Active Coaches with National Championships

[tzznandrew]

Rick Pitino, 70 years old (1996, 2013)
Bill Self, 60 years old (2008, 2022)
Tom Izzo, 68 years old (2000)
Tony Bennett, 53 years old (2019)
Scott Drew, 52 years old (2021)
Dan Hurley, 50 years old (2023)

That's the whole list at the moment. In the last three seasons we lost four coaches that together won 11 titles and had 31 Final Fours. The head coaches of UNC, Duke, UCLA and Indiana have never won a title. None of them have more Final Fours as coaches than UConn. The head coach of Kentucky has not won a title since 2012, nor been in the Final Four since 2016.

College basketball is wide open, and in many ways we have an inside track for the next half-decade at least.

 

[CL82]

Rick Pitino, 70 years old (1996, 2013)
Bill Self, 60 years old (2008, 2022)
Tom Izzo, 68 years old (2000)
Tony Bennett, 53 years old (2019)
Scott Drew, 52 years old (2021)
Dan Hurley, 50 years old (2023)

John Calipari?

By the way, Rick Pitino only won one national championship in 1996 as per NCAA records. Just saying.

 

[tzznandrew]

John Calipari?

By the way, Rick Pitino only won one national championship in 1996 as per NCAA records. Just saying.

Lol. Forgot Cal even though I mentioned him in the part underneath. Too late for me to edit.

No one—especially not potential players—pretends Louisville didn't win in 2013, so I'm not playing that game either.

Actual list:

Rick Pitino, 70 years old (1996, 2013)
Bill Self, 60 years old (2008, 2022)
Tom Izzo, 68 years old (2000)
John Calipari, 64 years old (2012)
Tony Bennett, 53 years old (2019)
Scott Drew, 52 years old (2021)
Dan Hurley, 50 years old (2023)

 

[CL82]

Lol. Forgot Cal even though I mentioned him in the part underneath. Too late for me to edit.

No one—especially not potential players—pretends Louisville didn't win in 2013, so I'm not playing that game either.

Actual list:

Rick Pitino, 70 years old (1996, 2013)
Bill Self, 60 years old (2008, 2022)
Tom Izzo, 68 years old (2000)
John Calipari, 64 years old (2012)
Tony Bennett, 53 years old (2019)
Scott Drew, 52 years old (2021)
Dan Hurley, 50 years old (2023)

And are you sure because NCAA records don’t list them as a champion in 2013?

 

[tzznandrew]

And are you sure because NCAA records don’t list them as a champion in 2013?

Yes. In the same way everyone remembers Memphis in the title game in 2008.

 

[CL82]

Yes. In the same way everyone remembers Memphis in the title game in 2008.

Memphis?

 

[F101Voodoo]

Lol. Forgot Cal even though I mentioned him in the part underneath. Too late for me to edit.

No one—especially not potential players—pretends Louisville didn't win in 2013, so I'm not playing that game either.

Actual list:

Rick Pitino, 70 years old (1996, 2013)
Bill Self, 60 years old (2008, 2022)
Tom Izzo, 68 years old (2000)
John Calipari, 64 years old (2012)
Tony Bennett, 53 years old (2019)
Scott Drew, 52 years old (2021)
Dan Hurley, 50 years old (2023)

And Tony Bennet used to be a singer in the off season. Sorry I am still giddy from Monday night.

 

[superjohn]

Yes. In the same way everyone remembers Memphis in the title game in 2008.

Yep, I'll always remember watching UConn and UMass in the '96 tournament as well.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Either Calipari is a youthful 64 or Pitino is a rough 70.

 

[Waquoit]

Either Calipari is a youthful 64 or Pitino is a rough 70.

You think he looks rough for 70? Enjoy the aging process!

 

[aburks41]

Either Calipari is a youthful 64 or Pitino is a rough 70.

They both look way younger than their ages to me

 

[ConnHuskBask]

You think he looks rough for 70? Enjoy the aging process!

They both look way younger than their ages to me

Blame my parents I guess! Both of that age and look in there 50s.

 

[phillionaire]

Rick Pitino is a vampire

 

[tzznandrew]

This was the first season since 2000-2001 in which there wasn't a coach with at least 3 national championships coaching...though that was really a blip because Knight had been fired and then he was rehired right as K was his third. It's really more like since 1987 we've existed in a world where one of the 6 coaches ever who won 3 or more titles was stomping a sideline wearing those rings.

Point is, it's pretty wide open, coaching-wise. Great opportunities for coaches to build or burnish their legacies.

 

[bendm]

i kept saying Hurley is the best coach 50 or under. wouldnt trade him for anyone.

 

[auror]

Scott Drew got that Baylor job super young. He's been there 20 years already and is only 52! If not for the 1 year at Valpo he could've been a Boeheim.

 

[August_West]

Yep, I'll always remember watching UConn and UMass in the '96 tournament as well.

Crazy thing is one entity undid both those teams.

 

[nashusky109]

Rick Pitino is a vampire

forreal why does he look so ghastly all the time. Super Pale with eyes so piercing they hit my garlic stained heart. Great coach doeeeeeeee

 

[Matias]

Rick Pitino is a vampire

He looks like he can be cast in The Walking Dead with no makeup.

 

[Husky25]

Rick Pitino, 70 years old (1996, 2013)
Bill Self, 60 years old (2008, 2022)
Tom Izzo, 68 years old (2000)
Tony Bennett, 53 years old (2019)
Scott Drew, 52 years old (2021)
Dan Hurley, 50 years old (2023)

That's the whole list at the moment. In the last three seasons we lost four coaches that together won 11 titles and had 31 Final Fours. The head coaches of UNC, Duke, UCLA and Indiana have never won a title. None of them have more Final Fours as coaches than UConn. The head coach of Kentucky has not won a title since 2012, nor been in the Final Four since 2016.

College basketball is wide open, and in many ways we have an inside track for the next half-decade at least.

Their last 6 coaches have not won a title and Bobby Knight was 13 years removed from his last at the time of his firing. While the last undefeated championship season doesn't hurt, I think Indiana owes a lot to a young public works laborer who never played a game for them and a classic movie for their status.

The last 5 coaches for UCLA do not have a title and Jim Harrick's title in 1995 is the only one among 11 coaches, spanning of 48 years since John Wooden.

Indiana is a kiddie table program, and as I mentioned yesterday, UCLA is the Pete Campbell in the Mad Men version of the Dykeman family.