CBS Sports ranks the college basketball head coach hires in 2023 coaching carousel

It has been a busy offseason in college basketball, with several high-profile coaching moves taking place.

CBS Sports recently ranked the coaching hire for the 2023 coaching carousel and gave out four As.

It’s no surprise that St. John’s received one after landing Rick Pitino. Notre Dame, Penn State and Texas Tech also received As for their moves this offseason.

Here is the full breakdown of coaching hire grades from CBS:

CBS ranks college basketball head coaching hires

Grant McCasland, Texas Tech: A

The Red Raiders stayed in-state to hire a college basketball coach with an impressive resume, landing McCasland from North Texas. The Mean Green won 31 games this past season and took home the NIT title. North Texas also played in the postseason in 2022 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2021.

Rick Pitino, St. John’s: A

Mike Anderson was fired in March and was replaced by Pitino less than two weeks later. Pitino came to St. John’s from Iona after leading that program to the NCAA Tournament in two of his three seasons. Pitino won a national title at Kentucky in 1996 and at Louisville in 2013.

Mike Rhoades, Penn State: A

Penn State lost a really good coach in Micah Shrewsberry, but it also hired one in Mike Rhoades. Rhoades comes to Penn State from VCU. The Rams made the NCAA Tournament three times in his six seasons there and had a winning record every year.

Micah Shrewsberry, Notre Dame: A

The former Purdue assistant came to Notre Dame after only two seasons at Penn State. Shrewsberry took the Nittany Lions to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Year 2, turning around a program that had really struggled before he got there.

Chris Beard, Ole Miss: A-

The Rebels took a chance on Beard after he was fired and arrested at Texas. He has an impressive resume, including reaching the NCAA title game in 2019, but the hire doesn’t come without risk.

Ed Cooley, Georgetown: A-

The Hoyas stayed in the Big East to hire Cooley, who reached the NCAA Tournament seven times in 12 seasons at Providence. The Friars reached the Final Four in 2017 and the Sweet 16 in. 2022. There’s hope that Cooley can get Georgetown basketball back to being elite.

Mark Madsen, Cal: A-

After a successful career playing in the NBA, Madsen has also been successful coaching. He spent the past four seasons at Utah Valley, helping the Wolverines reach the NIT semifinals this past season.

Kim English, Providence: B+

The Friars replaced Cooley with English, who comes to Providence after going 34-29 in two basketball seasons at George Mason. English led the Patriots to 20 wins and a fifth-place finish in the Atlantic 10 this past season.

Rodney Terry, Texas: B

Terry did a solid job as the interim coach at Texas last season, going 22-8 (12-6) and leading the Longhorns to the Elite 8. He was given the opportunity to remain the head coach full-time and will look to take advantage of it. Terry does have previous head coaching experience as he previously ran the Fresno State and UTEP programs with mixed results.

Adrian Autry, Syracuse: C+

With Jim Boeheim retiring, the Orange turned to Autry to take over the basketball program. Autry, who played at Syracuse, was on staff with the Orange for more than a decade before being hired as the head coach.

Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech: C+

Georgia Tech made an interesting hire bringing in Stoudamire, who had a losing record in five seasons at the head coach at Pacific. Stoudamire should be able to bring in more talent to Georgia Tech. It will be interesting to see how he recruits and develops that talent.