John Wooden’s name is synonymous with basketball and winning. He led the UCLA Bruins to their first title in 1964 and they repeated the following season. They won seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. After winning number 10, Wooden retired on top of the game in 1975.
- UCLA Head Coach 1948-1975
- Ten NCAA Championships
- .804 Winning Percentage
- 664 Wins
- Six-time National Coach of the Year
Duke and Mike Krzyzewski are the most successful program of the past 50 years. Coach K guided the Blue Devils to five titles. But his accomplishments go far deeper than that. He has led Duke to a record 13 final four appearances, along with his record 101 tournament wins.
- Duke Head Coach 1980-2022
- Five NCAA Championships
- .766 Winning Percentage
- 1202 Wins
- Three-Time National Coach of the Year
876 wins for a .822 winning percentage. Those are the numbers achieved by the Kentucky Wildcats and Coach Adolph Rupp. He also sits at #3 on the all-time championships list with four. He coached from 1930-31 to 1971-72. His championships came in the 1948, 1949, and 1951 tournaments. Kentucky won it all again in 1957. His teams won 27 Southeastern Conference Championships.
- Kentucky Head Coach 1930-1972
- Four NCAA Championships
- .822 Winning Percentage
- 876 Wins
- Four-time National Coach of the Year
You have to go all the way back to 1976 to find the last undefeated NCAA champion. The Indiana Hoosiers, coached by Bobby Knight, pulled off this incredible feat 32-0. A 92-90 loss to Kentucky in the 1975 Elite Eight cost Indiana and Knight a chance at back-to-back undefeated seasons, going 63-1 over two years.
- Indiana Head Coach 1971-2000
- Three NCAA Championships
- .735 Winning Percentage
- 899 Wins
- Four-time National Coach of the Year
The UCONN Huskies are famous for one thing: winning basketball championships. Jim Calhoun brought that winning attitude in 1986 and, by 1990, had changed the culture on campus. His teams played in four final fours, winning three national championships to go with seven Big East titles.
- UCONN Head Coach 1986–2012
- Three NCAA Championships
- .699 Winning Percentage
- 920 Wins
- National Coach of the Year
Roy Williams was a coach at two blue-blood schools: Kansas and North Carolina. At Kansas, he was national runner-up twice and won 30+ games five times. At North Carolina, he led the Tar Heels to three titles (2005, 2009, 2017), with the 2009 squad considered maybe the most dominant team in history, winning each tourney game by 12 or more points.
- Kansas Head Coach 1988–2003, North Carolina Head Coach 2003–2021
- Three NCAA Championships
- .776 Winning Percentage
- 903 Wins
- AP National Coach of the Year
Dean Smith coached at North Carolina from 1961 to 1997. He led teams to two national titles, 13 ACC championships, and 11 final fours. He added one NIT championship during his career. 879 wins (career leader at the time of his retirement) for a .776 winning percentage has him top 10 all-time. He coached his teams to 27 consecutive 20-win seasons!
- North Carolina Head Coach 1961-1997
- Two NCAA Championships
- .776 Winning Percentage
- 879 Wins
- Four-time National Coach of the Year
The Kansas Jayhawks just win. Phog Allen, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, and currently Bill Self make Kansas the center of college basketball. Self has led the Jayhawks to 17 Big 12 titles in 20 seasons. During that time, Kansas has made four final fours and has two national titles (2008, 2022).
- Kansas Head Coach 2003–present
- Two NCAA Championships
- .768 Winning Percentage
- 805 Wins
- Two-time National Coach of the Year
Denny Crum gained experience as an assistant coach for the legendary John Wooden. He made good use of it at Louisville. His Cardinals won national championships in 1980 with Darrell “Dunkenstein” Griffith and again in 1986. He guided the Cardinals to six final fours. His teams won 14 conference titles.
- Louisville Head Coach 1971-2001
- Two NCAA Championships
- .696 Winning Percentage
- 675 Wins
- Two-time National Coach of the Year
The Big East has a history of greatness, and Villanova provides much of the story. Jay Wright took the Wildcats to new heights during his time as head coach. He led them to two national titles (2016, 2018), four final fours, six conference championships, and 16 March Madness appearances in 21 seasons.
- Villanova Head Coach 2001-2022
- Two NCAA Championships
- .695 Winning Percentage
- 642 Wins
- Two-time National Coach of the Year
As head coach since 2018, Dan Hurley has brought the University of Connecticut’s UConn Huskies to greatness. He led them to back-to-back NCAA championships (2023, 2024), the first team to do this since 2007. This impressive winning streak comes nearly ten years after their last championship win in 2014. The impact Hurley has had on the team is undeniable.
- UConn Head Coach 2018-Present
- Two NCAA Championships
- .6246 Winning Percentage
- 255 Wins
- 2024 BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Mark Pope has gone from a fixture on the court to a powerhouse on the sidelines as head coach for the Kentucky Wildcats. He won a national championship with the team in 1996 when he was a player himself before becoming head coach at Utah Valley and Brigham Young University, where he led the team to two NCAA tournaments. With his deep understanding of the program, Kentucky’s winning history, and his passion for the game, we expect to see the team in the tournament again this year.
- Brigham Young University Head Coach 2019-2024
- Zero NCAA Championships
- .634 Winning Percentage
- 187 Wins
