When you look at the list of these coaches, you see one common denominator - they all have a deep respect, appreciation and often love from their players.
5. Rick Pitino - 597 career wins so far at Boston, Providence, Kentucky, & Louisville
Pitino is the only coach to take 3 different schools to a Final Four, which means whatever the system he implements - press, running, and 3's - must work and he knows how to coach it. Pitino's focus is on a feverish team defense designed to speed up opponents to play out of their comfort and taking a high number of open 3's.
Personally seeing Coach Pitino operate on a daily basis for four years was amazing. He knows what it takes to have a successful team and does not let players take a short cut getting there. Everything he teaches starts with a defensive basis. He always told his players that if they had put in the time practicing and missed good, open shots in games he wouldn't ever say a word to them - and he didn't. But if a player didn't make the right defensive rotation to cover for a teammate, it was a disaster for that player.
Pitino thrives on momentum and the ability for his teams to score, press, and create turnovers for easy baskets. Louisville had an amazing stat last season with the number 8-0 runs they had against their opponents that gave them wins they wouldn't have had in slower, half-court paced games. But again, that's Pitino's teams ability to enforce their will on opponents.
I'm also going to make a bold call here - Pitino 2020 Governor of Kentucky. Mark it down. Mayor of Louisville at least.
4. Dean Smith - 879 career wins in 36 years all at North Carolina (which is astounding in itself).
Smith is a beloved figure in North Carolina. His calming and caring personality was a Smith signature and he prided himself in caring for his players on a personal level past their days at UNC, whether that was playing basketball or in business. As for the hardwood, it was hard to find many with accomplishments like these - 11 Final Fours with 2 National Titles, 27 consecutive 20-win seasons (wow), and a 96% graduation rate.
Smith's book, The Carolina Way was one of the best books I ever read. It taught me about running a program with class and character versus only looking at the scoreboard. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in coaching. Of course it's a lot easier to say to focus more than the scoreboard when you coach 27 All-Americans who annihilate the competition anyway! Remember that Michael Jordan guy?
Honestly though, I always highly respected Smith's demeanor on the sideline. Many of his amazing principles of class and sophistication have been lost in a game that has turned so shady, unfortunately. I think the game is missing a coach like Dean Smith.
3. Bobby Knight - The General has the record of the most career wins with 902 at Army, Indiana, & Texas Tech.
Bobby Knight is only the second coach to lead a team to an undefeated season, with the 1976 squad going 32-0 and winning the National Championship. Knight utilized the motion offense with an uncommonly high percentage of midrange jump shots compared to the rest of the country once the 3-point line was instituted, and a hard-nose man to man defense. You knew what you were going to get with Knight's teams, but it was a matter of being tough and skilled enough to compete.
Knight is an interesting character. When I spent a year working at IU, you speak to two of the amazing staff members who worked for Knight and still work for the program. They tell funny stories like after filming a commercial, a company may send a dish washer or refrigerator and he would offer it to the staff members as a gift, but they weren't allowed to say thank you excessively or it would piss him off... which as we know is a horrible idea. It's hard for me to make up my mind about Knight. On one hand you hear first hand stories of a really nice guy that genuinely cared about people. On the other hand, however, seeing the footage of him grabbing his own player by the throat is something I'll never be able to get out of my head.
There was a point when Pitino was about 5 feet away on my left and Bob Knight was 5 feet to my right. Neither seemed to be in a great mood. I looked straight down at the ground. Don't laugh, you would have too.
2. Mike Krzyzewski - Bobby's Knight's protege has also eclipsed 900 wins with a 900-284 record at his alma mater Army & at Duke.
Krzyzewski has won 4 national titles and been to a total of 11 Final Fours. He took over a struggling Duke program that had been overshadowed by Dean Smith and UNC and by his 6th season had a 37-3 record with a National Runner up appearance to Denny Crum's Louisville.
Duke teams always demonstrate tremendous offensive spacing with players' abilities to take advantage by penetrating. Usually four players on the floor also have the ability to shoot the 3, eliminating help defense. Krzyzewski keeps it simple in principle with a mixture of elite and role players forming an extremely cohesive unit.
Mike shows no sign of slowing with a 2010 National Title and fantastic recruits lining up every year. As long as he continues to coach, he will further increase his unbelievable coaching career. Think about the point guards Coach K has had over the past decade - Jason Williams, Chris Duhon, Greg Paulus, Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving (who never really got to demonstrate is talents in Durham), with young Austin Rivers committed to take over next. Jason Williams was one of the best college players I have ever seen and his battles against Maryland and Juan Dixon will go down as some of the best basketball I have ever witnessed. I've got the recorded VHS tapes to prove it.
1. John Wooden - Not only did Wooden win 10 National Titles at UCLA, but was also a 3-time All-American and won a National Title while playing a Purdue in 1932.
How do you even begin to compete with 10 National Championships? Oh, maybe by saying that 7 of them were in a row! Throw in an 88 game winning streak over 4 seasons, and you've got a run away in the competition for the greatest coach of all time. Over 34% of the time he coached....he won the national championship. That's pure insanity.
Winning 10 national titles in 12 years is a feat that I can confidently say will never be repeated in college basketball. But not only did Wooden and UCLA dominate on the court, but his players loved him. It is hard to find a negative story about Wooden as a coach and as a man. He treated all of his players with great respect and he was successful with his management and coaching styles.
Wooden passed away in June of 2010 and left a hole in the basketball world.
These 5 coaches have polar opposite coaching philosophies, personalities, and personal styles. However, they can all coach the hell out of basketball. It's amazing what these men have and continue to accomplish not only on the court, but off the court developing young men. I can't wait to see who is next to come along to make a run at these legends.
