Royalfan - I have to disagree about the coaching in the MVC.
Kimbo Davis has already been discussed in other threads.
Perhaps you should take another look at the head coaches in the MVC.
Illinois st. - Tim Jankovich - Jankovich was an assistant basketball coach at Kansas for four years, and has also served under current Kansas head coach Bill Self at Kansas and Illinois. He has also served as an assistant coach at Kansas State, Colorado State, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Vanderbilt. He played college basketball at Kansas State.
While at Colorado State, his teams posted three consecutive winning seasons en route to the best period of college basketball in school history. He also served for four years as the head basketball coach at North Texas. The team had gone 5-22 the previous season, but Jankovich engineered the second largest turnaround in the nation that year.
Southern Illinois - Chris Lowery - Lowery played at Southern Illinois starting in 1990 and later became an assistant coach, eventually serving under Bruce Weber at SIU and moving with him to Illinois after the 2002-03 season. On April 9, 2004, Lowery was named the head coach of SIU's men's basketball team after head coach Matt Painter left to become an associate head coach-in-waiting to Gene Keady at Purdue.
On March 1, 2007, Lowery was named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading SIU to a 25-5 regular season record. A highlight win for the season was when they beat highly ranked Butler on the road. The Salukis received a number 4 seed in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, the highest for any Valley team since Indiana State received a 1-seed in 1979.
On April 2, 2007, Lowery signed a seven-year contract extension. The Southern Illinois University will pay him $750,000 annually.
Creighton - Dana Altman - Altman in his 13 years at Creighton ranks third all-time on the coaching victories list in the 99-year history of the Missouri Valley Conference, trailing only Hall of Fame coaches Henry Iba and Eddie Hickey. His record in 13 seasons with the Creighton Bluejays is 260-141; his total record in 18 seasons as a Division I head coach is 343-208.
During his time at Creighton University, his athletes had earned three All-American honors on the court and three other Academic All-America laurels in the classroom. Two players he had coached at Creighton, Kyle Korver and Rodney Buford, have played in the NBA.
Altman was named MVC Coach of the Year twice; 2001 and 2002. Altman was a finalist for the prestigious Naismith National Coach of the Year and named the NABC District 12 and USBWA District VI Coach of the Year in 2002-03.
Northern Iowa - Ben Jacobson - Jacobson was hired as University of Northern Iowa head mens basketball coach on March 22, 2006, becoming the 21st head coach in UNI history.
He finished his first campaign at the helm of UNI with an 18-13 record. The 18 wins were the most for a first-year Panther head coach since the team joined the Division I ranks in 1981. In addition, UNI posted wins over Iowa State and Iowa sweeping the Cylcones and Hawkeyes in the same season for just the second time ever including posting a win in Iowa City for the first time in program history.
Before taking over as head coach, Jacobson was the Panthers top assistant coach since 2001, and was a key cog in bringing the Panthers from the basement of the Missouri Valley Conference to the penthouse. He's been involved in every aspect of the UNI program including being chief recruiter for most players on UNI roster.
With Jacobson on staff, the development of UNI basketball has been remarkable. Consider that during the past four years alone, UNI has captured its first MVC tournament title. Made three NCAA tournament appearances, including receiving two at-large bids. Posted three 20-win seasons. Had the school's first-ever Division I top 25 ranking. Had four first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selections
Bradley Jim Les - In 2003 Les returned to his alma mater as head coach, where he led Bradley to an improved record in each of his first two seasons. The Bradley Braves advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA tournament in 2006.
Missopuri St - Barry Hinson - A dificult situation led to Hinson being fired as Missouri State's coach a few days ago. The dismissal came two days after Missouri State lost to Illinois State in the Missouri Valley tournament, but rumors of his departure had swirled for weeks and the specter of his job status has hung over the program for several years.
Frustration from the fan base and donors led to Hinson's demise, despite just one losing season in nine years at the Bears' helm. Missouri State averaged 18.8 wins per season under Hinson. The Bears had four postseason appearances under Hinson.
Indiana St. - Kevin McKenna - McKenna was hired in March 2007. Despite that, Indiana State won two more games overall and three more in the conference than the previous season. The Sycamores moved from 10th to seventh in the final standings.
The Sycamores began to master McKenna's spread offense as the 2007-08 season progressed. Defensively, Indiana State never got a handle on some of the presses McKenna wanted to implement, but did do a good job adjusting to his switching defenses, a departure from ex-coach Royce Waltman's strict and single minded tactics.
Whicita St - Gregg Marshall - Marshall accepted the Wichita State University coaching position on April 14th, 2007, having previously coached at Winthrop University for nine seasons.
In his nine seasons as head coach at Winthrop, Marshall led the Eagles to seven NCAA tournament appearances and transformed a previously undistinguished program into a mid-major powerhouse. In his first season at Winthrop, the 1998-99 season, he compiled a record of 19-8, 9-1 in Big South Conference play, giving the Eagles their first regular season Big South title. They went on to win the Big South Conference Tournament, earning the Eagles their first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. As a 16 seed, the team lost to the #1 seed Auburn Tigers in the first round, 80-41.
Since his first season at Winthrop, Marshall has led the team to regular season titles six times, won the Big South Tournament five times, has had five 20-win seasons, was named Big South Coach of the Year three times, and in 2006, surpassed Nield Gordon as the all-time winningest coach in Winthrop men's basketball history.
In the 2006-07 season, Marshall became the first coach in the history of the Big South Conference to have his team go undefeated in conference games. In 2007, he also became the first Big South coach to win an NCAA first round tournament game by defeating 6-seed Notre Dame.
However his tenure at Whicita St got off to a tragic start. During a recruiting trip last April, watched signee Guy Alang-Ntang die on the court during a pickup game. Marshall's tenure at WSU started with that sad tone. Other issues pale in comparison, but misfortune hit the Shockers with alarming regularity all season.
Evansville - Marty Simmons - Simmons is back home. He was one of the best basketball players in University of Evansville history in the 1980s, and helped lead the Purple Aces to three NCAA Tournament appearances as an assistant coach in the 1990s. Now he is back at Evansville as men’s basketball head coach at the age of 42. Simmons replaces Steve Merfeld, who resigned March 3 after posting a 54-91 record over the past five years.
wil..
