Fansided

25 worst coaching hires in the history of college basketball

By Joey Loose

LEXINGTON, KY - JANUARY 21: Head coach Billy Gillispie of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts to the action during the SEC game against the Auburn Tigers at Rupp Arena on January 21, 2009 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY - JANUARY 21: Head coach Billy Gillispie of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts to the action during the SEC game against the Auburn Tigers at Rupp Arena on January 21, 2009 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Worst college basketball coach hires
TUCSON, AZ – MARCH 03: Head coach Wyking Jones of the California Golden Bears reacts during the first half of the college basketball game against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center on March 3, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

23. Wyking Jones – California (2017-2019)

  • 16-47 record (2 seasons)

This wasn’t explicitly mentioned before, but there’s a weird connection between the first three names on this list. Tennessee hired Donnie Tyndall because they had chased away Cuonzo Martin, who agreed to take over the basketball program at California. He only spent three years with the Golden Bears, but he recruited a couple of stars to the program, including Jaylen Brown. All in all, Martin won 62 games in his three years at Cal before departing back for the Midwest (replacing Kim Anderson at Missouri), leaving the Bears to go in an unfortunate direction to replace him.

Wyking Jones is not a bad coach and not a bad guy by any means. When he was promoted to head coach at Cal, he didn’t have any head coaching experience. That isn’t to say that he wasn’t experienced, he had been an assistant at five different schools, including winning a national championship (later vacated) while on staff at Louisville. A native of California, he certainly was back in his element leading the Golden Bears; he just didn’t have the results.

Jones was only given two years in charge and they were not successful seasons. The Golden Bears won eight games in each of those two seasons, finishing last place in the Pac-12 both times. Jones didn’t bring scandal or disaster to the program, but he certainly helped put it in the basement of this power conference. It’s not directly his fault, but things haven’t gotten much better in the two and a half years since his removal either, as successor Mark Fox (who formerly led Nevada to much success) is struggling to change course.