By Mike Douchant

A long-term contract isn't necessary for a coach to reverse the fortunes of a struggling program. Numerous enterprising mentors have engineered turnarounds that included an NCAA Tournament appearance in their first year at a new job although the school compiled a losing record the previous season. The ultimate rags-to-riches story in the previous decade involved current Xavier coach Skip Prosser, who guided Loyola (Md.) to a school Division I-best 17-13 record in 1993-94 after the Greyhounds set a school standard for defeats the previous year with a 2-25 mark.

Winthrop's Gregg Marshall could have supplanted Prosser two years ago if the Eagles had become the first No. 16 seed to win an NCAA Tournament game by upsetting Auburn in the South Regional. Marshall became a hot property in his first year as a head coach after directing the Eagles from a 20-loss season to a 20-win campaign.

Texas' amazing turnaround two seasons ago enabled Rick Barnes to become the only active coach to twice take a team to the NCAA playoffs in his maiden voyage with them after they posted losing marks the previous campaign.

In 1993, the big story was 29-year-old Todd Bozeman, who was promoted at California following a controversial midseason firing of Lou Campanelli. For the first time in its 66-year history at the time, the National Association of Basketball Coaches publicly condemned the dismissal of one of its member coaches. The NABC's principal concern was the absence of due process after Campanelli was accused of verbally abusing the Cal players. Campanelli subsequently filed a $5 million lawsuit against the school, charging the administration violated due process by not properly warning him that it disapproved of his treatment of players.

Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt is the latest coach to be part of recent about-faces in a coach's initial season after assuming control of a program mired in mediocrity. Consider:

                               W-L Record      W-L Record     Games
Coach, School                  First Year      Previous Yr.   Improved
Skip Prosser, Loyola (Md.)     17-13 in '94    2-25 in  '93   +13 1/2
Gregg Marshall, Winthrop       21-8 in '99     7-20 in  '98   +13
Todd Bozeman, California       21-9 in '93     10-18 in '92   +10
Bob Wenzel, Rutgers            18-13 in '89    7-22 in  '88   +10
Jim O'Brien, Dayton            22-10 in '90    12-17 in '89   +8 1/2
John Beilein, Richmond         22-8 in '98     13-15 in '97   +8
Jerry Green, Tennessee         20-9 in '98     11-16 in '97   +8
Don DeVoe, Tennessee           21-12 in '79    11-16 in '78   +7
Melvin Watkins, UNC Charlotte  22-9 in '97     14-15 in '96   +7
Rick Barnes, Providence        18-11 in '89    11-17 in '88   +6 1/2
Roger Reid, Brigham Young      21-9 in '90     14-15 in '89   +6 1/2
Rick Barnes, Texas             19-13 in '99    14-17 in '98   +4 1/2
Bob Bender, Illinois State     18-13 in '90    13-17 in '89   +4 1/2
Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech      17-13 in '01    13-17 in '00   +4
Lorenzo Romar, Saint Louis     19-13 in 00*    15-16 in '99   +3 1/2
Oliver Purnell, Old Dominion   15-15 in '92    14-18 in '91   +2
*Romar's record is entering the 2000 NCAA playoffs.