Ranking the careers of coaches while in the Atlantic 10

1. Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph’s
21st Season
4 time Coach of the Year
4 Conference Championships
3 A-10 Tournament Championships
AP, Naismith, Coach of the Year 2004
7 NCAA
6 NIT
200-143 (.583) Conference W%

As the only coach to be in the league for the entire 21st century, Martelli’s accomplishments speak for themselves. The Hawks have been a power in the A-10, a large part due to Martelli’s recruiting and uncanny ability to continue to replace talent, as demonstrated with their 5 POY’s in the past 12 seasons. Even after losing Deandre Bembry and Isaiah Miles, expect Saint Joseph’s to return to the top of the league soon.

2. Archie Miller, Dayton
6th Season
3 NCAA
55-31 (.640) Conference W%

In only six years, Miller’s 3 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including a run to the Elite Eight, have cemented Dayton as a true power in the league. His winning percentage of (.685) is absurd, and it seems to be only improving this season with Dayton’s hot start. With Archie at the helm, it’s hard to imagine Dayton losing its hold on the top of the A-10.

3. Bob McKillop, Davidson
3rd Season
2015 Coach of the Year
1 NCAA
1 NIT
24-12 (.667) Conference W%

It didn’t take McKillop long to adjust to the A-10. In his first season as head coach, he lead the Wildcats to a regular season championship, and NCAA birth, something that the other newcomers in the league haven’t come close to. McKillop is now the 5th longest tenured coach in D1, and has over 500 career victories. His players are always poised and calm in big moments, and often outperform their expected output. Best of all, he has no intentions of leaving.

4. Mark Schmidt, St Bonaventure
10th Season
2016 Coach of the Year
1 Conference Championship
1 A10 Tournament Championship
1 NCAA
1 NIT
70-78 (.462) Conference W%

In his 10th year as head coach at Bona, Schmidt has already passed Jim Satalin and moved into second all-time in wins. Schmidt has continued to improve as a coach since arriving in 2007. With the smallest budget in the A-10, he has continually kept the Bonnies relevant, bringing them both A-10 tournament, and regular season titles. He consistently brings in raw talent like Dion Wright and Denzel Gregg and develops them into effective players. However, what most people will always remember Schmidt for is taking a team from the cellar of division one to relevancy again.

5. Will Wade, VCU
2nd Season
1 Conference Championship
1 NCAA
17-4 (.810) Conference W%

Will Wade is 1-for-1 in regular season conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances. Expectations are always high for Wade and the Rams, as they currently ride a six-year NCAA tournament bid streak. After leaving VCU for the head coaching job at Chattanooga, Wade quickly established that program as a winner before returning to VCU after the Shaka Smart era had ended. Wade is already a top-tier coach in the A-10, and will need to be for the Rams to continue their dominance.

6. Dave Paulsen, George Mason
2nd Season
7-15 (.318) Conference W%

Dave Paulsen has been a winner wherever he has gone and has already begun to turn around a George Mason program that hasn’t had a better than 12th place finish since joining the league. If Paulsen continues on this trajectory, the Patriots will soon be in unchartered waters climbing the A-10 standings.

7. Chris Mooney, Richmond
12th Season
1 A10 Tournament Championship
2 NCAA
1 NIT
99-84 (.541) Conference W%

In Mooney’s 12 seasons, he has kept the Spiders consistently in the mix, finishing in the top five in the standings, five times. Of course, Mooney’s most notable season was 2011, when Richmond made it to the sweet 16. Richmond is always tricky to beat, especially at home, and that can be traced back to Mooney’s aggressive defensive style of play.

8. John Giannini, La Salle
13th Season
1 NCAA
1 NIT
84-112 (.429) Conference W%

After a disappointing 2016 campaign, Dr. G has La Salle back in contention in the A-10, with more talent then they have had on any team since their sweet 16 run. Aside from the 2013 season, Giannini’s teams have bounced around from third place all the way down to last place. But the Explorers have played spoiler in the past, and are good enough this year to do the same. His underwhelming (.429) conference winning percentage prevents him from moving any higher.

9. Jeff Neubauer, Fordham
2nd Season
8-13 (.381) Conference W%

In his first season as head coach, Neubauer lead Fordham to its most wins in a season in a decade. Neubauer has had previous success at Eastern Kentucky, going to the NCAA tournament twice. Having the A-10’s reigning rookie of the year is a good start towards turning around a program that has been stuck in the abyss of college basketball for years.

10. Dan Hurley, Rhode Island
5th Season
1 NIT
30-38 (.441) Conference W%

It didn’t take long for people to start calling for Hurley’s head this season. Starting off in the AP top 25, and with star guard E.C. Matthews returning from injury, Rhode Island had lofty expectations entering the season. However, after losing a couple of close games at the end of the non-conference schedule, Rhode Island must play very well in conference to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA’s. It is still yet to be seen if Hurley can win big, close games, and if he can’t do it with this talented bunch, he may never be able to.

11. Derek Kellogg, UMass
9th Season
1 NCAA
2 NIT
63-135 (.467) Conference W%

Kellogg has developed the reputation around the league as a fantastic recruiter. However, inexcusably, in almost a decade at UMass, he has never lead them to a better than 5th place finish. Players never seem to get better once they arrive at Umass, and often never reach their true potential. Kellogg has two new four-star freshman in Dejon Jarreau and Chris Baldwin, and it would seem that if Kellogg can’t figure out a way to win with these players, he could be riding the hot seat soon.

12. Jim Ferry, Duquesne
5th Season
19-52 (.268) Conference W%

It’s not easy to win at Duquesne. But Jim Ferry hasn’t really made any substantial progress towards that since arriving in 2012. The Dukes seemed to be on the precipice of improving last year, but finished an underwhelming 6-12 in conference. Now, after losing seniors Micah Mason and Derek Colter, and having L.G. Gill transfer to Maryland, they seem to be headed towards another Wednesday A-10 tournament game. Ferry will need to bring in some talent quickly, if he hopes to be the coach to bring Duquesne back.

Travis Ford and Maurice Joseph
1st Seasons

Neither have been around long enough to make a true judgement on how they have influenced their respective programs. However, having two four-star recruits coming in 2017, and the 9th best player in the 2018 recruiting class, is a good start for Ford.