AMERICA EAST BASKETBALL JOB RANKINGS
The Field of 68 will unveil a series through January in which we’ll rank the jobs in every league from top to bottom – and will do it by anonymously polling veteran coaches (head coaches and assistants) in each conference.
There are no specific parameters. Each coach was able to utilize their own specific parameters to determine their list from top to bottom.
However, while recruiting base and facilities were a major factor when I did a similar exercise in 2018, now it’s obviously financial resources (NIL) that are paramount.
We started with the ACC on Monday, MAC on Tuesday, NEC on Wednesday and Big East yesterday. Now it’s time to break down the America East.
AMERICA EAST JOB RANKINGS: VERMONT CLEAR NO. 1
1. Vermont – 102 (10)
2. Albany – 86
3. UMBC – 82
4. Bryant – 80
5. Binghamton – 62
6. UMass Lowell – 42
7. NJIT – 34
8. Maine – 22
9. UNH – 20
WHY IS VERMONT THE BEST?
“Department support. They understand that 1-AA football and D-1 hockey don’t really do anything for your department or university so they invest in basketball. My understanding is they had a good amount in NIL/money to give this year – at least compared to the rest of the league. Tradition and fan support as well.”
“They have tradition, the name and now have as much in terms of resources as anyone else in the league right now. John Becker has been there for a long time, so that helps as well. This is clearly the best job in the league and it’s not even debatable.”
WHY IS UMBC ONE OF THE BEST JOBS IN LEAGUE?
“Elite recruiting base and can get high school kids and transfers to come back. Attractive name, NCAA tournament win history, making NCAA tournament appearance, and probably the best facility in the league and great practice facility. It’s an easy place to schedule winnable games, a lot of teams in the area to play to get your record where it needs to be. I think they can find a way to get NIL to the top half of the league, the only issue is it is a young school so not sure what the boosters/alumni situation is actually like. They never opted in, so that’s a concern right now.”
WHY IS UNH LAST?
“It just doesn’t seem like they care about basketball. They are significantly under-resourced, and it’s about hockey. Just no tradition of winning, and just a really tough job. It’s also a tough place to get kids to go.”
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