The announcement that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will retire after the 2021-22 season immediately started a lot of speculation about where he should rank among the all-time best coaches in college basketball.
USA Today didn’t need long to put out a list of the top 10 all-time coaches and guess who is No. 1 — Coach K. That sentiment is going to lead to a year-long farewell tour for him and Kentucky has to open his final season playing Duke.
He has taken teams to 35 NCAA Tournaments and won 97 NCAA games during his 40-plus year career.
No one can be surprised that UCLA’s John Wooden is next with his 10 national titles or that Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp with 876 wins and four national titles would be third.
However, some of the others in USA Today’s top 10 might surprise you. Here they are:
4 — Roy Williams.
5 — Dean Smith.
6 — Bob Knight.
7 — Jim Calhoun.
8 — Rick Pitino.
9 — Jim Boeheim.
10 — Denny Crum.
Some Kentucky fans won’t like seeing Pitino on the list but he has a 659-277 record, has been to five Final Fours, has won one national title, and has taken five different schools to the NCAA.
What about Crum, the former Louisville coach? He had a 675-295 record, went to six Final Fours, and won two national titles. Personally, I would have him ahead of Boeheim and maybe others. I always thought he was terrific.
There is no correct top 10 list because it is all subjective. Anxious to see who some of you think does — or does not — belong on the top 10 list.
