Short & Sweet: Coaches Posting Higher Win % in 1-Year Stint Than DeVries
March 19th, 2025 - 11:08
Darian DeVries won 59.4% of his games in only season (19-13 record) with West Virginia before seeking greener pastures at Indiana. But a surprising number of previous "won-and-done" mentors posted even higher winning percentages in "short-and-sweet" one-year stints since the generally recognized start of the modern era of college basketball in the early 1950s. DeVries' successor at Drake (Ben McCollum) also promptly moved on to higher ground at Iowa after earning distinction as the winningest one-year wonder in NCAA history (31-4).
Fordham improved by 14 games in Digger Phelps' only season with the Rams in 1970-71, a mark that stood for one-year wonders until Chris Beard broke it with a 15-game improvement after UALR (30-5) went 13-18 in 2014-15. Buzz Peterson, the only coach to win a national postseason championship in his only season at a school (NIT with Tulsa), is among the following "one-and-done" coaches - including 2025 NCAA playoff bench bosses Rick Barnes (George Mason), Scott Drew (Valparaiso), Grant McCasland (Texas Tech), Matt Painter (Southern Illinois) and Brad Underwood (Oklahoma State) plus McCollum - winning more than 60% of their games in one-year tenures in the last 70 years:
| Coach | School | Single Season | W-L | Pct. | Reason for One-Year Stint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lute Olson | Long Beach State | 1973-74 | 24-2 | .923 | Became coach at Iowa. |
| Digger Phelps | Fordham | 1970-71 | 26-3 | .897 | Became coach at Notre Dame. |
| Ben McCollum | Drake | 2024-25 | 31-4 | .886 | Became coach at Iowa. |
| Chris Beard | UALR | 2015-16 | 30-5 | .857 | Became coach at UNLV. |
| Carl Tacy | Marshall | 1971-72 | 23-4 | .852 | Became coach at Wake Forest. |
| Keno Davis | Drake | 2007-08 | 28-5 | .848 | Became coach at Providence. |
| Matt Painter | Southern Illinois | 2003-04 | 25-5 | .833 | Became coach at Purdue. |
| Stan Heath | Kent State | 2001-02 | 29-6 | .829 | Became coach at Arkansas. |
| Paul Weir | New Mexico State | 2016-17 | 28-6 | .824 | Became coach at New Mexico. |
| Danny Sprinkle | Utah State | 2023-24 | 28-7 | .800 | Became coach at Washington. |
| Thad Matta | Butler | 2000-01 | 24-8 | .750 | Became coach at Xavier. |
| Bill Fitch | Bowling Green | 1967-68 | 18-7 | .720 | Became coach at Minnesota. |
| Jim Harding* | La Salle | 1967-68 | 20-8 | .714 | Forced out by administration. |
| Buzz Peterson | Tulsa | 2000-01 | 26-11 | .703 | Became coach at Tennessee. |
| Bob Vanatta | Army | 1953-54 | 15-7 | .682 | Became coach at Bradley. |
| Larry Shyatt | Wyoming | 1997-98 | 19-9 | .679 | Became coach at Clemson. |
| Rick Barnes | George Mason | 1987-88 | 20-10 | .667 | Became coach at Providence. |
| Corey Gipson | Northwestern State | 2022-23 | 22-11 | .667 | Became coach at Austin Peay. |
| Ron Greene | Mississippi State | 1977-78 | 18-9 | .667 | Became coach at Murray State. |
| Art Tolis | New Orleans | 1987-88 | 21-11 | .656 | Forced out by administration. |
| Steve Lutz | Western Kentucky | 2023-24 | 22-12 | .647 | Became coach at Oklahoma State. |
| Scott Drew | Valparaiso | 2002-03 | 20-11 | .645 | Became coach at Baylor. |
| Louis Orr | Siena | 2000-01 | 20-11 | .645 | Became coach at Seton Hall. |
| Bob Huggins | Kansas State | 2006-07 | 22-13 | .629 | Became coach at West Virginia. |
| Grant McCasland | Arkansas State | 2016-17 | 20-12 | .625 | Became coach at North Texas. |
| Brad Underwood | Oklahoma State | 2016-17 | 20-13 | .606 | Became coach at Illinois. |
*Harding became coach for Minnesota (ABA) for portion of 1968-69 season.