Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is listed 19th overall among Sporting New Magazine’s list of the 50 greatest coaches of all-time, as selected by a panel of 118 Hall of Famers, championship coaches and other experts.
John Wooden, who led UCLA to 10 Division I men’s basketball championships in 12 years, was a runaway winner, picking up 57 first-place votes from SN’s panel.
Krzyzewski, who is entering his 30th season on the sidelines at Duke, is one of just 12 active coaches on the list and ranks fourth among men’s college basketball coaches. He enters the season with a 833-274 record, including a 760-215 mark with the Blue Devils. Krzyzewski has led Duke to three national championships (1991, 1992, 2001) and is the winningest coach in NCAA Tournament history with 71 wins.
Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier, who starred for Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils, wrote an appreciation of his former coach in the new issue of Sporting News Magazine.
Wrote Battier: “On my senior night in 2001, we played Maryland in Cameron, and that was the game Carlos Boozer broke his foot. It was early in the second half and we didn’t have enough to make up for the loss of Carlos, so we lost the game. We were going to Carolina in five days. I looked at our schedule and looked at our team after the game, and I told the guys, ‘If we don’t get our act together, we conceivably could lose our next three games.’
“What Coach did, he scheduled a 7 o’clock practice the next morning. We never had morning practice at Duke. This was a new deal. And he shows up and he is the most positive person I think I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
“He outlined our strategy from that point. He asked our senior captain, Nate James, if he would be willing to come off the bench for Chris Duhon, and he inserted Casey Sanders on the inside so we could be a faster team. I don’t know how many coaches would be able to get their senior leader, who had started every game on the No. 2 team in the country, and make him realize it’s not
a demotion.
“He told us: ‘We’re going to shoot 3s. If we get the rebound, you throw it back out and shoot another 3. We’re going to shoot 40 to 50 3s, and Carolina will not know where it came from.’
“Carolina wasn’t ready for it, and we ended up winning by 14. We rode the confidence we got from the Carolina game to the ACC championship, and then we cut down the nets in Minneapolis.
“You look back and you’ve got six pros—of course you should win it. But no. It was the coaching and the positivity and the foresight of Coach K that allowed us to be champions.”
Wooden edged Green Bay Packers great Vince Lombardi for the top spot. Rounding out the top 20 of SN’s list: 3. Bear Bryant (college football), 4. Phil Jackson (NBA), 5. Don Shula (NFL), 6. Red Auerbach (NBA), 7. Scotty Bowman (NHL), 8. Dean Smith (college basketball), 9. Casey Stengel (MLB), 10. Knute Rockne (college football), 11. Pat Summitt (women’s college basketball), 12. Paul Brown (NFL), 13. Joe Paterno (college football), 14. George Halas (NFL), 15. Chuck Noll (NFL), 16. Bob Knight (college basketball), 17. Joe Gibbs (NFL), 18. Tom Landry (NFL), 19. Mike Krzyzewski (college basketball) and 20. Bill Belichick (NFL).
SPORTING NEWS’ TOP 50 COACHES
1. John Wooden, college basketball
2. Vince Lombardi, NFL
3. Bear Bryant, college football
4. Phil Jackson, NBA
5. Don Shula, NFL
6. Red Auerbach, NBA
7. Scotty Bowman, NHL
8. Dean Smith, college basketball
9. Casey Stengel, MLB
10. Knute Rockne, college football
11. Pat Summitt, women’s college basketball
12. Paul Brown, NFL
13. Joe Paterno, college football
14. George Halas, NFL
15. Chuck Noll, NFL
16. Bob Knight, college basketball
17. Joe Gibbs, NFL
18. Tom Landry, NFL
19. Mike Krzyzewski, college basketball
20. Bill Belichick, NFL
21. Adolph Rupp, college basketball
22. Joe McCarthy, MLB
23. Eddie Robinson, college football
24. Bobby Bowden, college football
25. John McGraw, MLB
26. Bill Walsh, NFL
27. Woody Hayes, college football
28. Connie Mack, MLB
29. Bud Wilkinson, college football
30. Pat Riley, NBA
31. Pete Newell, college basketball
32. Joe Torre, MLB
33. Bill Parcells, NFL
34. Tom Osborne, college football
35. Walter Alston, MLB
36. Bo Schembechler, college football
37. Toe Blake, NHL
38. Sparky Anderson, MLB
39. Al Arbour, NHL
40. Amos Alonzo Stagg, college football
41. Tony La Russa, MLB
42. Geno Auriemma, women’s college basketball
43. Dick Irvin, NHL
44. Ara Parseghian, college football
45. Chuck Daly, NBA
46. Bobby Cox, MLB
47. Hank Iba, college basketball
48. Tommy Lasorda, MLB
49. Gregg Popovich, NBA
50. Herb Brooks, NHL
Source: http://www.goduke.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204767085
