It was never fair for the media to keep harping on Roy Williams being “the greatest coach never to win an NCAA title,” just as it was never fair to keep referring to Phil Mickelson as “the greatest golfer never to win a major.”
Regardless, Lefty got his green jacket, and now Roy W. has his NCAA title. I’m happy for both of them.
Since the last Masters’, it appears that the media have chosen NOT to give Phil’s old title to anyone else (much to the relief of Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, I suppose). And I’m glad. That’s a stupid label that nobody deserves.
Will the media be as kind in basketball, or is there a new coach that reporters will now point to as “the greatest coach never to win it all”?
I’d guess Eddie Sutton. I think Roy had 40 wins before he won it all (good for him, and his team, BTW), and I think Eddie Sutton was second with something like 38.
Silly me, I thought that was a compliment. Like the label suggested that the person was capable and possibly great but fate kept them away from the top position.
I remember when Coack K used to have that bridesmaid label, before Duke finally broke through and won it all.
I suppose Eddie Sutton is the best without a title these days, but if he never wins it all he’s still a great coach. Lefty Driesell retired without a title, but it would be tough to argue that he wasn’t in the pantheon.
John Chaney could have picked this title up, but he sort of screwed himself out of any partial accolades at this point. Eddie Sutton is a great call though. Considering the volume of players Oklahoma State will lose this year, it doesn’t look too good for him.
To get this ignominious title, I would think the following would have to be in place:
A 10+ year career at one fairly major school or multiple multi-year stint at major schools.
Lots of regular season wins
A fair amount of tourney wins
Lots of high seeds, a couple of which mostly lived up to expectations.
Considering that, I would think the following are likely to pick up the moniker:
Eddie Sutton - Oklahoma State - fits all 4
John Chaney - Temple - Lacking a bit on #4, plus the whole issue this year
Skip Prosser - Wake Forest - Needs 5 more good years at Wake and needs to advance a lot deeper
Kelvin Sampson - Oklahoma - Probably 5 years and another Final 4 failure away from this
Rick Barnes - Texas - See Kelvin Sampson
Bill Self - Kansas - Needs 8-10 years at KU with fewer early flameouts
Bruce Weber - Illinois - Needs 8-10 years of deep runs
Bob Huggins - Cincinnati - Mostly fails on #4. Cincy always flatlines which keeps him out of the elite discussions. Plus, they seem on a downward trend.
John Calipari - Memphis - Good but not great coach yet. Needs to reach a couple of Final 4s first.
Billy Donavon - Florida - A lot of early flameouts. You have to get close and fail to earn a title like this one.
Mark Few - Gonzaga - A couple of deep runs, a couple of really good teams losing early. But, his continual role us small school underdog probably protects him.
I’d say ex UH Cougar coach Guy V. Lewis is in the “Greatest Coach Never to Win the Big Game” Hall of Fame, but no one has ever shown much willingness to put him in the Hall of Fame at all…
Eddie Sutton… greatest coach never to win it all? The same Eddie Sutton that was a massive fuckup at Kentucky? The Eddie Sutton that shouldn’t be coaching because of the rules violations he not only allowed but participated in?