CBS Sports college basketball insiders Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander spent a month surveying 100-plus Division I men’s basketball coaches for our annual Candid Coaches series. They polled across the sport’s landscape: some of the biggest names in college basketball, but also small-school assistants in low-major leagues. Coaches agreed to share unfiltered opinions in exchange for anonymity. We asked them 10 questions, and will post the results over a three-week span.
We mostly mix our Candid Coaches questions up each year to ensure we touch on topics we know people within the sport are discussing — like name, image and likeness rights and the transfer portal. But there are some questions that are constants every offseason.
This is one of those.
In an attempt to learn what actual college coaches think about how the coaching carousel unfolded this year, we asked roughly 100 college basketball coaches the following question:
Who was the best high-major coaching hire of 2023?
Quotes that stood out
On Rick Pitino (St. John’s)
“The Rick Pitino Effect is alive and well. Along with NIL backing from St. John’s, the sky is the limit. We were fortunate to play Iona the last two years and Coach Pitino is still so sharp. His energy is through the roof, and he still has that competitive spirit. If he is able to do what he’s been doing for the duration of his career, he will be the King of New York and have St. John’s on the same level as the Knicks.”[The best hire] by far [is] Rick Pitino. I’m a New York guy — and I think he is the only one who can fix St. John’s. Everywhere he goes, man, he wins. … I think there’s no doubt that he’s going to [win at St. John’s].””[Pitino is a} proven, a winner everywhere he’s gone. He’s one of the best basketball minds in the country and a grinder on the recruiting trail. St. John’s will be an NCAA Tournament team in Year 1.”
“I think Rick Pitino is the greatest college coach of all…..
