Stellar Sweet 16 also applies to the coaches
Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 2:53 PM
Filed Under:
Coaches, March Madness
When Tom Izzo’s in the Sweet 16, he’s usually the most accomplished coach in the field.
Michigan State’s won an NCAA tournament title, been to four Final Fours and won 74 percent of its tournament games in Izzo’s 14-year career, to say nothing of the five Big Ten titles and 333 overall wins in that span.
Michael Conroy/AP |
Tom Izzo
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Yet Izzo’s gaudy 28-10 record in the big dance ranks fourth among coaches whose teams are in the Sweet 16.
Let that sink in.
A coach who wins nearly 3 of every 4 NCAA tournament games ranks behind three other guys who are in this year’s second week. As if the field – which has all four 1, 2 and 3 seeds still playing for the first time – wasn’t loaded enough, it also has perhaps the game’s most accomplished coaches still in it.
Pick a game, any game. It’ll have an elite coach on the sidelines.
Seven of the 16 have already won NCAA tournament titles. Six have been to multiple Final Fours. Ten are among the winningest active coaches. Four are already in the basketball Hall of Fame. All but three have been to the Sweet 16 before.
Check out their tournament résumés and regular-season records below. The first eight have all been to at least one Final Four. The next eight haven’t.
Coach, school Tourney win % Record Titles/FFs Overall
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke .772 71-21 3/10 833-273
Rick Pitino, Louisville .755 37-12 1/5 551-196
Roy Williams, UNC .739 51-18 1/6 590-138
Tom Izzo, MSU .737 28-10 1/4 333-136
Bill Self, Kansas .727 24-9 1/1 376-144
John Calipari, Memphis . 706 24-10 0/2 445-139
Jim Calhoun, UConn .705 43-18 2/2 803-341
Jim Boeheim, Syracuse .627 42-25 1/3 799-287
Coach, school Tourney win % Record Best finish Overall
Sean Miller, Xavier .666 6-3 Elite Eight 120-46
Mike Anderson, Mizzou .625 5-3 Sweet 16 153-75
Jamie Dixon, Pitt .615 8-5 Sweet 16 162-44
Jay Wright, Villanova .600 9-6 Elite Eight 298-175
Jeff Capel, Oklahoma .600 3-2 Sweet 16 147-73
Matt Painter, Purdue .570 4-3 Sweet 16 108-54
Mark Few, Gonzaga .550 11-9 Sweet 16 264-65
Russ Pennell, Arizona 1.000 2-0 Sweet 16 21-13
Pennell’s listed at the bottom here for two reasons: His poor overall record and that he’s in his first season as a head coach, and an interim at that. That’s usually enough to overmatch any coach (unless you’re Steve Fisher).
Even more daunting for Pennell is that he’s the only coach in the Midwest Region who hasn’t won a title. If his Wildcats get past Pitino’s Cardinals next, they’ll face either Izzo’s Spartans or Self’s Jayhawks. To his credit, he doesn’t sound intimidated.
"That's kinda neat," Pennell told the Arizona Daily Star. "That's a good story, isn't it? … Wow, they can coach and their teams are good."
That goes for every region, really. Consider the North Carolina-Gonzaga matchup.
It features the game’s two most winningest active coaches, Williams and Few. Both have won over 80 percent of their career games, something only John Wooden, Clair Bee and Adolph Rupp have done among coaches with at least seasons of experience.
When Gonzaga prepped for UNC before a 2006 preseason NIT game, the two traded compliments, both about coaching styles and character.
"A lot of things we emulate at Gonzaga is what Roy Williams did at Kansas and is doing at Carolina," Few said then. "He's the best — he's a great recruiter, he's a great game coach and he does a great job because he does it ethically. He does it the right way."
The same kind of mutual respect is found in just about every matchup.
Jay Wright’s Villanova team looks awfully similar to Krzyzewski’s Duke squad. Both are guard-heavy and rely on perimeter scoring and tough on-ball defense.
But at this point, Wright can only hope to one day match Coach K’s accomplishments.
"It’s an honor to coach against him, it really is," Wright told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "He’s one of the all-time greats. He’s a guy who really respects our profession. He’s very, very respectful of other coaches. As great as he is, he treats all the younger coaches — treats everybody — with respect."
Of course, some of the compliments could disappear after the Sweet 16 games.
Memphis’ Calipari and UConn’s Calhoun have traded barbs for years, dating back to when Calipari was at Massachusetts. If Memphis plays Louisville in the Final Four, don’t expect Calipari and Pitino to exchange a hug at halfcourt, either. A Duke-UNC Final Four would dredge up the recent Coach K-Williams feud.
That’s part of what drives these coaches to succeed and it’s probably part of the reasons their teams are still playing. They’ve set themselves up to be successful, which shows in their NCAA tournament records and overall results.
And the guy whose team ends up winning a loaded tourney this year’s? He’ll be the toast of his peers.
