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2014-15 Season Preview: College Coaches on the Hot Seat

Maryland v Duke

Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Pittsburgh v Maryland

Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon (Getty Images)

Getty Images

Beginning on October 3rd and running up until November 14th, the first day of the season, College Basketball Talk will be unveiling the 2014-2015 NBCSports.com college hoops preview package.
MORE: 2014-2015 Season Preview Coverage | Conference Previews | Preview Schedule

Last season, Rick Barnes headlined our ‘Coaches on the Hot Seat’ list. He then proceeded to advance to the Round of 32 in the in the NCAA tournament, land a top five recruit in McDonald’s All-American Myles Turner and turn Texas into a team that will be ranked in the preseason top ten. His job? It’s now safe.

This year’s list features a couple of other big-name coaches as well as a few experienced guys who simply aren’t living up to the high expectations set on them. Here are our top ten Coaches on the Hot Seat:

1. Mark Turgeon, Maryland: It’s bad enough that Turgeon is without a NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons at Maryland. Turgeon is 59–43 (.578) overall and 23–29 (.442) in the ACC at Maryland and never finished above 7th in the league. It won’t get much easier in the Big Ten this season, especially after Maryland lost five players to transfer this offseason. Turgeon even blamed himself for the transfers and has to rely on five new players to fill out the rotation.

2. Oliver Purnell, DePaul: Besides coaching 26 years and never winning a NCAA Tournament game, Purnell has struggled to turn around an already horrible situation at DePaul. He has talent in place this season at DePaul, but Purnell needs to win in year five of a seven-year deal. In four seasons, Purnell is 42–77 (.353) overall and 9–57 (.136) in the Big East. DePaul has won no more than three Big East games every season since 2007-08 and badly needs some positive momentum before they enter a new arena in a couple seasons.

3. Donnie Jones, UCF: Jones has a 76–52 overall record at UCF, but he’s 29–37 in conference play and he’s never made the NCAA Tournament. When you also consider his 2010-11 wins were vacated for using ineligible players, and Jones was suspended for the first three Conference USA games and sent a letter of reprimand while the program was put on probation, that’s not a good look. UCF struggled to a 4-14 finish in the AAC last season and didn’t look ready for the jump from Conference USA.
MORE: Best non-conference games | NBCSports.com’s Preseason Top 25 Countdown

4. Brian Gregory, Georgia Tech: Since taking the Georgia Tech job, Gregory has a 43–52 (.453) overall record and 16-36 (.308) record in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets have never finished above 9th in the league in Gregory’s three seasons.

Tom Crean

Tom Crean (AP Photo)

AP

5. Tom Crean, Indiana: The overall record for Crean at Indiana isn’t all that impressive, but the first three seasons were a rebuilding effort from the Kelvin Sampson sanctions. The Hoosiers made two consecutive Sweet 16s before struggling to go 17-15 last season and missing the NCAA Tournament. If Indiana has another lackluster year, could Crean be gone?

6. Anthony Grant, Alabama: Much like Crean at Indiana, Grant led Alabama to three consecutive postseason appearances -- one NCAA Tournament -- before a record of 13-19 last season. Grant has never won a NCAA Tournament game at Alabama and the program has lost 14 consecutive road games.

7. Kevin Willard, Seton Hall: Seton Hall brings in a good recruiting class led by McDonald’s All-American Isaiah Whitehead this season, but can Willard win enough to save his job? He’s 66–65 (.504) overall and 24–48 (.333) in the Big East and has earned just one NIT berth during his tenure in South Orange. As Seton Hall’s head coach, Willard has never finished above 8th in the conference.

8. Steve Lavin, St. John’s: St. John’s made a NCAA Tournament appearance in its first season with Lavin at the helm, but hasn’t reached the Big Dance in three seasons since. Recruiting efforts have also taken a slight dip, as Lavin didn’t land any blue-chippers in 2014 and has yet to land any commitments in 2015.

9. Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss: The tenure of Kennedy at Ole Miss is filled with NIT appearances and near-.500 SEC conference records, but a 19-14 season and the loss of four underclassmen last offseason aren’t good signs. Kennedy needs a fast turnaround to the postseason to get his name back in good standing.

10. Travis Ford, Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State has reached the NCAA Tournament four times under Ford but they’ve been one and done in each appearance, and this year the Cowboys will move forward without Marcus Smart and Markel Brown. Ford needs to make noise in March to make Cowboy fans happy.

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