Dirtiest college hoops coaches ever...

Credit Gary Williams for a near-record turnaround of that mess. Of course, having Joe Smith and later Keith Booth for stalwart players on the floor and clean characters away from the court didn't hurt, either.

 

Another vote for Quin Snyder, who had to have learned his cheating ways from Mike Shachefski.

 

I know most people don't think he's entirely clean - probably even the fans of his school and program - but from personal experience, Rick Pitino is a name to throw on the list. I'm not saying he's doing incredibly dirty things like paying players, buying cars and whatnot, but he, at the very least, toes the line with nearly every prospective recruit.

Respect him as a coach. But off the court? The jury's out, in my mind.

 

Bob Wade to Gary Williams. What about Lefty Driesell? In the wake of Bias' death a bunch of academic fraud was discovered, as I recall.

Another one for Ellenberger; any time the Feds have to come in (Bliss, too), you've achieved a new level of filth. And Ellenberger learned to dress from Bob Knight, learned the combover from Gene Keady.

 

How long do you think he had to be clean at Kentucky?

What he did in 1991-92 is still the most amazing coaching job I've ever seen at that level.

 

No matter what you may think of Jerry Tarkanian, he did have one of the greatest quotes of all time in the wake of the Kentucky scandals (Chris Mills, et al.): "The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky it gave Cleveland State two more years probation."

 

Jerry Tarkanian and the NCAA. There's your Iran-Iraq matchup, BYH.

 

Begins and ends with John Wooden.

No one has been more sainted within the game by fans and media. Many have no clue about Sam Gilbert.

 

Well, if you want facts -- Huggins was Cincinnati's coach for 16 years; during that time, he graduated 27 players.

 

Bill Frieder has a special place in my heart. I could give two shits about what he did at Michigan, but his body of work at Arizona State is pretty impressive.

Rape, assaults and point shaving are a nice trio his recruits brought into the Valley of the Sun.

Oh, invite him to meet you at a casino some time. He is a documented card counter if my memory serves me correctly.

OU football recovered quicker from Switzer than it took ASU hoops to recover from Bill Frieder.

 

It certainly would be quicker. Good luck finding enough to make a list.

 

What a great quote. Reminded me to weave Rollie Massimino into the thread through Villanova's great championship game (some interesting quotes by players in later years about being 'up for the game'), through UNLV salary issues and on to Cleveland State which ended with 'off-court issues'. Massimino is an alltime favorite with his Petino/ Valvanoesque showstop stomping and his equally exciting teams; flatout lovable gift to basketball. Not dirty, just 'colorful'?