Whos on your coaching Mt. Rushmore?

[TheChamps990411]

I think i have to go:

Wooden
Coach K
Dean Smith
Bobby Knight

Just left out
Rupp
Calhoun

 

[champs99and04]

Dean Smith? Both Calhoun and Rupp are way more deserving.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I think i have to go:

Wooden
Coach K
Dean Smith
Bobby Knight

Just left out
Rupp
Calhoun

I'm not being a homer but calhoun has to be on it. 3 ships, 4 ffs, big east tourney and regular season titles, NBA players, and took a program that was beneath the basement and made it into a national brand and powerhouse. Take off knight or smith

 

[tzznandrew]

Yeah, I'm going: K, Wooden, JC, Knight

I leave Rupp off because most of his success came during segregation.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Gotta make room for Paul Hewitt on there somewhere.

 

[msgordon]

Gotta make room for Paul Hewitt on there somewhere.

^^^^^this, u racist OP??

 

[Rocktheworld]

Tough. Wooden and Rupp built top 5 all time programs, however did it in a very different era.

K, Smith, and Knight inherited programs that had all already been to several Final Fours.

Only JC has a) built a program from scratch in to a national power, b) in the modern era, c) with consistent success throughout his tenure.

 

[businesslawyer]

Comparing Wooden to JC and K is too tough -- very different sports when they coached. I'm not bothered by those who put K above JC -- you can make a case -- but ask this question. Would JC have been more likely to duplicate K's success at Duke or would K have been more likely to duplicate JC's success in Storrs. UConn, when Calhoun took the job, was no where near the same galaxy as Duke was when K took that job. Which is why I still believe Calhoun was the best coach of his generation.

 

[TheChamps990411]

^^^^^this, u racist OP??

Yes. Im a raging racist you got me.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Gotta make room for Paul Hewitt on there somewhere.

And this is why the thread title is "What is your coaching Mt. Rushmore" not "Here is mine and my word is law"

 

[tcf15]

Yes. Im a raging racist you got me.

And this is why the thread title is "What is your coaching Mt. Rushmore" not "Here is mine and my word is law"

 

[msgordon]

And this is why the thread title is "What is your coaching Mt. Rushmore" not "Here is mine and my word is law"

 

[UConnSwag11]

And this is why the thread title is "What is your coaching Mt. Rushmore" not "Here is mine and my word is law"

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Comparing Wooden to JC and K is too tough -- very different sports when they coached. I'm not bothered by those who put K above JC -- you can make a case -- but ask this question. Would JC have been more likely to duplicate K's success at Duke or would K have been more likely to duplicate JC's success in Storrs. UConn, when Calhoun took the job, was no where near the same galaxy as Duke was when K took that job. Which is why I still believe Calhoun was the best coach of his generation.

I fully agree BL and one thing he one thing I use as evidence is that when K took over at Duke there were still players at Duke who were on the roster when they played in the national championship game against Kentucky in 1978. When JC took over at UConn there weren't players there who were on the roster when we were capable of reaching the NIT (which we did from 80-82).

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

So much hype about this years Kentucky team going undefeated. Everyone reflects back to the Bobby Knight Indiana Hoosiers led by Buckner, May and Kent Benson et al. that went 32-0 in 1976. How can we leave in good conscious "Phog" Allen off this list?

Allen led the Baker Wildcats to a 14-0 record back in 1906. Take the time to realize what the game was like over 100 years ago. Seriously...appreciate this beautiful game we so often simply take for granted. The true innocence of the sport replaced by today's sense of entitlement mentality. Let's include the great "Phog" Allen and take a moment to understand just how important that Baker University Wildcat team really was. Some wonderful human being (potentially/or flapper chaser) in our family history may have had the privilege of experiencing this team. We must include Mr. Allen and his 3 National Championships (I think it was).

 

[champs99and04]

Comparing Wooden to JC and K is too tough -- very different sports when they coached. I'm not bothered by those who put K above JC -- you can make a case -- but ask this question. Would JC have been more likely to duplicate K's success at Duke or would K have been more likely to duplicate JC's success in Storrs. UConn, when Calhoun took the job, was no where near the same galaxy as Duke was when K took that job. Which is why I still believe Calhoun was the best coach of his generation.

I don't think K could have accomplished what JC did in Storrs, but I also don't think Calhoun would have accomplished what K did at Duke. To me, Calhoun wasn't the master at managing egos K is, so I am not sure if he would have produced national contenders on a yearly basis. Calhoun was a blue collar coach who recruited mainly blue collar players - granted, that is due in part to not being able to get the other kids - and in that respect, Calhoun and UConn were a perfect match. But just as I do not think Calhoun would have been a good fit for the NBA, I'm not sure his success translates to as consistent a level.

(I realize I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anything you said, but your hypothetical is an interesting one to consider).

 

[CallMeBruce]

Calhoun, Geno, and then Calhoun and Geno again.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Calhoun, Geno, and then Calhoun and Geno again.

What, no KO?

 

[CallMeBruce]

What, no KO?

He'll get there.

 

[Huskyforlife]

HCBD,PP,who ever coached the the girls before geno,Ricky Moore

 

[storrsroars]

Rich Kotite, Joe Quinn, Norv Turner, Bobby Valentine.

 

[ctdad]

Yeah, I'm going: K, Wooden, JC, Knight

I leave Rupp off because most of his success came during segregation.

I sort of agree with the sentiment, but to be fair, everyone until the mid-50s was pretty much playing under those same restrictions. However, he coached in the SEC when they really didn't give a %&#$ about basketball.

Read a recent made by Notre Dame's coach in the late 60's, Johnny Dee. He said about Rupp "Yeah, he's got 800 wins, but 500 of them are in the SEC. Thats like me taking 6 guys from Canada down to Texas and starting a hockey league."

 

[CL82]

Comparing Wooden to JC and K is too tough -- very different sports when they coached. I'm not bothered by those who put K above JC -- you can make a case -- but ask this question. Would JC have been more likely to duplicate K's success at Duke or would K have been more likely to duplicate JC's success in Storrs. UConn, when Calhoun took the job, was no where near the same galaxy as Duke was when K took that job. Which is why I still believe Calhoun was the best coach of his generation.

I think JC beats K in total titles if Tate holds on to the ball. Can't change history though and K did have a great career, even if he was JC's bitch when the stakes were highest.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I think JC beats K in total titles if Tate holds on to the ball. Can't change history though and K did have a great career, even if he was JC's bitch when the stakes were highest.

Duke lost that year to unlv by 30 in the title game so i don't get your point. Nobody was beating unlv in that tournament

 

[boog204]

Duke lost that year to unlv by 30 in the title game so i don't get your point. Nobody was beating unlv in that tournament

Yup, I think Unlv beats us fairly handily...