10. Scott Drew (Baylor) (Last year: 7)
Overall record: 486-270
Final Four in 2021
National Championship in 2021
After spending a decade with his father at Valparaiso and briefly becoming the program’s head coach, Drew accepted a major challenge back in 2003. He took over a broken Baylor program and didn’t blink twice. Over the last two decades, Drew has turned the Bears into contenders, with several deep postseason runs and an NIT title. Most impressively, he led Baylor to their first national championship back in 2021, though the Bears haven’t gotten past the second round of the Big Dance since that breakthrough four years ago.
9. Rick Barnes (Tennessee) (Last year: 9)
Overall record: 836-423
Final Four in 2003
Unquestionably one of the elder statesmen in this game, Barnes has been a D1 head coach for nearly four decades. He began with solid results in stints leading George Mason, Providence, and Clemson before a 17-year run at Texas. Barnes took the Longhorns to a Final Four and plenty of Big 12 success, including 16 NCAA Tournament appearances. The final chapter of his long career has come at Tennessee and his decade in Knoxville has been equally prosperous. His Volunteers boast a few SEC titles and have reached the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons.
8. Rick Pitino (St. John’s) (Last year: 13)
Overall record: 885-311
Final Fours in 1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2012*, 2013*
National Championships in 1996, 2013*
We don’t have time to run through all of Pitino’s accomplishments and happenings, but he’s shown us that he’s not done impacting this sport. A former NBA head coach and two-time national champion, Pitino has had success leading Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, and Iona before landing at St. John’s two offseasons ago. After a solid landing, year two was the breakthrough for the Red Storm, with Pitino leading them to 31 wins and a Big East title while becoming the sixth team he’s led to the NCAA Tournament
7. Matt Painter (Purdue) (Last year: 6)
Overall record: 496-220
Final Four in 2024
Painter played guard at Purdue in the early 90’s but certainly his legacy will reflect his time coaching the Boilermakers. He had earlier stints at a number of schools and even spent a year helming Southern Illinois before agreeing to succeed Gene Keady in 2005. What’s followed has been great success over 20 years, with multiple Big Ten titles and regular trips to the Big Dance. Painter recently took the Boilermakers all the way to the national title game and is coming off another impressive trip to the Sweet Sixteen with a largely homegrown squad.
6. Tom Izzo (Michigan State) (Last year: 5)
Overall record: 737-302
Final Fours in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019
National Championship in 2000
Many years have passed since Izzo played and coached at Northern Michigan, as he’s been associated with Michigan State basketball for more than 40 years. He ascended to the head coaching job in 1995 and has won a ton of games over these three decades. Izzo has won 11 Big Ten titles, several major coaching awards, and has taken the Spartans to 8 Final Four appearances, including a national title back in 2000. The recent work had been somewhat stale, but Michigan State bounced back this season with 30 wins, another Big Ten crown, and a trip to the Elite Eight, the 11th of Izzo’s career.
5. Kelvin Sampson (Houston) (Last year: 8)
Overall record: 724-311
Final Fours in 2002, 2021, 2025
Another head coach reaching legend status in recent years, Sampson has done it all during a long head coaching career that included great work at Montana Tech, Washington State, and Oklahoma. After leading the Sooners to a Final Four, he flamed out due to a scandal at Indiana but has bounced back in a major way with Houston. Now entering year twelve with the Cougars, Sampson literally put the program back on the map, averaging more than 30 wins over the last eight years. He’s led a successful transition into the Big 12 with a pair of league titles and got the Cougars all the way to the national title game last year.
4. Mark Few (Gonzaga) (Last year: 3)
Overall record: 742-152
Final Fours in 2017, 2021
A brilliant case we may never see again in this sport, Few graduated from Oregon, coached at the high school level, and then landed at Gonzaga and has never left. After a decade as an assistant, he was promoted in 1999 and has transformed the Bulldogs from Cinderella story to national contender. Few has won countless WCC titles and taken Gonzaga twice to the national title game, with several other prominent runs and teams in between. This past season was actually the first time in over a decade that the Bulldogs didn’t reach at least the Sweet Sixteen.
3. John Calipari (Arkansas) (Last year: 4)
Overall record: 877-277
Final Fours in 1996*, 2008*, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015
National Championship in 2012
Perhaps discounting his time leading the New Jersey Nets, Calipari has been sensational at every head coaching stop. He built emphatic success at both UMass and Memphis, taking each of those programs to Final Fours (that were later vacated) before taking his show to Kentucky. Calipari was masterful in building great teams with the Wildcats, notching a national championship and 4 more trips to the Final Four. After progress had stalled, Calipari jumped to a new adventure at Arkansas last offseason and promptly took the new-look Razorbacks to the Sweet Sixteen in his first year in town.
2. Dan Hurley (Connecticut) (Last year: 2)
Overall record: 316-174
Final Fours in 2023, 2024
National Championships in 2023, 2024
Thirty years ago Hurley was a point guard at Seton Hall but now he’s established himself perhaps as the leader of the next era of collegiate head coaches. He did great work at the high school level before engineering turnarounds at Wagner and Rhode Island. His third collegiate head coaching stop was a more significant turnaround that came with even crazier results. Hurley landed at UConn in 2018 and has proceeded to lead the Huskies to back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024. This past year wasn’t a three-peat, but it was a fifth straight trip to the Big Dance and a solid effort for a new-look squad.
1. Bill Self (Kansas) (Last year: 1)
Overall record: 831-261
Final Fours in 2008, 2012, 2018*, 2022
National Championships in 2008, 2022
His teams may have struggled in recent years, but it’s hard to argue against Self’s entire body of work. His head coaching career began decades ago with solid work at Oral Roberts before taking both Tulsa and Illinois to Elite Eight runs in the early 2000’s. Self has been with Kansas since 2003, later winning an astounding 13-straight Big 12 titles. He’s notched a pair of national championships, several Final Four and other deep postseason runs, and has brought significant talent to Lawrence over the years. Yes, Kansas struggled to 6th place in the Big 12 last year, but you’ll always find Self’s teams in the NCAA Tournament.