Rival Views: Which coach had a surprisingly rough first season?

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As the college coaching carousel is getting set into motion, it makes sense to take a look back at those involved in last year's cycle. Today, we take a look back at whose first year on the job ended up being a little more difficult than expected. As usual, National Basketball Analysts Eric Bossi and Corey Evans have Rival views.

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Brad Underwood arrived at Illinois with a lot of fanfare and high hopes after his previous stop as head coach at Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State. I had relatively high expectations for the Illini as well based on what I knew about Underwood, the return of talented big man LeRon Black and a solid incoming freshman class headlined by four-star guard Mark Smith, who Underwood came in late to land and keep in state.

However, things never went as expected as the Illini struggled to adjust to Underwood's style and suffered through a 14-18 season and an 11th place finish in the Big Ten. There were also some missteps in recruiting that hurt.

Coming from the Bob Huggins and Frank Martin school of coaching where effort, buying into roles and creating a culture ruled by competitive spirit are just as important as pure talent, Underwood and his staff had trouble getting their new squad to buy in on all levels. Despite those unexpected troubles, though, I'm still of the belief that Underwood can and will turn things around at Illinois.

For a program that hasn't achieved anywhere near the level it is capable of in some years, this last season has to be pretty close to rock bottom. Now, it's time for Underwood and his coaches to rebuild and for the players who are left standing - Smith has already announced he's transferring after a bit of an underwhelming freshman year and more defections are expected - to show the level of pride they have to turn things around. There certainly isn't any giving up being done on the recruiting trail. Five-star guard Ayo Dosunmu is on the way, they hope they've found an underrated late blooming shooter in three-star wing Alan Griffin. High flying four-star wing Tevian Jones is in this weekend as is three-star big man Samba Kane. The Illini are also in the thick of it for top 50 point guard Courntey Ramey who could be a game-changer in terms of instilling a winning attitude throughout the team.

Bottom line, I didn't anticipate such a rough go of it for Underwood in his first year. But, the Illini can only go up from here and they are hard at work trying to establish a new culture at Illinois.

Cal's hiring of Wyking Jones was celebrated for the university's administration’s willingness to take a chance on a minority, internal candidate that paid his dues as an assistant over the years. However, the Bears' coaching transition led to a couple of departures and a major decommitment that have set the program back a year or two after an ugly 8-24 season (2-16 Pac-12).

Just days before Jones' hiring, All-Pac 12 standout Ivan Rabb announced his intentions of forgoing his final two years of college eligibility by entering his name into the 2017 NBA Draft. Jones was likely not going to be able to talk Rabb out of returning to the program but any real hopes for first-year success were further diminished by the transfer of standout freshman guard Charlie Moore and junior center Kameron Rooks.

Long-time starters Jabari Bird and Sam Singer graduated in the spring, which meant Cal had to replace its entire starting five. The Bears did have a solid incoming class of recruits but even that was struck with the decommitment of its top pledge, Jemarl Baker, who decided that Kentucky would be the best place to begin his college career.

Once the season began, the team's non-conference schedule did the team no favors thanks to a spot in the always loaded Maui Invitational, where it played Wichita State and VCU, along with follow-up contests against St. Mary's and San Diego State. Despite a down season in the Pac-12 year, the league didn't offer many patsies outside of Washington State and the Bears ended the year winning just one of their final 18 contests.

If there is a bright side to all of this it is that Cal signed Rivals150 prospects Matt Bradley and Jacobi Gordon in the fall. The Bears will also see the transfer restrictions lifted on guard Paris Austin and a full offseason with current freshmen Darius McNeill and Justice Sueing. A handful of departures are expected at Oregon, USC, Arizona State and Arizona, meaning the Pac-12 may be a bit more forgiving for Jones and Cal next season.