Non-UConn, Best New England College BB Coaches All Time

[Improviser]

Some actually are mentioned in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, and some are from the Ivy League.

Can include names from any era.

 

[Waquoit]

Who cares?

 

[Palatine]

Bob Cousy. The Celtic great coached the BCU Golden Eagles from 1963 to 1969. He had a winning percentage of .750 going 114-38 overall. That includes a losing season in his first year. He went on to coach in the ABA where he was less successful in five seasons. I remember watching him prowl the sidelines in the UConn field house around 1965.

 

[Moose1979]

Has to be Dave Gavitt, Providence.

 

[uconnfan68]

Some actually are mentioned in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, and some are from the Ivy League.

Can include names from any era.

Jim Calhoun, Northeastern.

 

[Kolumbo]

Totally unrelated to UConn or no. Perhaps not greatest of all time but worth mentioning.

Howie Dickenman
Jack Phelan, RIP

 

[UConnJim]

There have been many great NE basketball coaches, but not all of them stayed for a long period.

The two that stand out:

Frank Keaney - URI, 401-124 0.764 winning percentage

Ozzie Cowles - Dartmouth, 147-47 0.758 winning percentage. Dartmouth lost in the 1942 NCAA Championship game. Cowles was in the Navy in 1943, but his team returned to the NCAA Championship game and lost in OT.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

For active coaches, my vote would be John Becker or James Jones.

With Jones' longevity at Yale, you could argue he's already an all-time great New England coach.

 

[businesslawyer]

I'll only go back to when I moved to New England in 77, but from them to now, excluding Calhoun, there are really two head and shoulders above everyone else, both took New England teams to the Elite 8.

Dave Gavitt wins on longevity. But my favorite for the style of play would be Dr. Tom Davis at BC. Honorable mention to Tommy Amaker at Harvard.

 

[wheelerdog]

Donyell Marshall and Glenn Miller

 

[Ha Who]

George Blaney

 

[ucp990411]

John Becker

 

[Mister P]

Jim Calhoun, Northeastern.

Jim Calhoun... St, Joe’s

 

[Battasbaby]

Although not my favorite coaches, Petino and calipari need to be on the list.

 

[nadav]

Doggie Julian

 

[Huskybass]

Totally unrelated to UConn or no. Perhaps not greatest of all time but worth mentioning.

Howie Dickenman
Jack Phelan, RIP

Howie went 9 wins and 51 losses in his last two seasons as Head Coach at CCSU. Ouch!

 

[uconngb]

Howie went 9 wins and 51 losses in his last two seasons as Head Coach at CCSU. Ouch!

But he could drive the hell out of a Reliant K car

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Bruce Webster at U of Bridgeport
Joe O'Brien at Assumption
Bentley has/ had some good ones

 

[Improviser]

Jack Donahue at Holy Cross.

Interestingly, he coached at Power Memorial when Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, played there. There, Donohue had a career win-loss record of 163–30, including winning 71 straight games

He had coached the Canadian Senior Men's National Team at the Olympics, won some medals and was inducted into the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Hall of Fame.

 

[Kolumbo]

Howie went 9 wins and 51 losses in his last two seasons as Head Coach at CCSU. Ouch!

51-11. Not bad.

1999–2000

Howie Dickenman

25-6

15-2

1st

NCAA First Round

2001–02

Howie Dickenman

26-5

19-1

1st

NCAA First Round

 

[Bobol]

"Slick" Rick Pitino
Providence College 1985- 86 and 1986- 87 seasons.

 

[PAHusky]

"Slick" Rick Pitino
Providence College 1985- 86 and 1986- 87 seasons.

Slick Rick Pitino
Iona College 2020

 

[Huskybass]

51-11. Not bad.

1999–2000

Howie Dickenman

25-6

15-2

1st

NCAA First Round

2001–02

Howie Dickenman

26-5

19-1

1st

NCAA First Round

And not one NCAA tourney win as a Head Coach in 20 seasons, and an overall record well under .500. In fact, If you remove the two seasons that you cherry picked to display, he was 69 games under .500 for his head coaching career.

That said, I liked him as an assistant coach under Calhoun. He just didn't have an extraordinary head coaching career outside of a couple of seasons.

 

[Palatine]

Jack Leaman out-coached Dee Rowe every time they met. I know I was in the stands for many of those matchups. The former UMass HC was 217-126. .628. Eight titles in 13 seasons. Twice NE COY.

 

[HuskyHawk]

"Slick" Rick Pitino
Providence College 1985- 86 and 1986- 87 seasons.

Was also considering Billy Donovan. How good was Calipari at UMass aside from the Camby seasons?

 

[Vuce]

Was also considering Billy Donovan. How good was Calipari at UMass aside from the Camby seasons?

My dad had season tix to UMass back then so I would go to those games plus I had my UConn season tix too. Both teams were really good. Calipari’s UMass teams won 5 straight A 10 reg season and postseason titles, two of which were prior to Camby arriving.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Al Skinner for his work at BC and URI, Jack Kraft at URI and Tom Penders at URI

 

[Drumguy]

I was thinking of Bruce Webster of UB, (Duncan Idaho got him first above) but then also thought of Dave Bike, Sacred Heart

"Dave Bike was the former men's head basketball coach at Sacred Heart University. He led the Pioneers to a Division II national championship in 1986, and oversaw the transition of the program to the Division I level. He retired on May 30, 2013, after a 35-year career."

 

[Fishy]

There aren’t any.

Next question, please.

 

[Kolumbo]

And not one NCAA tourney win as a Head Coach in 20 seasons, and an overall record well under .500. In fact, If you remove the two seasons that you cherry picked to display, he was 69 games under .500 for his head coaching career.

That said, I liked him as an assistant coach under Calhoun. He just didn't have an extraordinary head coaching career outside of a couple of seasons.

In fact, if you remove the two seasons that you cherry picked, he was 13 games over .500. Sure, not HOF stats, but it was CCSU and he was there for 20 years.