Best WCBB coach of all time????

[vtcwbuff]

It has got to be Auriemma. With the exception of longevity, every other metric puts Auriemma at the top.

He has a better winning percentage in a more competitive era. He has never lost a NC game. He owned the previous "best coach" in head to head competition.

 

[alexrgct]

If the question hasn't been put to bed already, it will be within the next few seasons. Uconn is going to finish three decades as the #3, #1, and #1 programs, a feat that matches Pat's run as #2, #1, and #2. He will almost certainly finish with more NCs. Wins and finals fours depend on how long he wants to coach, but those records are in reach for him too.

In short, if you project the inevitable, you might as well give it to him in the present. And that's not a knock on Pat.

Geno coming to Storrs and building a program from scratch to what it's become? That's a coaching job that simply defies explanation.

 

[Harry Mangurian]

Geno by a mile. Not even close.
Summit had many of her wins when women were still playing BB in baggy pants.
The level of UCONN's competition today is far above what teams faced 20+ years ago.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Yes, Geno.

But let's not start dismissing Pat's wins, lest someone start staring at the competition Wooden, Knight, Geno etc. faced.

A win is a win.

And "We have the best coach, and you don't."

 

[CL82]

Yes, Geno.

But let's not start dismissing Pat's wins, lest someone start staring at the competition Wooden, Knight, Geno etc. faced.

A win is a win.

And "We have the best coach, and you don't."

True, but it is valid point. I think that Geno and Chris are facing far more balanced competition than Wooden and Pat (at least early on) did. That makes it all the more impressive.

Still one can argue that the wealth is still contrated to relative few. Since the start of the woman's tournament two teams (and we all know who they are) account for 16 NCs. 3 more account for two wins each.

Regardless, we are in the middle of something pretty special. I'm going to remind myself to drink in every moment of it. It is unlikely to happen again in my lifetime, if at all.

 

[meyers7]

Best WCBB coach of all time????

Well in NC games, absolutely!!

 

[UConn990411]

Geno and Pat are like Bird and Magic - they will always be talked about in tandem when we discuss the all-time greats.

Geno has already passed Summitt imo, but the women's game would not be where it is without the both of them. That's a fact.

 

[Suebird10fan]

If the question hasn't been put to bed already, it will be within the next few seasons. Uconn is going to finish three decades as the #3, #1, and #1 programs, a feat that matches Pat's run as #2, #1, and #2. He will almost certainly finish with more NCs. Wins and finals fours depend on how long he wants to coach, but those records are in reach for him too.

In short, if you project the inevitable, you might as well give it to him in the present. And that's not a knock on Pat.

Geno coming to Storrs and building a program from scratch to what it's become? That's a coaching job that simply defies explanation.

As usual Alex, you nailed it.

That said, Pat does deserve special recognition for being first. Geno leveraged the rivalry for Tennessee. And if Pat hadn't built a dynasty first, there would have been no rivalry to leverage.

None of this really gets to who was a better coach, more about their respective places in WCBB history

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I've said for a long while that Geno is the best - in fact, on the RU board, someone was wondering when he will retire so that teams can stop competing for 2nd best!!!

That said, Pat, Geno, and I always include Leon Barmore, stand alone for what they accomplished - each something different, and in different eras (Barmore was within Pat's, his career wasn't all that long). Geno will stand alone in National Championships, Wins and Winning Percentage. There is a chance (although I doubt it) that he will equal Barmore in being successful in a mid-major (I remain convinced that UConn will be heading to a power conference). Without Pat, no Geno. The pioneer.

True ending - both in the record books, both in the Naismith, . . .

 

[Aluminny69]

Here's an interesting criteria: Which coach has done the most with the least. Who has been the most successful without the number one high school player, or even the top five high school players in the country?
Does Jeff Walz qualify?

 

[alexrgct]

Here's an interesting criteria: Which coach has done the most with the least. Who has been the most successful without the number one high school player, or even the top five high school players in the country?
Does Jeff Walz qualify?

Why would that be a worthy criterion? Recruiting is part of the job of a coach. Unless you want to give Brian Giorgis a nod, I don't think you can give a coach a pass on talent. Geno had nothing to sell when he came here in 1985 and built the program to the point he could get top players.

 

[Phil]

It has got to be Auriemma. With the exception of longevity, every other metric puts Auriemma at the top.

He has a better winning percentage in a more competitive era. He has never lost a NC game. He owned the previous "best coach" in head to head competition.

If you mean better than Pat, yes, but not the best. In all Divisions, that's G.P. Gromacki at Amherst, who had a better winning percentage coming into this season at 86.5%, ended up with a better (w-l percentage) year than Geno this year, at 30 and 3 (although lost two consecutive games, in the Semis and Consolation). His lifetime percentage is 86.9% a little ahead of Geno's 86.3% (though yesterday).

If you mean DI only, he still isn't the percentage leader, as that crown belongs to Leon Barmore, with an 86.9% winning percentage.

However, Barmore's schedule was certainly not as challenging as Connecticut's so I am not questioning that Geno is the best coach of all-time, but if we want to talk about winning percentage, it is good to identify the universe. All schools all time? DI all-time? DI active? Geno is the leader in the last category.