Five new coaches who need some time to rebuild

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Monday's analysis of the 50-team-deep coaching carousel looked at five new hires, in this Age of Impatience, who actually should be expected to win in Year 1. Situations such as Mark Turgeon's at Texas A&M, where he inherited a front line of two pro prospects and a team that's already top-20 caliber, are incredibly rare, however. Rebuilding projects are more the norm, so today I examine five high-profile coaches who should be afforded patience in their new gigs, whether it be one year, two, or the full length of their freshly inked contract.

Five High-Profile Hires Who Should Be Afforded Patience In Year 1:

1. John Beilein, Michigan

At West Virginia in 2005, Beilein coached a band of nobodies to the Elite Eight, helping usher the verb "Pittsnogled" into the basketball lexicon and putting the Mountaineers back on the national stage. In 2007 he took an even more obscure band of nobodies -- after Kevin Pittsnogle and Mike Gansey had graduated -- to the NIT championship. So there are those who expect Beilein to be able to mold Michigan's more-touted prospects into an NCAA tournament team in Year 1, but I doubt the Wolverines' transformation will happen overnight. This isn't the equivalent of switching a football team from the Single Wing to the West Coast Offense, but consider Beilein's victory formula at WVU featured three things: A precision, perimeter-based offense that includes scores of strangely named plays like Double Quickie Potato; a heavier reliance on the three-point shot than 332 of the 336 Division I teams (42.4 percent of West Virginia's points came on treys in '06-07); and a 1-3-1 zone that forced steals on 12.5 percent of possessions last season, good for 23rd in the nation.

Then consider the state of the Wolverines: Their top four scorers from '06-07 are gone, and top recruit Alex Legion is reportedly on his way to Kentucky after being released from his letter of intent. Michigan was notorious for running some of the Big Ten's sloppiest, and most inefficient offense, under Tommy Amaker. The Wolverines were below-average three-point shooters last season, ranking 187th nationally at 34.3 percent, and only scored 22.7 percent of their points from beyond the arc -- a total that ranked 299th in the country. Sophomore Jerret Smith is the only dangerous long-distance marksman on the roster. Defensively, Amaker toyed with zones throughout last season, but the Wolverines rarely forced steals (on only 8.7 percent of possessions, 259th in the country) and have no experience in the 1-3-1. Michigan's NCAA tournament drought is going to end under Beilein -- I just think 2008 will be more of an acclimation year.

Realistic NCAA tournament timetable: 2009

2. Todd Lickliter, Iowa

Lickliter was a quality hire for Iowa. His '06-07 Butler team was arguably better than most teams in the Big Ten -- the Bulldogs beat NCAA tournament teams Purdue and Indiana, and made it deeper in the dance than everyone except Ohio State -- and if he can stock the Hawkeyes' roster with slightly higher-level talent, Lickliter should be able to build a contender in 3-4 years. The current state of Iowa's roster, however, is not pretty: Big Ten scoring leader Adam Haluska is gone; and Tyler Smith, the young gun who was expected to take over the team and become an All-Big Ten performer, opted to transfer to a school closer to home (most likely Tennessee). If Lickliter manages to finish near .500 in the league with what's left, Lickliter should be considered a miracle-worker. He'll have more size at his disposal than he ever had at Butler, with 7-footer Seth Gorney and 6-10 forward Kurt Looby up front. But while top assist man Tony Freeman -- a tough Chicago guard perhaps somewhat in the model of Butler point Mike Green -- is back, the Hawkeyes are going to have serious trouble scoring. Reserve forward Justin Johnson, who shot 45.5 percent from long distance last season, should play a much bigger role, given that Lickliter's offense values the three nearly as much as West Virginia does ... and the Hawkeyes don't have many other options to shoot it.

Realistic NCAA tournament timetable: 2011