coach, though, and Houston has a big money donor backing him. Football isn't nearly as big in Houston, so he's the BMOC. Pretty good setup for him. He's really a good guy and I would like to see him win it all this year. If not him, then UT.
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I was clicking the "Like" button until your last sentence! 🤣

But otherwise, thanks for the useful insights. There is a place in this world for people who want to excel in their work without trying to be a Saban.
 
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#17
#17
Add Avery Johnson and Isiah Thomas to that list.

This thread instantly reminds me of the quote "Those who can't play,coach" It worked out and has continued to work out with coaches like Roy Williams, Mark Few and Scott Drew who weren't really good players. I'm sure everyone knows about Roy Williams playing for UNCs jv team. Mick Cronin never played college basketball,and took UCLA to the Final Four and had success at Cincinnati. I'm sure there's others,but that's who stands out.

Like mentioned earlier,being great at something won't always translate to coaching others. There would have to be a bit of a ego involved. For example,I'm not calling for Micheal Jordan to coach UNC similar to what was previously mentioned about Peyton.
 
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#18
#18
Bill Russell had success at the NBA coaching level, because he is one of the most intelligent athletes to ever live.
But I'll say when you play, you usually only see what is in front of you. You react.
There is a lot that goes into coaching, and maybe it takes years to train that way.
Imagine going from an Engineer to Management at Ford.
 
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#19
#19
BigOrangePhoenix said:
Patrick Ewing - Failure
Chris Mullen - Failure
Danny Manning - Failure
J. Howard - Some early success, but portal hasn't been kind to him. So, he has failed
Penny Hardaway - Not terrible, but not good either.
Damon Stoudamire- Jury is still out. I actually like him.

The question is why......
Click to expand...
I think you left out one of the worst :

www.sports-reference.com

Clyde Drexler Coaching Record | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Clyde Drexler Coaching Record
www.sports-reference.com www.sports-reference.com
 
#20
#20
Okie said:
He did, but the rules violations were stupid. Too many text messages/phone calls to recruits. He knew better (certainly did at Indiana after getting Oklahoma in trouble), but did it anyway. He's a really good coach, though, and Houston has a big money donor backing him. Football isn't nearly as big in Houston, so he's the BMOC. Pretty good setup for him. He's really a good guy and I would like to see him win it all this year. If not him, then UT.
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Right, I'm just saying that regardless of the reasons, he had a really poor reputation for a long time and is one of the few that seems to have completely shed it. Maybe it is the Tennessee fan in me saying this, but he seems to have rehabbed his image to a greater degree than Bruce Pearl has. Of course, he's won at a higher level than Pearl, which helps.
 
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#22
#22
I often wonder if that's why Peyton hasnt gone into coaching. Of course we hold him in extremely high esteem but so does the NFL. If he doesnt become the next Saban then his reputation is tarnished
 
#24
#24
Great players have talent that is improved by practice and training, but there regardless. Marginal players that make it to the nba or even big time D1 ball have to be smart and understand the nuances far better than stars. That’s why it’s easier for them to teach it and coach it.
 
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#25
#25
BigOrangePhoenix said:
Patrick Ewing - Failure
Chris Mullen - Failure
Danny Manning - Failure
J. Howard - Some early success, but portal hasn't been kind to him. So, he has failed
Penny Hardaway - Not terrible, but not good either.
Damon Stoudamire- Jury is still out. I actually like him.

The question is why......
Click to expand...

First of all, a small and unnecessary quibble...I would say the only superstars there are Ewing and Penny. The other guys were stars, but not on that level.

If I'm a millionaire retired NBA player, I don't want anything to do with recruiting. That would be a grind. I can see them being lazy about it. Some guys just don't know how to scheme. Some guys don't know how to teach. But guess what? The success rate for most coaches of any background is really bad. Almost every coaching tenure ends badly, and very few go beyond 10 years.

Somebody mentioned Avery Johnson...the guy had the best record in the NBA and went to a finals. The guy can coach. Failure just happens in this profession. It's a part of it for almost everyone.
 
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