From Brandon Ingram to Denzel Valentine, there will be plenty of intriguing NBA prospects to watch in this year’s NCAA Tournament. But individual play can only get a college basketball team so far in the Big Dance, which is why you might want to pay attention to the men stalking the sidelines.
As usual, the top teams in this year’s tourney are led by coaches with loaded résumés, from Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski to Kentucky’s John Calipari to Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, who has led the Spartans to an amazing seven Final Fours.
Outside of Calipari, none of those coaches even have been rumored to join the NBA ranks. But with the influx of successful college coaches making the leap to the big leagues — Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens and Oklahoma City Thunder skipper Billy Donovan, to name a few — it’s very possible that others could follow suit.
We’re not saying these moves will happen immediately, but there’s a sizable batch of college coaches in this year’s tournament alone who could take their talents to the NBA before long.
Click to see the six coaches most likely to land an NBA job >>
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