Rival Views: Which NCAA coach is getting the most out of his team?

HOW THEY WERE BUILT: Villanova | Arizona | Northwestern

In this edition of Rival Views, Rivals.com national recruiting analysts Eric Bossi and Corey Evans debate which NCAA Tournament coach has done the most with his talent this season.

There is no shortage of great coaches in the NCAA Tournament. Not coincidentally, many of the best coaches also have the best talent. Of the top 16 seeded teams, though, only Baylor, Butler and West Virginia are without a five-star prospect on their roster. That’s why Bob Huggins stands out to me as a tournament coach doing the most with the least.

This year’s edition of the Mountaineers only has two players that were ranked as four-star prospects when they signed with West Virginia: Elijah Macon and Esa Ahmad. Butler is the only other top 16 seeded team with that little ranked talent on the roster.

What Huggins has done in identifying guys who match his “Press Virginia” system and developing them into a cohesive unit is impressive. Star point guard Jevon Carter was a three-star point guard from the Chicago-area virtually ignored by the Big Ten. Lamont West is an emerging freshman who was redshirted for a year. The list goes on and on when talking about Mountaineers who are outplaying their high school reputations.

Huggins coached West Virginia to the Big 12 Tournament championship game, a second-place conference finish and now has the Mountaineers primed for a run as the No. 4 seed in the West.

In 2015, Notre Dame just missed on ending Kentucky’s undefeated season as Jerian Grant couldn’t hit on a game-winning 3-pointer in an Elite Eight loss. Last year, the Irish took another run to the Elite Eight as a No. 6 seed. With the key figures of those two runs, such as Grant, Pat Connaughton, Zach Auguste and Demetrius Jackson, having departed, little was expected out of Notre Dame this season. However, here we are again as Mike Brey has led the Irish to a No. 5 seed.

There is talent on Notre Dame’s roster, don’t get me wrong. However, compared to some of its ACC peers, the fact that the Irish finished second in the league after being picked to finish seventh in the preseason is an example of how impressive this Notre Dame team has been.

The highest-ranked prospect on its roster, TJ Gibbs, has mustered just 27 minutes in the past three games. Brey has relied on a number of four-star recruits such as Steve Vasturia, VJ Beachem and Rex Pflueger, but the Irish’s calling card has been in the development process. Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell, former three-star prospects, are the catalysts to this year’s group.

It is easy to see why Brey is the coach that has done the most with the least this college basketball season.