Mark Adams No. 2 on NCAA.com List of Top 10 New Coaches
Texas Tech men’s coach Mark Adams landed at No. 2 on NCAA.com’s Top 10 new coaches for the 2021-22 season, as compiled by Andy Katz.
All four new Big 12 coaches made the list, which was released on Friday.
But Adams, in his first season with the Red Raiders, ended up behind only Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd. Per Katz:
“Not sure anyone would have had Adams in the top two, but he has done a tremendous job in moving over a seat in Lubbock. The headline was Chris Beard moving to Texas. But the culture of defense and winning hasn’t changed. Tech is in every game and already has two big-time wins in Kansas and at Baylor.”
From there, Katz ranked Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger at No. 4, Texas’ Chris Beard at No. 6 and Oklahoma’s Porter Moser at No. 9.
The list was also filled with connections to these coaches and the Big 12 conference. No. 3 on the list was Marquette’s Shaka Smart, who was at Texas last season. He’s molded the Golden Eagles into a potential NCAA Tournament team in his first season there.
There is also Drew Valentine, selected No. 8. Valentine is the head coach at Loyola Chicago, which is where Moser worked for a decade and led the Ramblers to a Final Four appearance before going to the Sooners.
All 10 Big 12 teams will face off with SEC teams in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Saturday.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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