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Who is the best college basketball coach?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Mizzougrad96, Mar 27, 2011.

  1. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    Overall - Coach K

    Recruiter -roy williams or Calipari

    Game day - Izzo or maybe the Butler dude
     
  2. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Sorry, but neither Donovan nor anyone else compares to Calipari as a recruiter these days. Four freshmen first round draft picks last year (including the No. 1 overall and another top 5), three more likely first round freshmen if they all go pro this year, and have you seen Calipari's class for NEXT year? It's probably his best ever: the nation's top wing (Gilchrist), the top big man (Davis), the top pure point guard (Teague) and another Top 15 forward (Wiltjer). That's three more freshmen lottery picks and possibly a fourth first round freshmen for next year's draft.

    And I don't believe any recruiter has ever pulled off anything quite like his annual superstud freshman point guard streak from Derrick Rose to Tyreke Evans to John Wall to Brandon Knight to Marquis Teague next year.

    We can argue about the ethics of how Calipari does it, but there's no doubting the results. The guy's running an NBA first rounder factory.
     
  3. king cranium maximus IV

    king cranium maximus IV Active Member

    Go back and look at the classes Donovan has had post-titles. What happened to those dudes?
     
  4. Rufino

    Rufino Active Member

    Some bad evaluations there. Having his entire recruiting portion of the staff (Shyatt doesn't spend much time on the trail anymore) turn over repeatedly (Grant, Jones, Smart all left for HC jobs, and Grant's replacement turned out to be a total chump and was dumped after 2 years) was a big factor in that. Billy's Magic flirtation didn't help either. Calathes going pro in Greece after 2 years was also an issue - they hadn't anticipated that.
     
  5. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    He had like 4 Mr. Basketballs on his team this year. That's one hell of a popcorn popper.
     
  6. BrianGriffin

    BrianGriffin Active Member

    I'd put Coach K up in recruiting. He recruits players that not only play at a high level, but also fit into the Duke program. Usually to do that, you have to compromise in quality. Duke rarely has to compromise and has a roster with several future pros.

    To me, pulling that off is a lot harder than simply landing the best possible horse flesh.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I'm guessing it wasn't easy to recruit when you had Noah, Horford, Brewer, Green and Richard all drafted in the same year. You lose that many guys in the same year, the cupboard is going to be bare, I don't care who you are.

    His flirtation with the Magic definitely hurt him a lot. It gave coaches ammunition to use against him in recruiting, even though I think as part of the agreement that let him out of his deal with Orlando was that he couldn't coach in the NBA for five years.

    I thought that would do permanent damage to Florida, but if one of his players could drive to the hoop with 20 seconds left in regulation, or hit a free throw, they'd be back in the Final Four.

    I think UF has made the NCAAs something like 12 of 14 years with three Final Fours and two titles. That's not too shabby when you're at a school that admittedly cares about football about a hundredth as much as it does about football.
     
  8. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Coach K doesn't recruit. He chooses.
     
  9. BrianGriffin

    BrianGriffin Active Member

    If you listen to Jalen Rose, it's not that easy for him because there is an anti-Duke element he has to work against.

    And plus, what got him to that point? At this point, one may say the same about Cal at Kentucky. He did such a great job (cheated) at getting Rose, Evans, etc., and then did a great job polishing them for the NBA draft in a year, now he can land just about any top 10-15 player he wants because they know he'll get them to the league.

    I'd put Donovan a step behind because he couldn't parlay his back-to-back titles into recruiting classes that would maintain the program's high level. They were banished to NIT/early NCAA exit territory for a few years with some sub-par talent teams (by national program standards).
     
  10. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    There is some anti-Duke sentiment out there, but there's also the sentiment that if you go there, you'll graduate and play in at least one Final Four. I've rooted against Duke my entire life, but if I could choose any place for my kid to play, I'd pick Duke in a heartbeat.

    If Coach K brings in 3-4 players in a typical year, I wonder how many times he makes a scholarship offer and is told no in a typical year. I'll bet it's not often.

    That said, I'd also be curious how many players have been recruited by both Calipari and Coach K. I'll bet it's not many.
     
  11. I hate the way Calipari cheats, but until he's thrown out of the NCAA, he's by far the best recruiter. Nobody reels in talent like this dude, and as I said, it's not even close.

    Brad Stevens is the best game coach, taking Butler to consecutive final fours is one of the biggest achievements in college basketball history.

    Coach K is the best overall
     
  12. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    The only reason I didn't list Cal as the best recruiter, is because when you've put two programs on probation, you should be disqualified, but aside from that, he's clearly the best.
     
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