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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you're looking to make a dossier for each of the top teams in this week's Big 12 men's basketball tournament, don't pay attention to the stat sheets. Ignore the eye-popping rankings (Kansas third in the nation, Missouri fifth) and the impressive RPIs (Kansas at No. 6, Baylor at No. 9). Forget even about the massive NBA talent (KU's Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor, Baylor's Perry Jones III and Quincy Miller).
Hell, if you want to handicap the top teams in what might end up as the most surprisingly talented Big 12 tournament ever, look past all the players on the court. Focus instead on the men pacing and shouting and steaming on the sideline. Because in the last year of the Big 12 tournament as we know it, we have a whole bunch of teams that perfectly reflect their coaches.
You have in Kansas State's Frank Martin the rough-around-the-edges pit bull who keeps getting underestimated yet keeps sneaking up on people. You have in Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg the soft-spoken NBA veteran people doubted could translate to a solid Division I coach, and who overcame all expectations. You have in Baylor's Scott Drew the enigmatic coach people either love or hate, and who people can't agree whether he's more likely to take his team to the Final Four or get bounced in the first round. You have in Missouri's Frank Haith the coach whose career was in chaos before this season due to a scandal at his old employer, the University of Miami, and who took over a team in chaos after their old coach walked out on them a year ago.
And, of course, you have in Kansas' Bill Self the silky-smooth charmer who is instantly impressive in person, the blue-chipper who has won the regular-season Big 12 title eight years in a row, a guy who feels almost too perfect, the high-school quarterback who dates the cheerleader and makes honor roll.
An off year in the Big 12? Not quite.
Take note, Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina and every other team that expects to be in New Orleans for the Final Four: You'll have to run through five quality teams that, if you look closely enough, have taken on the traits of their coaches. The mettle of the Big 12 can be seen in the marrying of each team and its head coach.
The first team on the practice court Wednesday morning was the suddenly surging Kansas State Wildcats. As his players ran through drills, Frank Martin scowled under a basket, a ball cap tugged over his eyes, barking orders, then clapping his hands.
This is the man who, you might remember, was widely panned after his hire as a first-time college head coach was announced five years ago. And what's he done at K-State since then? Martin has consistently coached his team up, taken a bunch of young men who don't seem much on paper and made them overachieve. His teams play angry and focused, just like Martin, and he proudly talks about this year's team as setting the school record for fewest points allowed per game since the shot clock came into play.
"As young as we are, that's a pretty good accomplishment," he said.
And then Martin, a man known more for scowling than for beaming, spoke glowingly about one of his players, a perfect example of one of those players he's coached up. This is as close as Frank Martin gets to beaming. "He's a tough little kid," Martin said. "He's young by age but he's older in maturity. He likes to win. He doesn't like to lose." And as he spoke of this kid's toughness and resolve and excellence despite a shorter resume than others, Martin might as well have been talking about himself.
Then The Mayor walked his team on to the court: calm, composed and confident, just like his days as a sharpshooter for Iowa State. Fred Hoiberg doesn't wear his competitiveness on his sleeve. He doesn't really need to. His NBA pedigree — a decade with the Pacers, Bulls and Timberwolves — does more to command his players' respect than any amount of shouting or discipline.
You probably didn't see Iowa State coming. Last year, Hoiberg's first as a head coach, Iowa State posted a 3-13 record in the conference, good for last in the Big 12. Sure, it was early, but it sure didn't seem like The Mayor's stellar Iowa State playing career would translate into a similar coaching career.
So they slipped into this year under the radar, even with a half-dozen transfers finally able to play. And what has this year brought? The biggest improvement in the Big 12, the Cyclones' 12-6 conference record good for a tie for third in the conference. Come tournament time, your team ought to be sure not to underestimate these guys. Kansas did back in January and got beat.
"The big thing that I try to do is to try to get these guys and play with confidence," said the mellow Hoiberg, whose genial nature could hardly better represent the state where he coaches. "I've had some great coaches I've played for. You try to figure out from those guys what you liked and what you didn't like. I knew my coach had my back, so go out and play together and have fun."
OK, so Hoiberg's not a coach who engenders strong negative emotions. The same cannot be said for Baylor coach Scott Drew. Somehow, one of the most enigmatic coaches in college basketball has brought out the ire in some — despite the fact his enormously talented team has as many as three legit NBA prospects, despite the fact that his squad was favored to win the conference, yet has somehow slipped into the Big 12 tournament under the radar.
"I really don't understand why people don't like coach Drew," said Jones III, Baylor's sophomore forward and one of those NBA prospects. "We respect him, more than anything. He's an offensive genius. He's a good dude … (And) it's not always about basketball. He tries to be a man of God."
Yes, Scott Drew has his detractors, and they are many. But consider: He's taken a moribund Baylor program and turned it into a team that this season was ranked as high as third in the nation. And yet people still wonder whether he's the real deal.
"You compare our losses with everyone else in the country, I don't know if there's anybody who has better losses than we do," Drew said. "The thing I'm most proud about this year, we haven't had any bad losses. If you're a good team, you beat the teams you should beat. You look at our firsts this year — most regular-season wins in school history with 25, the most Big 12 wins. We swept the state of Texas."
Indeed, it's an impressive body of work, but it'll take an impressive March to prove Drew's doubters wrong, about both him and his on-again, off-again team.
Think Drew got a raw deal from the public? Look at Frank Haith and his Missouri Tigers. There were calls for his head before he even coached a game at Mizzou, due to his involvement in the scandal at Miami. A chaotic way to start a coaching tenure — and a perfect match to the chaos this Missouri team found itself in a year ago, when head coach Mike Anderson left them at the altar for a job at the University of Arkansas.
But sometimes, out of chaos can come something beautiful. No one expected anything beautiful out of this Missouri squad, despite having seven seniors. It was a new coach and a new system. But then things came together, through team chemistry and deft shooting, and Mizzou became the least likely team at the beginning of the season (with a preseason ranking of 25th) to now have a legitimate shot at the Final Four.
"We talk about adversity all the time," Haith said. "Adversity hits everybody. The most important thing is how you handle adversity. This team didn't listen to what everybody said about what they didn't have all year."
And every talk about Big 12 basketball must begin and end with the king of the conference, who happened to be the last coach to take his team out on the practice floor Wednesday. Bill Self is like a Ken doll. It's as if Bill Clinton were courtside, a guy you can't help but like despite your politics (or your team loyalties). He's better than you, for sure — just like the Kansas team is more talented than yours — but you don't begrudge him for it. In fact, with that 1,000-watt smile and manner that makes you feel like an instant friend, you can't help but take a shine to him.
A reporter asked a question that could only be asked of the coach of blue-chip Kansas: Do you expect to win the Big 12 tournament? Self paused a moment, and then he said, well, sure.
"I hope so," he said. "I don't think anybody goes into something and wins it if they don't expect to be able to do that. I hope our guys are confident. I think they are."
Of course they're confident. They're KU, winners of three national championships, participants in 13 Final Fours. True, Self called this tournament icing on the cake, saying that a good showing could only help while a bad showing couldn't hurt. But believe that beneath the consummate charmer is a heavy dose of competitiveness. And the one thing he'd love to do leading up to the Big Dance is to outsmart that Baylor squad and its enigmatic coach, outplay that Missouri team that's brought beauty from chaos, ruin the Cinderella story of Fred Hoiberg's second year at Iowa State and stop his rough-edged cross-state rival Frank Martin in his tracks. It'll be the players scoring the points this week in Kansas City, but you better believe their coaches will be infused in every moment of it.
You can follow Reid Forgrave on Twitter @reidforgrave, become a fan on Facebook or email him at reidforgrave@gmail.com.
