Big East basketball is home to some of the best and most underrated coaches in college basketball. But how do they stack up to each other?
While Big East basketball as a whole has been down the last few seasons (which seems crazy to say given UConn has just won championships in 2023 and 2024), the coaches in the league are top notch. From current stars to past icons and budding superstars in the game, it’s a pretty wild conference as usual.
Heading into the 2025-26 season, each coach is looking to improve, but to this point, some have done better than others on the CBB Review report card.
Mat Mlodzinski grades each coach on how they have performed with their current team.
Butler: Thad Matta, D
Thad Matta will go down in history for his time at Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes to 12 20-win seasons in a row in the 2000s, hitting the 30-win mark three times. And before that, he had an outstanding year at Butler, followed by three more great ones at Xavier.
The second go-around at Butler has been a trainwreck.
Matta has led the Bulldogs to a 47-53 record, with just one winning season and zero postseason appearances (sorry, I’m not counting the NIT or the College Basketball Crown). After winning 18 games in 2023-24, they regressed to a 15-20 record last season.
Year four is a make or break. At 58 years old, Matta could still coach a little while longer, but he’s also not getting any younger. If Butler fails to make any marked improvements, you could make the argument that it was a failed experiment and time to move on.
Creighton: Greg McDermott, A-
Greg McDermott is the best coach in Creighton history, and he’s on his way to being one of the best in Big East basketball history as well.
Before the Bluejays came to the Big East, McDermott was already doing his thing. Creighton practically ran the Missouri Valley Conference. Since they switched conferences, you could almost make the same argument.
In 12 seasons as a part of the Big East, McDermott has led them to 11 20-win seasons, just one time finishing below .500.
Along the way, the Bluejays have been one of the top dogs in the conference, and lately, McDermott’s tournament track record has been miles better. In the last five seasons, they’ve never been knocked out in the first round, and they’ve made it to the second weekend three times, with an Elite 8 appearance in 2023.
McDermott has already said he’ll be on his way out soon, with Alan Huss set to take over either in 2027 or 2028. But for his run in Omaha, it’s been a job very well done.
DePaul: Chris Holtmann, C+
It’s pretty tough to grade coaches who have only been at their specific school for a few seasons, so for Holtmann, it’s nearly impossible.
But in his lone year at DePaul, he led the Blue Demons to a 14-20 record, going 4-16 in the Big East. That was their most wins since 2021-22, so you have to give credit where it’s due.
Here’s the kicker – DePaul hasn’t had a winning season since 2018-19. I actually thought it would have been further back, but to be fair, their last 20-win season was all the way back in 2006-07.
It will be fun to see what Holtmann can accomplish in Chicago going forward.
Georgetown: Ed Cooley, C
If I had to grade Cooley’s job at Providence, I’d give him an A-. That program was close to being in shambles and Cooley brought them out of the mud. He recruited well, but developed players as good as any coach in Big East basketball history. Yes, I’ll go that far in saying that.
In two years at Georgetown, things have been on the up, and now it’s time to start seeing serious results.
Cooley and the Hoyas only won nine games in 2023-24, but he doubled that total to 18 last season, going 8-12 in the Big East. GTown didn’t just beat up on the bad teams either. Over the course of the season, they took down Creighton, Xavier, Villanova twice, and longtime rival Syracuse on the road. We haven’t seen that type of Georgetown in a few years, to say the least.
But what can Georgetown become in this new era of college basketball? Cooley showed last year they can at least be competitive in the Big East. But can they return to being a dominant force in college hoops? That’s the next level of his challenge.
Marquette: Shaka Smart, B+
Things didn’t go great for Shaka Smart at Texas, but boy, has he found a way to win at Marquette.
After a 19-13 season in his first year as head coach, Smart has gone 79-28 since, keeping the Golden Eagles at the top of Big East basketball. He’s also found a way to retain players rather than lose half of the team to the transfer portal each year, which is an accomplishment in its own.
But while the regular season has been kind to Marquette, the postseason has not. In four trips to March Madness, they’ve only escaped the first round twice and the first weekend once, with a Sweet 16 appearance in 2024 leading the way.
There’s no way Smart is on the hot seat, for Marquette hasn’t made it to the Elite 8 or further since 2013, when Buzz Williams was in town. Smart is doing everything right, from recruiting to developing players to keeping the program intact in the current age of NIL. Now he’s just got to find a way to make it count in March.
Providence: Kim English, D-
Before Kim English got to Providence, they were a force in the Big East. Ed Cooley had them in the top half of the conference, if not near the very top in some years. The Friars were clearly a program that benefited from conference realignment when teams like Syracuse, Pitt, UConn, and Louisville left the old Big East.
When English took over, he was looked at as a great young college basketball mind who should be able to continue recruiting talent to Providence. And to be fair, he’s done a solid job bringing in guys who should be able to compete in Big East basketball.
But with a 33-34 record after going 12-20 last year, things are looking bleak. And sure, he won 21 games in his first year, but when you look at last year’s roster, there’s almost no way they should have only won a dozen games.
Sure, the Bryce Hopkins injury didn’t help matters, but this is a team that also only beat Central Connecticut Sttae (who had a great year for what it’s worth) by four points.
I just look at this program – and a fanbase that is hungry to turn this around quickly – and I’m not so sure Kim English is the right guy.
Seton Hall: Shaheen Holloway, C-
It’s tough to really knock Shaheen Holloway for his rough tenure at Seton Hall. It’s very well known how little NIL money the Pirates program has to put up with, and in 2025, that’s virtually how you can even begin to recruit.
Of course, the first two years in South Orange weren’t too bad. Year one, Sha led SHU to a 17-16 record. The following year, they went 25-12 and won the NIT.
But after a complete roster overhaul last season, the Pirates only went 7-25 (somehow UConn was one of those wins).
Going forward, that can’t even come close to happening again. Seton Hall became a proud basketball program in the 2010s and at the start of the 2020s. One bad year is one big blemish, which is why Holloway gets a C-. But for what SHU has to offer, it’s hard to say it’s a surprise. He’s just got to find a way to turn things in the right direction.
St. John’s: Rick Pitino: B+
It didn’t take long for Pitino to make his mark at St. John’s. After going 20-13 in year one, he led the Red Storm to a 31-5 season last year, ending a bit earlier than expected in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
So right now, Pitino has done most everything right. He’s recruited, he’s improved the state of the program, and he’s won a lot of games – something no coach has accomplished since Lou Carnesecca.
But in terms of when it really matters – March Madness – he fell short in his first chance. Obviously, it’s only been one tournament to show for, but until they make a substantial run, I’ve got to keep the grade below an A-.
UConn: Dan Hurley, A+
Giving out an A+ isn’t for everyone, but if there is one person in Big East basketball – check that – college basketball, who deserves it, it’s Dan Hurley.
UConn was dead in the water when Hurley bounced from URI to coach the Huskies, and while it took him a few years to get things going, the result has been near perfection. Of course, the Huskies won national championships in 2023 and 2024, becoming the first program to go back-to-back since Florida did it in 2006-07.
Last season, their three-peat run ended at the hands of the Gators, but make no mistake, UConn will continue to be in the hunt as long as Hurley is on the sidelines.
Villanova: Kevin Willard, N/A
One of two newcomers to the conference for this season, Willard did a tremendous job at Seton Hall, turning the Pirates into perennial NCAA Tournament contenders. However, his biggest flaw was only one win in the NCAA Tournament – albeit, who knows what would have happened had the 2020 tournament not have been canceled.
If you want any reason to believe why Villanova will be different, Willard took Maryland to the Sweet 16 last season and recruiting to the Wildcats is a lot easier than it was at The Hall.
Xavier: Richard Pitino, N/A
The younger Pitino is back in power conference basketball, after some successful years at New Mexico. We all know the Minnesota experience wasn’t a positive one (four losing seasons in eight tries), but Xavier feels like it could be a different outcome.
Pitino led the Lobos to a 53-18 record over the last two seasons, proving he can be a successful coach. He’s got some talent to work with in year one with the Musketeers, who we had ranked 68th in our CBB Rank countdown. But it’s probably near the bottom half of the conference, so he’ll be starting with a challenge in year one with his new school.