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Top 10 coaching jobs in all of college basketball


List:
  1. Kentucky
  2. Kansas
  3. UNC
  4. Duke
  5. Arizona
  6. Ville
  7. Indiana
  8. Florida
  9. Nova
  10. Zags
Few things...

1. No way shape or form is Gonzaga a Top 10 job. Top 10 program fo sure. But a Top 10 job? Nope.

2. Most underrated job on this list: Villanova at #9.

3. Most underrated jobs NOT on the list: DePaul and St. John's.

IMO, jobs like UK, KU, UNC, Duke and IU are interchangeable. All 5 are programs that share the same advantages. None has anyting the other cannot offer.

For me the Top 10 would be:

1-5: UK, IU, UNC, Duke and KU. In no order folks, so put down the knives, swords and rifles...

6. Villanova. Great location. A better history than what most know. Facilities are solid.
7. Louisville: Has most of the amenities of the others...Only one problem---NCAA. To me that stains the job, and easily could drop it out of the Top 10.
8. DePaul: Dude, one word---Chicago. The right dude, i.e.a Calipari like recruiting dude, could/would smash it here. DePaul has some good , decent history. To me, a sleeping giant.
9. St. Johns---See "DePaul".
10. Lots of places could go here----Mich St, Michigan, Arizona...My pick?





Georgetown....See DePaul/St. Johns. Folks these are programs that are nestled in the center of great HS talent. Traditions that have been lost. I just think when you speak of jobs, you have to look at more than just history..You have to look at the ability to produce history. I think all three fit that criteria.
 
If money matters, then Syracuse not being on here is laughable.

Syracuse basketball could pay a head coach $25 million a year and still make a profit (net revenue).

Just sayin’. Not even a handful of schools can say that.
 
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If money matters, then Syracuse not being on here is laughable.

Syracuse basketball could pay a head coach $25 million a year and still make a profit (net revenue).

Just sayin’. Not even a handful of schools can say that.
Money matters....Along with many other things: location , recruiting grounds, history, facilities, etc..

TBH, there is not a ton of separation from said jobs. IMO, a job like a Syracuse is a very good job.

And seriously, bro----$25 mill a year?
 
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Money matters....Along with many other things: location , recruiting grounds, history, facilities, etc..

TBH, there is not a ton of separation from said jobs. IMO, a job like a Syracuse is a very good job.

And seriously, bro----$25 mill a year?

Not saying they would pay that much, but they could and would still being making money. I point it out whenever these topics come up because people tend to be surprised at the revenue Syracuse basketball generates. It’s easy to see that Boeheim only makes like $2M a year and assume that’s what the school can afford. But it’s really just because he doesn’t ask for raises and doesn’t think he should be making more than a couple mil to coach.
 
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Not saying they would pay that much, but they could and would still being making money. I point it out whenever these topics come up because people tend to be surprised at the revenue Syracuse basketball generates. It’s easy to see that Boeheim only makes like $2M a year and assume that’s what the school can afford. But it’s really just because he doesn’t ask for raises and doesn’t think he should be making more than a couple mil to coach.
Im curious Brooky. What type of $$$ does SU hoops generate.? Serious question.
 
Few things...

1. No way shape or form is Gonzaga a Top 10 job. Top 10 program fo sure. But a Top 10 job? Nope.

2. Most underrated job on this list: Villanova at #9.

3. Most underrated jobs NOT on the list: DePaul and St. John's.

IMO, jobs like UK, KU, UNC, Duke and IU are interchangeable. All 5 are programs that share the same advantages. None has anyting the other cannot offer.

For me the Top 10 would be:

1-5: UK, IU, UNC, Duke and KU. In no order folks, so put down the knives, swords and rifles...

6. Villanova. Great location. A better history than what most know. Facilities are solid.
7. Louisville: Has most of the amenities of the others...Only one problem---NCAA. To me that stains the job, and easily could drop it out of the Top 10.
8. DePaul: Dude, one word---Chicago. The right dude, i.e.a Calipari like recruiting dude, could/would smash it here. DePaul has some good , decent history. To me, a sleeping giant.
9. St. Johns---See "DePaul".
10. Lots of places could go here----Mich St, Michigan, Arizona...My pick?





Georgetown....See DePaul/St. Johns. Folks these are programs that are nestled in the center of great HS talent. Traditions that have been lost. I just think when you speak of jobs, you have to look at more than just history..You have to look at the ability to produce history. I think all three fit that criteria.

I know you are an Indiana fan, but imo (and probably most others) IU is a helluva lot closer to the Zona/Louisville/Nova tier than they are to the UK, UNC, Duke, and Kansas blue blood tier. I wouldn’t even say IU is a much better job than Sparty at this point. But again I understand you think more fondly of IU just like I think more fondly of Louisville, bc that’s who we root for, respectively.

Also don’t understand the “stain of the ncaa” making you consider taking Louisville out of the top ten yet you still consider Kansas as one of the top 5 interchangeable jobs when they are staring at ncaa violations and uncertainty as well. Not to mention Zona Facing the same thing. Plus half of the programs on the list could have the stain of the ncaa, if the ncaa had to answer to anyone and show any type of consistency in their decisions, ie unc fake classes, Duke/Nike/zion. Then Louisville, Kansas, and Zona who have already been stained. And obv UK has been stained a time or two or three as has Indiana, although that texting stuff with Sampson was some petty ish to get bent over for.

As for the original list, I don’t see Florida as a top Ten job, nor Gonzaga. Also the homer in me doesn’t consider the Arizona job to be better than the Louisville job, especially since we are in the acc now, not hopping around mid majors like we were for a large part of our history.
 
Im curious Brooky. What type of $$$ does SU hoops generate.? Serious question.

North of $30M most years and spending in the low-mid teens ($13-15M). So $25M was a stretch. It’s been a minute since I had looked at the numbers. It’d be more like $15-18M they could spend on a coach... theoretically. In raw revenue, ignoring ‘profit’, Cuse is top 5 every year and 2nd or 3rd often. Louisville is pretty untouchable at #1.
 
I feel like a lot of the revenue and profits come down to some creative accounting.

Cuse I get, playing in the carrier dome they can fit more people and sell more tickets.

I have no clue how or why Louisville is always at or near the top. The YUM center isn’t huge capacity wise. I guess corporate sponsors and such or all that good ole Adidas money, I really don’t have a clue.
 
Things could change at Arizona

But you have a basketball school with access to California recruits but without the baggage of UCLA.
UCLA isn't on this list because the expectations are crazy but they really aren't at Arizona.

Arizona belongs on the list.

With that being said.

I worry we could see the same thing happen at Duke.
Duke may find itself off the list if they have these high expectations that kill every coach after Coach K


I question Villanova and Gonzaga.

Villanova because it could be any Big East school.
What makes Villanova better than St John's, Seton Hall, Providence, UCONN or GTown.
Just so happens they have Jay Wright. Put Jay Wright elsewhere. Is it a Top 10 job then.

Gonzaga definitely isn't.
Mark Few stays there because the big pool has too many sharks for him.
 
North of $30M most years and spending in the low-mid teens ($13-15M). So $25M was a stretch. It’s been a minute since I had looked at the numbers. It’d be more like $15-18M they could spend on a coach... theoretically. In raw revenue, ignoring ‘profit’, Cuse is top 5 every year and 2nd or 3rd often. Louisville is pretty untouchable at #1.
I was asking b/c I had no idea SU brought in that kind of money..I wasnt doubting you. Just curious.

Impressive....Did not know. Damn.
 
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I know you are an Indiana fan, but imo (and probably most others) IU is a helluva lot closer to the Zona/Louisville/Nova tier than they are to the UK, UNC, Duke, and Kansas blue blood tier. I wouldn’t even say IU is a much better job than Sparty at this point. But again I understand you think more fondly of IU just like I think more fondly of Louisville, bc that’s who we root for, respectively.

Also don’t understand the “stain of the ncaa” making you consider taking Louisville out of the top ten yet you still consider Kansas as one of the top 5 interchangeable jobs when they are staring at ncaa violations and uncertainty as well. Not to mention Zona Facing the same thing. Plus half of the programs on the list could have the stain of the ncaa, if the ncaa had to answer to anyone and show any type of consistency in their decisions, ie unc fake classes, Duke/Nike/zion. Then Louisville, Kansas, and Zona who have already been stained. And obv UK has been stained a time or two or three as has Indiana, although that texting stuff with Sampson was some petty ish to get bent over for.

As for the original list, I don’t see Florida as a top Ten job, nor Gonzaga. Also the homer in me doesn’t consider the Arizona job to be better than the Louisville job, especially since we are in the acc now, not hopping around mid majors like we were for a large part of our history.


Every writer has subjective opinions on what schools to list.

Indiana is a weird one. People knowledgeable to the situation can speak on it better than me.

But I see it as a job coaches want to stay away from. Because they will end up getting fired.

I think there are numerous B1G schools that could be listed
Michigan
Maryland
Michigan State
Ohio State

They may not have the prestige of Indiana but they have the brand name, recruiting area but with less expectations..

Maybe not Michigan State after Izzo.
But Izzo showed what a good coach can do at a brand name B1G school.
 
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To me Indiana isn’t that far removed from being UCLA, minus 75% of the hardware.

Basically all their success came under one coach, knight, decades ago. much like wooden at UCLA. Sure they’ve sprinkled in a few FFs since then but so has UCLA. And it will be very interesting to see if the same fate falls on Duke once K finally hangs it up.

And we will just have to agree to disagree on Arizona. They play in the shitty pac 12 and have what one title, 20 years ago. They got nice weather and I’m sure Tucson is a fine place to live, but I Just don’t see them as a top ten basketball coaching destination. And they never have any trouble landing talented recruits, but they just don’t have the Resume of wins that the rest of the schools on the list have.

I’d have the UCLA job ahead of Zona for sure. I don’t think UCLA has a many crazy expectations as they did during their hay day. I’d say their biggest detriment is the opposite of that, in that in a city with so many pro sports teams and Hollywood, no one really cares about college sports in LA for the most part.

I just don’t think many major basketball programs’ coach would jump ship at the drop of a dime to go coach Arizona. Guess we might find out though if the blades ever fall off Sean miller’s ice skates.

And I guess I should acknowledge there is a difference in top coaching destinations and top programs. I’d have UConn, sparty, and a handful of programs that didn’t make the list over Arizona as a basketball program. But I’m sure living in Tucson and playing on the west coach is much more appealing lifestyle wise than living/coaching in storrs or East Lansing.
 
Not a Top job but a great place to coach...

Marquette

Good chance you will have success and move on to bigger and better things.
Especially since they are in the Big East now.

If you expand it to Top 25

Marquette belongs on the list.

But I think some of these Big East programs are interchangeable except perhaps Marquette.
 
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To me Indiana isn’t that far removed from being UCLA, minus 75% of the hardware.

Basically all their success came under one coach, knight, decades ago. much like wooden at UCLA. Sure they’ve sprinkled in a few FFs since then but so has UCLA. And it will be very interesting to see if the same fate falls on Duke once K finally hangs it up.

And we will just have to agree to disagree on Arizona. They play in the shitty pac 12 and have what one title, 20 years ago. They got nice weather and I’m sure Tucson is a fine place to live, but I Just don’t see them as a top ten basketball coaching destination. And they never have any trouble landing talented recruits, but they just don’t have the Resume of wins that the rest of the schools on the list have.

I’d have the UCLA job ahead of Zona for sure. I don’t think UCLA has a many crazy expectations as they did during their hay day. I’d say their biggest detriment is the opposite of that, in that in a city with so many pro sports teams and Hollywood, no one really cares about college sports in LA for the most part.

I just don’t think many major basketball programs’ coach would jump ship at the drop of a dime to go coach Arizona. Guess we might find out though if the blades ever fall off Sean miller’s ice skates.

And I guess I should acknowledge there is a difference in top coaching destinations and top programs. I’d have UConn, sparty, and a handful of programs that didn’t make the list over Arizona as a basketball program. But I’m sure living in Tucson and playing on the west coach is much more appealing lifestyle wise than living/coaching in storrs or East Lansing.


I lived in Southern California for about 15 years.
This was right about the time Arizona was peaking with Lute Olson.
Arizona could compete with any school for any of the players on the West Coast.
Isn't as much about the National Championships as they spent so much of that time as a Top 10 program. At times a Top 5 program.

Oregon and Arizona State are beginning to challenge their supremacy and Arizona isn't really a fixture in Sweet 16s anymore but it really hasn't slowed down their recruiting.

Everything with that university is situated around basketball. Very similar to another Southwest fanbase in New Mexico the University of Arizona has a very knowledgeable fanbase that makes their presence known


All subjective. I can't argue with anyone who has them in their Top 10 though.
 
Touche, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I will agree that Oregon and Az State are quickly closing the gap between the best pac 12 schools.

And ur right, they have always been a popular location for blue chip recruits, it just seems like their success on the court doesn’t seem to match their success on the recruiting trail.

Did Olsen not retire after winning it all in 99? Or did he coach a few more seasons, I honestly don’t remember. I just know I was glad to see them win it in 99 as opposed to those other, evil wildcats lol
 
Arizona State is closing the gap on Arizona? Really?

Hurley has yet to advance past the Round of 64. Arizona State has never made the Final Four. They've never won a Pac-12 title.

Yes, they're getting better recruits. They have a fairly raucous crowd. The hot girl to modest-looking girl ratio at ASU is impressive, so that will probably help. But, come on. Arizona State is miles behind Arizona.

Also, Indiana is not in the same league as Duke-Kansas-Kentucky-UNC. They're not getting the same results in the tournament - or on the recruiting trail. Still a great program? Yes. But, not in the top four.

I agree with those that said Gonzaga isn't a top 10 coaching job. Nobody is leaving a Big XII or Pac-12 school to get a "promotion" in the WCC. The WCC is a little underrated in my opinion, but Gonzaga can't be in the WCC and be a top 10 coaching job.
 
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I said Arizona State is beginning to challenge them...

Matters how far you want to stretch things out.
Last 30 years Arizona has been there majority of the time.

Even looking at Sean Miller he has had success but has an issue in Regional Finals.
 
I said Arizona State is beginning to challenge them...

Matters how far you want to stretch things out.
Last 30 years Arizona has been there majority of the time.

Even looking at Sean Miller he has had success but has an issue in Regional Finals.

Doesn't matter how far you stretch it out, Arizona State is not in the same ballpark as Arizona. Zero Pac-12 titles; they haven't won a conference ship since they were in the WAC; 0 Final Fours; lost to Zona 14 out of 20 times from the previous decade. ASU is getting better recruits, but their significance on a historical level is trash.
 
Doesn't matter how far you stretch it out, Arizona State is not in the same ballpark as Arizona. Zero Pac-12 titles; they haven't won a conference ship since they were in the WAC; 0 Final Fours; lost to Zona 14 out of 20 times from the previous decade. ASU is getting better recruits, but their significance on a historical level is trash.

I don't disagree but you can't say they aren't attempting to challenge them.
I think Oregon's challenge goes further back but they have been hit and miss.

Stanford was in the 90's. Then Washington was in the early 2000's.

So both Arizona State and Oregon could have the same thing happen. At least with Oregon they can continue their current cycle.
 
Remember...

Henry Bibby was coaching USC when his son played at Arizona
Something you don't see often.

That was what type of pull Arizona had.
Start at 1990 and research the number of McDonalds All Americans at each school

Arizona would be Top 5 if not right outside of it
 
I know you are an Indiana fan, but imo (and probably most others) IU is a helluva lot closer to the Zona/Louisville/Nova tier than they are to the UK, UNC, Duke, and Kansas blue blood tier. I wouldn’t even say IU is a much better job than Sparty at this point. But again I understand you think more fondly of IU just like I think more fondly of Louisville, bc that’s who we root for, respectively.

Also don’t understand the “stain of the ncaa” making you consider taking Louisville out of the top ten yet you still consider Kansas as one of the top 5 interchangeable jobs when they are staring at ncaa violations and uncertainty as well. Not to mention Zona Facing the same thing. Plus half of the programs on the list could have the stain of the ncaa, if the ncaa had to answer to anyone and show any type of consistency in their decisions, ie unc fake classes, Duke/Nike/zion. Then Louisville, Kansas, and Zona who have already been stained. And obv UK has been stained a time or two or three as has Indiana, although that texting stuff with Sampson was some petty ish to get bent over for.

As for the original list, I don’t see Florida as a top Ten job, nor Gonzaga. Also the homer in me doesn’t consider the Arizona job to be better than the Louisville job, especially since we are in the acc now, not hopping around mid majors like we were for a large part of our history.
As an IU fan I agreed with you until you mentioned Michigan State, IU basketball (in every category) is a better job than Michigan State. Keep in mind better program right now does not automatically equal better job.

That said, I have no problem with IU at 6 right now until they get back to winning, as Louisville has been slightly better recently. Me being a bit biased I’d have IU as the 5th best job based on history, revenue, and home grown talent but not by much. I’m not even sure Arizona belongs in the top 10.
 
Well in my defense I didn’t say sparty was a better job, I just said I didn’t think Indiana was a much better job, which is basically semantics, so I get your point.
 
To me Indiana isn’t that far removed from being UCLA, minus 75% of the hardware.

Basically all their success came under one coach, knight, decades ago. much like wooden at UCLA. Sure they’ve sprinkled in a few FFs since then but so has UCLA.
I always love this argument, I mean it's not true but it sounds good at least.

"Basically all of IU's success came under one coach," really?

2 of IU's five titles were won with HOF'er Branch Mccracken (their court is named after him. IU was also coached by HOF'er Everett Dean who played at IU before coaching them to three conference titles.

As great as Bob Knight was (one of the best) IU's program is bigger than him and it had national success long before he showed up. Every bit of UCLA's success was with one coach, that's not the case at IU.
 
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1. No way shape or form is Gonzaga a Top 10 job. Top 10 program fo sure. But a Top 10 job? Nope.


Mark Few told me this when he turned down the Indiana job. I asked Few, 'Did you ever imagine you'd turn down $1.5 million to coach at Indiana.' He said, 'Dan, we can win more than Indiana because of our conference, we have a better setup in terms of facilities.' They have chefs, they have private planes, they win every game at home without question. They can play anybody, anytime, anywhere. I would put Gonzaga with what they've done with that program, into the great job category in college basketball."
 
I always love this argument, I mean it's not true but it sounds good at least.

"Basically all of IU's success came under one coach," really?

2 of IU's five titles were won with HOF'er Branch Mccracken (their court is named after him. IU was also coached by HOF'er Everett Dean who played at IU before coaching them to three conference titles.

As great as Bob Knight was (one of the best) IU's program is bigger than him and it had national success long before he showed up. Every bit of UCLA's success was with one coach, that's not the case at IU.

My bad, I was totally misinformed. Had no idea they had titles under the McCracken fellow. Never even heard of him to be totally honest.

My mistake, I should have worded it, “basically Indiana hasn’t done anything since Bobby Knight was the coach.” And even UCLA has had more success post wooden than IU has post knight.
 
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My bad, I was totally misinformed. Had no idea they had titles under the McCracken fellow. Never even heard of him to be totally honest.

My mistake, I should have worded it, “basically Indiana hasn’t done anything since Bobby Knight was the coach.”
Well we've won the Big10 three times and made a title game since Knight, but other than that we haven't done much that's true.

This is a big year for Archie and the IU program as a whole.
 
Mark Few told me this when he turned down the Indiana job. I asked Few, 'Did you ever imagine you'd turn down $1.5 million to coach at Indiana.' He said, 'Dan, we can win more than Indiana because of our conference, we have a better setup in terms of facilities.' They have chefs, they have private planes, they win every game at home without question. They can play anybody, anytime, anywhere. I would put Gonzaga with what they've done with that program, into the great job category in college basketball."

The irony here is rich. Don't worry little buddy PU is a top 10 job too...in the B1G.
 
The irony here is rich. Don't worry little buddy PU is a top 10 job too...in the B1G.
I was just sharing a quote from Few for Borden from when Few turned down the IU job.

Oh, I know Purdue isn't a top 10 job. There are an abundance of challenges Purdue coaches face which "bluebloods" do not. Which is why it's funny to me that Purdue has won 10 of 11 against IU (banners response in 3....2....).
 
I was just sharing a quote from Few for Borden from when Few turned down the IU job.

Oh, I know Purdue isn't a top 10 job. There are an abundance of challenges Purdue coaches face which "bluebloods" do not. Which is why it's funny to me that Purdue has won 10 of 11 against IU (banners response in 3....2....).

No need to mention banners. I know PU fans don't give 2 shits about them anyway.
 
Arizona State is closing the gap on Arizona? Really?

Hurley has yet to advance past the Round of 64. Arizona State has never made the Final Four. They've never won a Pac-12 title.

Yes, they're getting better recruits. They have a fairly raucous crowd. The hot girl to modest-looking girl ratio at ASU is impressive, so that will probably help. But, come on. Arizona State is miles behind Arizona.

Also, Indiana is not in the same league as Duke-Kansas-Kentucky-UNC. They're not getting the same results in the tournament - or on the recruiting trail. Still a great program? Yes. But, not in the top four.

I agree with those that said Gonzaga isn't a top 10 coaching job. Nobody is leaving a Big XII or Pac-12 school to get a "promotion" in the WCC. The WCC is a little underrated in my opinion, but Gonzaga can't be in the WCC and be a top 10 coaching job.
this is gospel!
 
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This is a subjective list.

Each coach has their own list and most of them are different.

Indiana is one of those jobs that some people are high on while others not so much.
Indiana basketball is a different animal. Good chance if you are from Indiana you are going to have the job much higher than others especially if you are a fan.

More than that...
History is only important if you know how to use it. You can have had great success in the past but if you aren't using it schools who are having success today don't have to sell it because the recruits see it.

To me this is the difference between Arizona and Indiana.

If you are under 40 you don't remember Indiana basketball as a consistent program
But you do with programs like Arizona.
Duke is probably the best example. Arizona to a lesser extent.

Indiana as of right now only has 8 first round NBA draft picks since 2000. Respectable but not to the level of others

Including Arizona. As of right now they have 11 with for sure another one this year.


All recruits today were born after 2000...

Hate to tell you but very few of these recruits even know who Indiana basketball is when you get outside of the Midwest.
They know Michigan State. Michigan always has hype same with Ohio State.
 
Did Olsen not retire after winning it all in 99? Or did he coach a few more seasons, I honestly don’t remember. I just know I was glad to see them win it in 99 as opposed to those other, evil wildcats lol
97.

UConn won in 99, and Olson retired in 08.
 
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Arizona was suppose to have a team capable of going undefeated in 2001
Never happened. Was all hype.
They ended up playing pretty well in the tournament but lost the NC game in 2001.
Duke just really wanted it. I think they had a couple players left on their 1999 team who should won have the NC

From a basketball POV and not talent that was probably his best team. They did have talent as well.
Richard Jefferson and Luke Walton were such high IQ basketball players.
Funny thing is Gilbert Arenas was overshadowed in the backcourt.
 
Two Final Fours in history and not one since 1980...but please feel free to continue talking about IU's dusty National Championship banners. Being a never was must suck
Yep, one of the many disadvantages Purdue has.
 
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