The perception in college basketball is that most players choose to attend a college first and foremost for their school's coach. Many schools have a dream season every few years or once in a lifetime and other schools have had established programs for decades. The schools that are in between can attribute their success to star coaches that bring name recognition and attract players that might have gone elsewhere.
Mike Kryzyzewski, at Duke, Jim Calhoun at Connecticut, Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, Rick Pitino at Louisville, Lute Olson at Arizona, Gary Williams at Maryland, and Tom Izzo at Michigan State have all elevated their programs from schools that have had limited or no success before their tenure and have restored the lost tradition at their institutions before their arrival. Schools with big-time coaches and programs that have decades of history behind them in most cases do not have to rebuild coming off stellar seasons, they simply reload.
Mike Krzyzewski is the leading is the leading example of a coach's influence on a program. Coach K, Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the Cameron Crazies are the face of Duke basketball. Before Krzyzewski arrived in 1980, Duke had success in prior regimes, but he took Duke to a higher level. Before the Krzyzewski era, Duke had nine top-10 finishes, eight NCAA tournament appearances, four Final Fours, and two national runner-up finishes.
Since then, the Blue Devils have been in 21 NCAAs, 10 Final Fours, and have made seven trips to the National Championship Game with three championships. Since Krzyzewski's first Final Four appearance in 1986, the Devils have the most appearances in the Elite Eight, Final Four, championship games, and titles.
The Duke mystique has been able to take hold in large part to Coach K's ability to recruit nationally. He has had players from coast to coast and prior to 1999, he was able to escape mass early defections to the NBA. After Duke lost the NCAA title game to Connecticut in '99, Duke faced early defections for the first time. Elton Brand, William Avery, and Corey Maggette left with a total of seven years of eligibility remaining. All Krzyzewski did was bring in a recruiting class that included future NBAers Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy, and Carlos Boozer. They won the NCAA title as sophomores in 2001. With J.J. Reddick and Shelden Williams returning for their senior seasons, and another highly-ranked recruiting class, Duke will remain among the nation's elite for the foreseeable future.
Before Jim Calhoun's arrival, Connecticut had limited success. Thirteen NCAA tournament appearances culminated with a trip to the Elite Eight in 1964. After a seven-year drought of NCAA trips, Calhoun was hired to transform the culture of UConn basketball. The Huskies started turning things in around with an NIT championship in Calhoun's second season.
The NCAA drought ended in his fourth year in Storrs. It took a Christian Laettner shot at the buzzer to prevent their first ever trip to the Final Four. It would take three more Sweet 16 appearances and two more trips to the Elite before UConn would materialize before UConn earned its first trip to the Final Four in Calhoun's 13th season. In an epic National Championship Game, UConn survived Duke 77-74 to capture the school's first national championship.
Five years later, All-Americans Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor recaptured the magic with a second championship in Storrs. During Calhoun's tenure, he has turned an average program into one with a national standing. In addition to the two national champions, the Huskies have won 15 Big East Titles, appeared in 18 consecutive postseasons, and sent 14 players to the NBA. Success builds success. The Huskies' greatness has allowed Calhoun to recruit nationally. Okafor came from Houston, Ray Allen from South Carolina, and Caron Butler from Wisconsin. Only two years removed from a national championship, UConn is expected to challenge for a national title in 2006.
In the 1980s, the Big East was ruled by Georgetown and in the '90s and first half of this decade, by UConn, but the most consistent team in the conference's first 25 years has been Syracuse. The Orange is the only school from the Big East to appear in the Final Four in each of the last three decades.
Behind that success, Jim Boeheim has been the face of Syracuse basketball for 30 years and a big part of their basketball program for 43 years. Boeheim has been able to get some of the best players in the nation to come to upstate New York. Players have hailed from Baltimore, DC, California, Detroit, and even Lebanon. His stamp on the Orangemen and now the Orange has made Syracuse into a national power over the last 25 years. No one has been associated with their school longer than Boeheim has been was Syracuse. He went from a walk-on in 1962 to the backcourt mate and co-captain with Hall of Famer Dave Bing as senior.
Beginning his 30th season, Boeheim has posted a 703-241 record including a 40-23 record in NCAA tournament games. He was inducted as part of the 2005 Hall of Fame class with Calhoun and taken Syracuse to three national championship games, winning his and the school's first national championship in 2003.
The stability Boeheim has provided has helped make them one of the biggest programs in college basketball. They are among the leaders in attendance on an annual basis, many of Boeheim's assistants have moved on to lead their own programs and he has sent 22 players to the NBA. The biggest testament to his success is the success of his former assistants heading their own programs. Louis Orr at Seton Hall, Tim Welsh at Providence, and Rick Pitino have all taken their own programs to the NCAA tournament.
After Louisville started slipping and lost the shine at the end of the Denny Crum era, UL Athletic Director Tom Jurich tabbed a former enemy to bring the prestige back to Derby City. Jurich wanted a high-profile coach with experience and in Pitino he got one of the most successful coaches in the history of college basketball.
Hall of Famer Crum built Louisville into a national power. During the 1980s, the Cardinals made four trips to the Final Four, including national championships in 1980 and 1986. Louisville fell off in the early 1990s before Crum's last stand with a trip to the Elite Eight behind Dejuan Wheat in 1997. Crum wasn't able to build on that final success and retired at the end of the 2001 season.
Pitino's time with Jim Boeheim at Syracuse was well-documented during their match up in the 1996 NCAA Championship while he was at Kentucky. His second coaching job was as an assistant at Syracuse under Boeheim in 1976-78.
Pitino left the 'Cuse for a head coaching job at Boston University and led the Terriers to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 24 years in 1983. The accomplishment that made Pitino a household name to college basketball fans and followers nationally was Providence's improbable run to the Final Four in 1987. That team was led by Billy Donovan, who now front's the Florida program.
NBA stints with the Knicks and Celtics book-ended around Pitino rebuilding Kentucky into a national power after a string of scandals in the late 1980s. While in Lexington, Pitino took the Wildcats to three Final Fours in his last five seasons. Included were a national championship in 1996 and a runner-up in 1997. He also set the stage for the 1998 national championship. An overtime loss to Arizona in '97 was all that prevented Kentucky from capturing three straight national championships.
Pitino's hiring set off alarms in Kentucky. The once enemy went from hero to villain in Lexington and villain to hero in Louisville. A trip to the 2005 Final Four in his fourth season at UL matched the same accomplishment at Kentucky. Pitino's presence on the sideline has Louisville poised to become a national power once again. The Cardinals should become a regular fixture on national TV and make frequent trips deep into March. Their move to the Big East is a perfect match.
Many people are surprised that Arizona has the best record in college basketball since 1988. Lute Olson has also led his teams to 21 consecutive NCAA tournament (the nation's longest current streak and second longest ever), and been seeded lower than fifth only once during that span. Before Olson took the reign in the Tucson following the 1983 season, the Wildcats had only limited success. They had only three NCAA tournament appearances and their trip to the Elite Eight in 1976 accounted for the only two tournament wins in school history.
Olson's mission was to change the culture and expectations in Southern Arizona. He led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament in only his second season. After three straight first round defeats (including a loss at home to UTEP in the 1987 tournament), Arizona entered the national scene to stay in 1988. Behind Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, and Tom Tolbert, Arizona cruised to its first Final Four in school history. A 26.7 average margin of victory dispelled any doubters. That team set the stage for Arizona to become a program with a national profile.
Since 1988, the Cats have had six more trips to the Elite Eight, three more to the Final Four and have appeared in two National Championship Games, culminating with the '97 national championship. In 22 years in Tucson, Olson has compiled a 549-164 record, sent 26 players to the NBA, and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2002.
Olson has built in Arizona into a national power in a place that many thought to be impossible. Players flock to Tucson for his guidance. Despite the loss of his two best players from last season, Olson has the 'Cats back in the preseason top-10. Reloading, rather than rebuilding, is the norm at UA.
The loyalty shown by his former players have helped build the program. Former stars Reggie Geary and Miles Simon have joined the coaching staff as assistants this season. Geary was a starter on Olson's second Final Four team at UA and Simon was the Most Outstanding Player in the 1997 NCAA tournament. With possibly the most talent the Wildcats have ever had, the success should continue for Olson.
Jim Boeheim is not the only successful coach who has brought the spotlight to his alma mater. After building successful programs at American, Boston College, and Ohio State, Gary Williams landed his dream job at the end of the 1989 season. He was tabbed to rescue a scandal-ridden program at Maryland.
The Terrapins had success prior to Williams' arrival, but it took the feisty coach to elevate the school to heights it hadn't reached in the eras that preceded him. Williams took time to drive Maryland in the right direction. The Terrapins didn't reach the NCAA tournament until Williams' fifth year in College Park. By season five, the Terps became a staple in the NCAAs. They made a splash with a trip to the Sweet 16 in the 1994 NCAAs. The run in 1994 began a stretch of seven Sweet 16 appearances in 10 years.
In 2001, Williams's and Maryland finally landed in their first-ever Final Four. The Terrapins bowed out to archrival Duke, their fourth loss to the Blue Devils that season. That loss would propel Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, and company to a national championship the following season.
Williams has been able to apply his own Bulldog approach in his own teams. Maryland always plays hard, tough-minded, team basketball. The past two seasons haven't been up to recent Maryland standards, but in 2006, they should be improved. Williams provides Maryland with stability, intensity, and loyalty. Few coaches can match his dedication and caring for the university they coach at. As long as he in College Park, the Terrapins should be able to compete for the nation's best players.
As Rick Pitino found out at Louisville, replacing a legend is never easy. When Tom Izzo replaced Judd Heathcote at Michigan State, not much was known about the Michigan native. Izzo was an assistant under Heathcote with no head coaching experience when he took over. Other than the 1979 national championship team led by Magic Johnson, MSU was a school with limited success before Izzo took control.
With Izzo, the accomplishments were elevated. He eschewed the formula of bringing in players from all over the country and internationally to build a dominant program. The path to glory in the Big 10 and deep runs into the NCAA tournament began with the "Flintstones." Mateen Cleaves and Maurice Peterson formed the core of Izzo teams of the late-'90s and 2000 that captured the national championship and appeared in the 1999 Final Four. After they moved on, the Spartans went to the Final Four again in 2001. Their appearance this past season was their fourth Final Four in seven seasons. That success gave Michigan State a national profile and allowed Izzo to bring in players from all over the nation and internationally.
Izzo has made MSU into one of the nation's elite programs. They are frequently on national television and played in front of the largest crowd in college basketball history two years ago. MSU and Kentucky drew 75,000 to Ford Field in Detroit. With last year's Final Four trip, Izzo has his team poised to return to the elite teams nationally. The core of that team returns and they are picked in the top five for 2006.
Players first and foremost make their decision to attend their chosen school for the coach. These seven coaches have proven success in improving their players, sending them to the NBA and virtually guaranteeing runs deep into March. They are legends, Hall of Famers, and have the programs the networks want to televise. How their schools will fare once they move on will be the ultimate test for the University that they coach for. The next step is to become a successful program perennially no matter who the coach is. That company is very small.
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