Familiar Territory: Can Shyatt's Second Stint Be Superior to First One?

Larry Shyatt, who posted a 19-9 mark (.679) with Wyoming in 1997-98, returned as the Cowboys coach in 2011-12. Despite securing a contract extension through the remainder of this decade, he will need to dominate the Mountain West Conference similar to the way UNLV did the Big West and Gonzaga in the West Coast to compile a higher winning percentage his second time around out West.

Shyatt boasts an opportunity to achieve something rare after seeking a return to some of the school's glory days. Ronnie Arrow (South Alabama) and Jim McCafferty (Loyola LA) are the only two of the previous 36 mentors in this "Comeback Club" category over the last 60 years to compile a higher winning percentage the second time around.

Lou Carnesecca (St. John's) and Lake Kelly (Austin Peay State) are the only coaches to win NCAA playoff games in two different stints with the same school. Following is an alphabetical list of coaches who returned to their former major-college stomping grounds if their tenures weren't interrupted solely because of World War II:

NOTES: VBK also had two stints at Hofstra, but Hofstra wasn't at the major-college level his first stint there. . . . OCU de-emphasized its program to the NAIA level after Lemons returned. . . . ORU wasn't always at the Division I level for either of Trickey's stints.