NCAA Basketball: Ranking the last 25 national title winning head coaches

There may never be a coach who begins his head coaching career as Steve Fisher did in 1989. He took over Michigan after the firing of Bill Frieder on the eve of the NCAA Tournament. Fisher’s first six games as a head coach were Michigan’s run to their first NCAA Championship.

He built the Fab Five, he turned San Diego State into a Mountain West power and he built a successful coaching career.

An alumnus of Illinois State, Fisher began his career at the high school level before spending a decade as a college assistant. He spent seven years on Frieder’s staff before getting the top job.

Those Glen Rice-led Wolverines lost an early-season game to Alaska-Anchorage but played impressive basketball when it mattered most. Fisher would be given the job permanently and led the Wolverines to title game appearances in 1992 and 1993.

His career at Michigan would end in scandal, but after a brief stint as an assistant for the Sacramento Kings, he took over the program at San Diego State.

Before his arrival, the Aztecs hadn’t exactly established themselves on the college basketball scene. Fisher built this program into a yearly NCAA Tournament contender, making six straight bids near the end of his run. Those three Final Fours with Michigan were sweet, but bringing a previously unheralded San Diego State team to a pair of Sweet 16s wasn’t bad either.

The Ed Martin scandal and inevitable win vacations put a cloud over Fisher’s accomplishments, though his work with the Aztecs remains unscathed. He put together Fab Five and brought real excitement to Michigan. Had he been able to stay at Michigan, there could have been even more success for a program that vanished from the spotlight under Brian Ellerbe and Tommy Amaker.