There has been some talk during and after K-State’s run in the NCAA tournament about the possibility of other schools making job offers to either Bruce Weber or Chris Lowery, Weber’s top assistant coach.  Both Weber and Lowery have had interesting coaching paths that have intersected at Southern Illinois, Illinois, and now at K-State.

Lowery first became an assistant for Bruce Weber at Southern Illinois in 2001 and coached for two seasons at Southern Illinois, one year making the Sweet 16 and the next year getting ousted in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  Weber then got hired as head coach at Illinois and Lowery followed him there, coaching as an assistant one season before returning to Southern Illinois as head coach for eight seasons.  In his one season as Weber’s assistant at Illinois, Lowery helped guide the Illini to a Sweet 16 appearance.

Lowery was fired after eight seasons at Southern Illinois, which coincided with Weber getting fired at Illinois and taking the K-State job.  Lowery was hired by Weber to be an assistant at K-State and he has been there since 2012.

I always wondered what Bruce Weber’s head coaching record is with Chris Lowery on his staff vs. his record without Chris Lowery on his staff.  It seems like Weber has had more success with Lowery than without him, but I never had proof until I looked deeper into the numbers.

Bruce Weber’s head coaching record is below:

Lowery was with Weber from 2001-2004, two seasons at Southern Illinois and one season at Illinois, and then his entire tenure at K-State.

Weber’s record with Chris Lowery is 213-102 overall ( a.676 win percentage) and 98-62 in conference ( .6125 win percentage).

Weber’s record without Chris Lowery is 235-133 overall (a .639 win percentage) and 108-84 in conference ( a .563 win percentage).

It’s not a huge difference, but there is at least a noticeable difference.  A 68% overall win percentage with Lowery vs. a 64% win percentage without him and a 61% conference win percentage with him vs. 56% without him.

What does this mean?  Maybe nothing.  However, I believe that numbers talk and if Chris Lowery gets lured away by another program, I would expect a slight dip in Weber’s win percentage across the board.  These two seem to work well together and have had some success, so let’s hope that day never comes.