Best College Coaches?

[amishboy]

Now that Danny Hurley has brought us another NC, he can reasonably be regarded as one of the best college basketball coaches. Between that epiphany and the threads on Bill Self, I started to wonder, who else should be rated as the best coaches in college basketball today. Is Calipari still great? Self?

I’m old, so I’ll start by throwing Tom Izzo out there; to me, he’s a guy who gets the maximum out of his players every year. Very rarely does Michigan State seem to “underperform,” and some years his teams go further than anyone could’ve reasonably anticipated.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Now that Danny Hurley has brought us another NC, he can reasonably be regarded as one of the best college basketball coaches. Between that epiphany and the threads on Bill Self, I started to wonder, who else should be rated as the best coaches in college basketball today. Is Calipari still great? Self?

I’m old, so I’ll start by throwing Tom Izzo out there; to me, he’s a guy who gets the maximum out of his players every year. Very rarely does Michigan State seem to “underperform,” and some years his teams go further than anyone could’ve reasonably anticipated.

Calipari was never great. He's a great recruiter.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Bill Self is the most consistent -- Kansas won like 12 conference regular season championships in a row, which is insane -- and also won a championship last year (2 in 15 years isn't UConn level, but it's pretty good).

 

[Fairfield_1st]

3 of the 4 offered up have shady pasts, clouding how much is coach and how much is bag man securing great players. I could have made a case for K, Izzo & JC as 1/2/3 (not that order) once upon a time, but I think Izzo has lost a little on his fastball. Still very good, probably top 10.
Given he has won at multiple schools and just pulled off an impressive & dominant title run here, I would make the case that DH is currently the best coach in the game.

 

[SportsFan88]

really fond of sampson and the culture he created down at houston, especially after indiana

 

[HobokenHusky]

Has to be Sampson - what he does with the lack of recruiting and name-brand school is extremely impressive. Self is consistent but they are top 5 in recruiting every year and it's Kansas.

 

[Palatine]

They need 10 options on the poll.

 

[superjohn]

Pitino and Self. Hurley can very quickly be in the mix.

 

[husky429]

Honestly, some of the best coaches are those long-time mid-major guys.

They don't have the recruiting chops, but in terms of pure skill development and maximizing player talent? Absolutely Some of the best out there.

 

[superjohn]

Honestly, some of the best coaches are those long-time mid-major guys.

They don't have the recruiting chops, but in terms of pure skill development and maximizing player talent? Absolutely Some of the best out there.

Without a doubt but when we're talking about the top guys at the top schools. Recruiting, roster construction and all the other stuff goes into it. In terms of the big names Pitino is the best to me and one of the handful of best coaches ever because I think you can basically give him any group of guys and he'll quickly make them good.

Hurley is pretty damn impressive in how he has been able to build programs up in a relatively short amount of time at all levels.

 

[husky429]

Without a doubt but when we're talking about the top guys at the top schools. Recruiting, roster construction and all the other stuff goes into into it. In terms of the big names Pitino is the best to me and one of the handful of best coaches ever because I think you can basically give him any group of guys and he'll quickly make them good.

Hurley is pretty damn impressive in how he has been able to build programs up in a relatively short amount of time at all levels.

Pitino is a terrible person and an absolute coaching savant. No way around it.

 

[Hunt for 7]

At this point and time I would not trade our coach for any other active college or pro coach…

 

[Jaydumo20]

Without a doubt but when we're talking about the top guys at the top schools. Recruiting, roster construction and all the other stuff goes into into it. In terms of the big names Pitino is the best to me and one of the handful of best coaches ever because I think you can basically give him any group of guys and he'll quickly make them good.

Hurley is pretty damn impressive in how he has been able to build programs up in a relatively short amount of time at all levels.

It's so much easier to like the mid major workhorses because there are always less flies on them. I agree on the Pitino call, even though I wrinkle my nose at the mention of his name.

 

[Jaydumo20]

At this point and time I would not trade our coach for any other active college or pro coach…

Our coaches seem inherently our own. I think it would feel strange to get a Big program coach (i.e. Roy Williams, Pitino, Huggins, Cal, Knight etc.) to fill a Uconn vacancy.

 

[That Guy]

Out of those 4

1. Self
2. Pitino
3. Izzo
4. Sampson

I think Izzo is incredibly overrated. He's always included in conversations with K, Roy Williams, Self, Calhoun, etc. but he only has one ring and he's been at MSU for like 30 years.

 

[uconnfan68]

None of them, but I like Shaka.

 

[Luna]

Hurley is the best…

 

[TheHorde]

How about this for a Mount Rushmore of living college coaches—-Coach K, Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun, and Bobby Knight?

 

[CL82]

Bill Self is the most consistent -- Kansas won like 12 conference regular season championships in a row, which is insane -- and also won a championship last year (2 in 15 years isn't UConn level, but it's pretty good).

Don't get me started about Self....

 

[auror]

Bill Self won 5 conference regular season titles and tournaments with 2 Elite 8s in the 6 years he was at Tulsa and Illinois before Kansas.

 

[gsmooth]

Pitino is a terrible person and an absolute coaching savant. No way around it.

yup. St. John's didn't hire because he is good guy that lives out good religious catholic values that St. John's espouses. They quickly pushed those aside when Pitino became available.

Yes, he got a BJ under a restaurant table which got turned into a convoluted FBI extortion case. Yes, he was involved in bringing hookers to party with high level recruits. Yes, he has misled former recruits into thinking he will get more playing time only to screw them. But damn, the guy can coach. St. John's will be a top 25 team this year or on the fringe of it.

 

[gsmooth]

Don't get me started about Self....

oh yeah, LOL. You wrote that super long, but great and well researched post about some of his transgressions, going back to 2003.

 

[superjohn]

Bill Self won 5 conference regular season titles and tournaments with 2 Elite 8s in the 6 years he was at Tulsa and Illinois before Kansas.

And we got Charlie V out of his move.

 

[amishboy]

Sorry for my low-grade technical skills, but I should have included that if you don’t like any of the names I posted, feel free to include your preference in a comment.

They need 10 options on the poll.

If that was an option, who else would you have included?

 

[storrsroars]

Has to be Sampson - what he does with the lack of recruiting and name-brand school is extremely impressive. Self is consistent but they are top 5 in recruiting every year and it's Kansas.

I voted for Sampson because he's 8-3 vs UConn since joining Houston. I don't know if anyone who's coached against UConn for 10 games or more has a better record.