Big East Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 11, 2020

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 16: Collin Gillespie #2 and Phil Booth #5 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrate with head coach Jay Wright after the Wildcats defeated the Seton Hall Pirates to win their third consecutive Big East Tournament championship at Madison Square Garden, on March 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images) /

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SOUTH BEND, IN – JANUARY 22: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

3. Big East Basketball power rankings – Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 2000-2013)

No head coach has fully embodied the way Boeheim has become synonymous with Syracuse. A former player and assistant, he’s been head coach since 1976, led the Orange into the Big East in 1979, and continued to lead them to success by the turn of the century. Boeheim is directly responsible for just about all of the success this program has ever had, and much of it has come at the expense of the other Big East teams.

The instant highlight is the 2003 team, led by Carmelo Anthony, that won the school’s first national championship. Syracuse returned to the Final Four in 2013, their final season in the conference, which came right after a (vacated) Elite Eight run the year prior. In the thirteen years we’re focusing on, Syracuse made 10 NCAA Tournaments, including six trips beyond the opening weekend. They were in the top half of the Big East in each of those seasons as well.

Bringing the national title to Syracuse was a real accomplishment, let alone all the wins that Boeheim continues to rack up. His Orange has played in the ACC since 2013, but he’s set to begin his 45th season as head coach. We might never see a head coach with that kind of consistency and program loyalty ever again in college basketball and Boeheim is a true legend of the game and of the Big East. Though despite that national title, a few coaches did manage to one-up him.

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