College basketball grades: How 2024 carousel changed Vanderbilt, Michigan and Kentucky's trajectory

Three of the biggest stories in college basketball include Michigan's rise to dominance, Vanderbilt's surge to the top of the SEC pecking order and Kentucky's $22 million flop.

That trio of storylines is connected by one of the wackiest coaching carousels in recent memory. The spring of 2024 was utterly absurd, kick-started by SMU canning Rob Lanier to snag Andy Enfield, which opened up USC, which opened up Arkansas, which opened up Kentucky which opened up BYU.

In total, there were 14 (!) high-major openings that spring. The ripple effects -- for better or worse -- have become essential tentpoles of this 2025-26 story.

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So, how's it going for that crew at the midway point of Year 2? Let's dive in.

Arkansas: John Calipari

Vibe check: We have to wait and see if this will result in a title, but Arkansas is so clearly in a safe place with John Calipari. A run to the Sweet 16 last year erased a ton of the frustrations from an 0-5 start in SEC play, and he's got the 12-3 Hogs playing well in 2025-26. Arkansas, not Vanderbilt, is actually in the driver's seat to win the SEC because it gets the 'Dores at home and has an easier conference slate. It's all sparked by Calipari doing what Calipari does on the recruiting trail. Freshmen guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas have been massive hits, operating as Arkansas' thunder and lightning. Acuff is running away with the SEC Freshman of the Year race, and Thomas is the best sixth man in the league.

Calipari struck the right balance in roster-building, mixing elite freshmen with a ton of retention and just a splash of the portal to fill a void. Arkansas' brass would hire Calipari again in a jiffy, even if the gameplanning can leave something to be desired at times. Early grade: A-

BYU: Kevin Young

Vibe check: Kevin Young has ushered in the golden era for BYU basketball. He's quickly put to rest the narrative that NBA assistants can't crack college basketball's code. Young, armed with real-deal resources, has turned BYU into a monster on the recruiting trail, the transfer portal and on the basketball court. Young is off to a 16-6 start in Big 12 play, and he's reeled in lottery-pick talent to Provo in Egor Demin and the brilliant AJ Dybantsa. 

BYU has become big and bad. It has the cache to poach Baylor's star point guard in the portal, and Young has exhausted every avenue to build a roster that is primed to contend. A Sweet 16 appearance in Year 1 feels like just an appetizer for Young. Early grade: A

DePaul: Chris Holtmann

Vibe check: There are no high expectations for a DePaul job that is regarded as the worst in the Big East. Chris Holtmann is out to change the narrative. DePaul has not won more than seven Big East games in a season since 2006-07. The league is down this year, but an 8-12 finish in conference play is firmly in the potential range of outcomes. If Holtmann can get this group to that benchmark, you'd feel objectively bullish about the trajectory. Early grade: C

Kentucky: Mark Pope

Vibe check: Mark Pope knows what makes Kentucky basketball tick, so he knows that this isn't the standard. Kentucky is 17-18 against high-major teams under his leadership. Twenty-four wins and a Sweet 16 appearance a year ago formed a promising start, but Pope said, "We should be the best at everything." 

Right now, Kentucky is just average on the floor despite having hordes of cash. 

The Wildcats still have enough runway to make the tournament, but the evidence is mounting -- both on the floor and on the recruiting trail -- that this marriage isn't on a national championship trajectory. How does Kentucky not find a way to land any of these freshman sensations like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Caleb Wilson or Darryn Peterson? Kentucky seems to have lost its way. Early grade: D

 Louisville: Pat Kelsey

Vibe check: Kelsey has quickly changed the tenor in Louisville from laughingstock back to ACC contender. Last year's 21-1 heater that solidified the Cardinals' place as an NCAA Tournament team was awfully fun, but this season is all about competing for a title. That's the standard and the expectation after constructing a Mikel Brown Jr.-Ryan Conwell-Isaac McKneely-Adrian Wooley backcourt that would make any coach envious.

Kelsey has done yeoman's work of giving this program a facelift, but it's a bit frustrating that Louisville hasn't been able to knock Duke off its perch yet. Kelsey is also just 7-10 against top-50 teams in his Louisville tenure. Unfair or not, March will have a major say on Kelsey's perception entering Year 3. Early grade: A-

Michigan: Dusty May

Vibe check: In the spring of 2024, Dusty May constructed a good roster at Michigan ahead of Year 1 and massaged it to become a very good unit. In the spring of 2025, May built a great roster, and he's massaged it into becoming a monster. Michigan has gone from finishing dead last in the Big Ten in 2024 to a real national championship frontrunner before the calendar could flip to 2026. That's remarkable. While there's still work to be done, May looks primed to surpass even the loftiest expectations when Michigan made the hire. Early grade: A+

Ohio State: Jake Diebler

Vibe check: Ohio State took some real heat for stripping the interim tag off Diebler when there were some big-time options out there. You see what May has done at Michigan. You see what Byington has done at Vanderbilt. Meanwhile, Ohio State is … just OK? The Buckeyes are 11-13 against Big Ten foes since Diebler became the permanent coach and missed the NCAA Tournament last year after a recast frontcourt fell flat. Diebler can so clearly connect with people, and that shows up on the trail. Ohio State reeled in five-star Anthony Thompson in the 2026 class, and Diebler kept a stud like Bruce Thornton away from the portal vipers. However, the next two months could make or break Diebler's outlook. 

He has built a talented but extremely top-heavy team. The Buckeyes might have the thinnest roster in the Big Ten, and Diebler's rotations hint that he knows it. Thornton, Juni Mobley, Christoph Tilly, Amare Bynum and Devin Royal are not going to come off the floor very much (if ever) over the next two months while Ohio State chases an at-large bid. Early grade: C-

Oklahoma State: Steve Lutz

Vibe check: Lutz promised a much-improved Year 2 for Oklahoma State, and so far, the Pokes have held up their end of the bargain. Oklahoma State (13-2 overall, 1-1 Big 12) has real-deal guard play. Anthony Roy, Jaylen Curry, Vyctorius Miller, Kanye Clary and Isaiah Coleman can all check into a game and get buckets, and there's more meat and potatoes in this frontcourt mix. There's still a ton of work to be done, but Oklahoma State could be a tournament team this year if it can knock off a few of the Big 12's top dawgs to buff up its resume. If you told Oklahoma State's brass that the Cowboys would be in the Big Dance in Lutz's second year, they would've taken that every single day of the week and twice on Sundays. Early grade: C+

SMU: Andy Enfield

Vibe check: So far, SMU has to be mostly happy with the Enfield era. The Mustangs just missed the NCAA Tournament last year, but they have enough funding to be heard from in the ACC race. You see it on the roster this year. Boopie Miller, Jaron Pierre and BJ Edwards form one of the ACC's most potent backcourts. 

SMU would be a No. 6 seed in the Big Dance if the season ended today. SMU is solid. Is it ever going to be great under Enfield? I'm hesitant to go that far, but this program upgraded. Early grade: B

Stanford: Kyle Smith

Vibe check: Smith squeezes every living drop out of his teams, and he's doing it again this year. The Cardinal improved to 13-3 and 2-1 in ACC play after Ebuka Okorie's masterclass that helped Stanford rally from a 13-point hole to stun Virginia Tech 69-68 on Wednesday. Stanford is up to No. 77 on KenPom, a 12-spot surge from its preseason rating. That's just what Smith does. He has beaten his preseason KenPom projection in 12 of the last 15 seasons. 

Not all jobs are created equal. Stanford does not have the money to compete at the upper echelon of the sport, but it has a darn good basketball coach who can pluck gems from anywhere. Early grade: B+

USC: Eric Musselman

Vibe check: USC's first season under Musselman was objectively a dud. The Trojans finished 17-18 and never really sniffed the NCAA Tournament conversation. But Musselman flexed last spring, reeling in an excellent portal class headlined by Chad Baker-Mazara and Rodney Rice. Unfortunately, a barrage of injuries, including a season-ending shoulder injury for Rice and a serious knee injury to five-star Alijah Arenas, has sent USC tumbling. The Trojans are 12-3 and would be in the NCAA Tournament today, but this is not trending in the right direction. It's hard to heap blame onto Musselman for objectively horrendous injury luck.

If USC's level of financial investment into basketball stays at the same level, the Trojans will have a real bite at the apple to make a run in the not-so-distant future. Early grade: B-

Vanderbilt: Mark Byington

Vibe check: Vanderbilt is off to a 15-0 start and up to No. 5 on KenPom with a rotation that features a three-star point guard, two sacked UNC transfers, a Boston College transfer, a Cornell transfer and former High Point and Portland products.

What is this sorcery?

Byington's eye for under-the-radar talent is so impressive, and it has changed the calculus of what's possible for a traditional SEC cellar-dweller. 

It's no anomaly, either. Last year's Vanderbilt roster looked like it had no business being an NCAA Tournament team in the preseason, but it earned the right to dance.

Byington-to-Vanderbilt is shaping up to be a program-changing hire. Early grade: A+

 Washington: Danny Sprinkle

Vibe check: A 13-18 first season was tough sledding for Sprinkle in a brutal Big Ten, but a surge was expected in Year 2 with a talent-laden, expensive roster. So far, it's been rather iffy. UW sits 9-6 overall, and stud guard Wesley Yates is sidelined with a broken wrist. Still, there's real pieces here, namely Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate Hannes Steinbach, Desmond Claude, Zoom Diallo, Franck Kepnang and Quimari Peterson. If UW didn't at least sniff the bubble conversation, that would be a serious problem. To do that, Sprinkle is going to have to start beating good teams. Washington is 0-4 against top-40 clubs this season and just 1-14 overall in the Sprinkle era. The script has to flip right away. Early grade: C