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Every year, coaches who haven’t been meeting their expectations for a couple years are put on the hot seat. I’ll give you a preview of who is on the hot seat for the upcoming season.
- Sean Miller (Arizona): This is arguably the best team Miller will have in his tenure at Arizona so far. Incoming recruits Nico Mannion and Josh Green have a lot of potential that can get Miller to his first final four. In his 9 seasons at Arizona, he has won the PAC-12 5 times, made the tournament 7 times, and the elite eight 3 times. There is no question that he can recruit talented players, however, the question is if he can get over the hump and get to the final four. This is a very important year for Miller because he may be out if Arizona doesn’t succeed.
- Mick Cronin (UCLA): The New UCLA coach will be given a very short amount of time to start winning or he will be out of Westwood within his first 2 seasons. Cronin has lost a lot of talent with Moses Brown, Jaylen Hands, and Kris Wilkes all gone. It will be very important for him to be successful in his first couple games or else he will be on the hot seat his whole career at UCLA.
- Brad Brownell (Clemson): The Clemson head coach has had a very interesting career. He had a lot of success in his first 5 years by making the NCAA tournament, but failed to go .500 the next 3 seasons. He then took them to the tournament in 2018 and he signed an extension after the 2018 season. Then he followed that season with a .500 record in the ACC and a spot in the NIT. The ACC conference gets 8 teams into the tournament every year and they should expect to make the tournament. Another year of disappointment might lead to a coaching change.
- Jim Larrañaga (Miami): In his 8 seasons at Miami, he has yet to reach expectations. In his four tournament appearances, they have gotten bounced twice in the first round and twice in the sweet sixteen. Larrañaga needs to improve on his record of 14-18 from last year. A solid tournament run would get him off the hot seat, but another disappointing season could lead to a change.
- Pat Chambers (Penn State): It has been a long 8 years for coach Chambers who has not made a tournament appearance in his tenure at PSU. He needs to start winning or else he will be out before the end of the season.