2000: John Calipari (Memphis)
It’s a year when Bill Self landed at Illinois and Mike Brey arrived at Notre Dame, while 2000 also saw future star coaches like Thad Matta and Porter Moser get their first taste as head coaches. Regardless, this was always going to be Calipari, especially with what he accomplished at the tail end of his 9-year run at Memphis.
Calipari’s coaching career had already been successful, starting as an aide at Kansas before leading UMass to the Final Four in 1996. Prior to being hired by Memphis, Calipari had spent the last four seasons in the NBA, with three years leading the New Jersey Nets and a season on Larry Brown’s staff with the Philadelphia 76ers. He returned to the college game at Memphis and never looked back.
A recruiting wizard, Calipari brought names like Chris Douglas-Roberts, Tyreke Evans, and Derrick Rose to Memphis. He was a mind-boggling 137-14 in his final four seasons with the Tigers, leading the program to a pair of Elite Eights and the national title game in 2008, coming tantalizing close to cutting down the nets. While that Final Four run was vacated later due to NCAA violations, it’s still clear that Memphis had a monumental rise under Calipari, especially if you compare where this program was before him and where it sits today.