I think it would be fun to revisit the GOAT debate with K’s career officially in the books.
Mike Krzyzewski - Schools: Army (1975-1980), Duke (1980-2022) - Overall record: 1202-368 - 15 ACC Tournaments, 13 ACC Regular Seasons, 13 Final Fours, 5 National Championships, 9 title game appearances, 101 NCAAT wins
K put together an absurd resume, clearly the best in the modern era. 7 Final Fours in 9 years from 1986-1994 is a run I doubt we will see again (Calipari came the closest with 5 in 8 from 08-15). Had a 36 year span between Final Fours, and won national titles 24 years apart. 5 championships is the second most all-time, with no other post-1970s coach winning more than three. K had his flaws, which were felt particularly acutely in his last 7 years, but I don’t think staying on so long hurt his legacy, as he racked up 200 more wins and added an additional Final Four to break the tie with Wooden. All his tournament runs came during the 64-68 team era, where it was much harder to go deep.
John Wooden - Schools: Indiana State (1946-1948), UCLA (1948-1975) - Overall record: 664-162, 18 Pac 10 titles, 12 Final Fours, 10 National Championships
Wooden’s record of 10 national titles will never be broken. He deserves tremendous credit for building up a UCLA program that had zero tradition prior to his arrival, but once he got rolling he had the advantages of playing in a fucking terrible conference, an enormous talent advantage as legends such as Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor played three years of CBB, and a 25 team NCAAT that was divided regionally (i.e. Beating New Mexico State and Nevada earned you a spot in the Final Four). There simply wasn’t much parity back then, and had Wooden coached later on, I’d imagine his resume would look more like K’s at best.
Adolph Rupp - Schools: Kentucky (1930-1972) - Overall record: 876-190, 13 SEC Tournaments, 28 SEC Regular Seasons, 6 Final Fours, 4 National Championships, 5 title game appearances
Rupp spent 42 years on the Kentucky sidelines, same as K at Duke. His four titles were all in the segregation era between 1948-1958, and he only made one Final Four in his last 14 years of coaching. K had the better resume even before, but Rupp was truly knocked out of the debate when he won #5 in 2015.
Bob Knight - Schools: Army (1965-1971), Indiana (1971-2000), Texas Tech (2001-2008) - Overall record: 902-371, 11 Big Ten Regular Seasons, 5 Final Fours, 3 National Championships
Without Knight, there is no K. Captured three titles at Indiana from 1976-1987, and led the sport’s last undefeated team in ‘76. Notorious asshole who failed to make a Final Four in the last 15 years of his career, the decline was stark, though he did put Texas Tech on the map in the 2000s. Held the all-time wins record until K broke it in 2011.
Roy Williams - Schools: Kansas (1988-2003), UNC (2003-2021), Overall record: 903-264, 8 Big Eight/12 Regular Seasons, 3 Big Eight/12 Tournaments, 9 ACC Regular Seasons, 3 ACC Tournaments, 9 Final Fours, 3 National Championships, 6 title game appearances, 79 NCAAT wins
Roy’s resume is more impressive than Knight’s overall, but still weaker than K’s. The game really passed him by the last few years too, but he had a great career and probably should have won it all in 2003, losing to Syracuse by 3 in a game where Kansas shot 12/30 (!!!) from the line. Needed very good fortune to win the 2017 title, on the other hand, so 3 rings feels about right.
Dean Smith - Schools: UNC (1961-1997), Overall record: 879-254, 17 ACC Regulär Seasons, 13 ACC Tournaments, 11 Final Fours, 2 National Championships, 5 title game appearances
Deano was the king of Tobacco Road for much of his career, but somehow only won two national titles after making it to 11 Final Fours. Had he sealed the deal a couple more times, he’d be right up there in the GOAT debate, but he didn’t.
Jim Calhoun - Schools: Northeastern (1972-1986), UConn (1986-2012), Overall record: 873-380, 10 Big East Regular Seasons, 7 Big East Tournaments, 4 Final Fours, 3 National Championships
Calhoun may honestly have the best argument in the race after K/Wooden. He built a UConn program that had never been relevant outside of the Northeast into a power, captured 3 titles, and pretty much had K’s number. I’d even be inclined to give him half a title for UConn’s 2014 run, a team filled with his old players, led by a coach who crashed and burned immediately after they departed.
Honorable Mentions: Rick Pitino - if he wasn’t an idiot, he would probably be in the mix too. His Kentucky teams were fearsome in the 1990s, and had he hunkered down there for several decades instead of making the ill-fated leap to the NBA, I could have seen him winning 3-5 titles. Only has 2 as it stands, with the second one at Louisville being vacated due to an escort scandal. There’s a chance he may have had a final run in him in the ‘Ville too, if not for that further stupidity.
Denny Crum - Won two titles and reached six Final Fours at Louisville. Beat Duke in the final in that 1986 heartbreaker.
Tom Izzo - If the season ended in March, he would likely be the GOAT. Fifth all time with eight Final Fours, but only one title (Anus of April, lol).
Jim Boeheim - How could you not include a man who will likely Coach until he is 100?
John Calipari - His run from 2008-2015 was extremely impressive, with 5 FFs in 8 years. Some brutal chokes in the FF, though, and he’s never been the same since losing that shot at 40-0 in 2015.
Jay Wright - He has been the best coach in college basketball the last seven years, making three FFs and capturing two titles. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t win another at this point.
Bill Self - He churns out top 15 teams year after year, and now has two rings. Another coach I expect to win a third before he retires.