OT - Likeable College Basketball Coaches
Bit of a slow time for the blog during one of the best sports times of the year, so thought I'd start a discussion.
While watching UConn it occurred to me that Danny Hurley comes across as a pretty likeable coach, compared to most successful coaches. I really have no idea what he's like in his private life. But I saw a recent interview where he talked about the challenges of living in his brother's shadow and touched on some mental health challenges associated with that, it was pretty endearing.
It seems to me that there are so many very successful, yet very unlikable basketball coaches out there. Izzo, Knight, Boeheim, Calhoun, Self, K, Bo Ryan, Cal, Pitino, the list goes on and on.
Beilein seems about as good as it gets from a successful/good guy combo. I'd also add Painter and Few to that list. Who you got? What other guys would you put on that successful coach/good guy combo list?
Tony Bennett
Jay Wright
Gary Williams (but I’m biased)
Bennett's likeability takes a hit imo because of his team's style of play.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:01 PM ^
Jay Wright is one of those people who just has the look of a slimy dude, but who is actually a decent guy.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:37 PM ^
Nothing about Jay Wright's look says slimy. In fact, he looks like a decent dude but is actually a great guy.
I'm a big fan. Everything about him screams class.
March 31st, 2024 at 12:02 AM ^
I always liked Jay Wright and ‘Nova. They were always my “second team” all the way back to the Kyle Lowry/Allen Ray/Randy Foye days. They messed up a ton of brackets for me when they as a program never made it over the hump, but I was always pulling for them.
Losing in 2018 to (what turns out to be one of the best teams of all time) felt a lot less painful than losing to Pitino in 2013.
March 31st, 2024 at 12:18 AM ^
Yeah, I can't find any reason to dislike Jay Wright. I mean, I wasn't even distraught when they beat Michigan in the 2018 title game. It sucked bad, but at least it was a likeable team winning. Those kids played lights out and they were really well prepared.
A much easier loss to take than any of the others...
I dunno. Good looking dude, nice hair, dresses like he's in the Mafia, etc. Just sayin'.
March 31st, 2024 at 12:34 PM ^
Welcome to Philadelphia.
I was teaching at Hofstra Law School when Jay Wright was coaching the team. I met him a few times and he always struck me as a totally class act. Genuine and down to earth.
Jay Wright
John Beilein
Dusty May
Geno Auriemma
Dawn Staley
Dan Hurley
Kim Mulkey is the worst, which is sad bc I actually like her players.
Go Hawkeyes.
Mulvey is a trash human. I out Staley in the unlikable category because of the way her teams play.
I second not finding Staley likable…and that really is a Compliment of sorts. I don’t know many elite level coaches that are likable.
Gene Keady set the bar. Everybody since is likable.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:21 PM ^
Keady to me will always be the guy with the worst comb over EVER.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:01 PM ^
Lou Henson for the win.
Lou wins because they named the style after him: the Lou-do.
That was back when half the Big Ten coaches looked like the local State Farm rep, and the other half like the crooked head of the Galena, Illinois Chamber of Commerce. The jackets/pants combos were epic.
You never saw my Dad. He had so many dark strings going from one side of his head to the other that it looked like latitude lines on a globe.
I swore I'd never do a comb over. When my hair started to thin in my early 50's I broke out the razor and that's been my look for 20 years.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:30 PM ^
I thought Keady had a pretty good sense of humor off the court, and was fairly likeable. Definitely grumpy on the sideline.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:36 PM ^
lol never liked Keady (or Painter)...and the comb over baldy was gross (as is the max gel).
Steve Fisher.
Jay Wright.
Beilein.
Bobby Knight, Bobby Hurley and Kim Mulkey. /s
Mulkey is certainly taking some incoming lately, oof.
You forgot one...
March 31st, 2024 at 12:16 AM ^
So tiny!
John Beilein
Thats where the discussion ends.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:28 PM ^
I’m not sure how good a guy he was but Jerry Tarkanian was a lot of fun. And he gave the NCAA the middle finger on the regular.
Johnny Orr
John Wooden
March 30th, 2024 at 10:02 PM ^
Evidently your first name has to begin with a "J" to be in the running:
John Wooden
Jay Wright
John Beilein
Johnny Orr
I would rank these four at the top.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:24 PM ^
Wooden was as dirty as they come. His entire roster was paid for.
March 31st, 2024 at 12:21 AM ^
Yep... For decades!
But hey, if we're going to hold that against anyone, we need to hold it against Fielding Yost also. And I'm not gonna do that... I don't know how likeable Wooden was away from the court.
He did run a “dirty program” based on how he acquired recruits. However, I don’t think I have actually ever heard anyone who coached with him or played for him that didn’t express 100% admiration for who he was as a man.
Written 24 years ago, still true.
https://vault.si.com/vault/2000/03/20/a-paragon-rising-above-the-madness
There are these allegations but he, still, was the best coach with the best demeanor. Even top college talent requires excellent coaching if they are to be successful as a team. From a basketball purest side, those UCLA teams were a joy to watch.
What do you think Wooden would have done with 2 first round draft picks and an All American center?
Papa Sam, the construction man. Then "Lew Alcindor" was going to leave after his freshman year before he ever played a varsity minute, because he was homesick for New York. Sam saw him, greatly sweetened the pot, so to speak, and the rest is history. Wooden's first title may have been legit and he was a good coach, but the rest are tainted. He also worked the referees in a way that Izzo can only dream about.
March 31st, 2024 at 10:53 AM ^
what are you talking about man?
Wooden worked the refs worse than Izzo? On what planet?
From those whom could hear, with courtside seats, he very subtly was constantly on officials throughout the game to see things his way, he also was one of the better trash talkers, but because he wasn't loud and on the court, no one realized it, it also meant he was unlikely to get teed up because the officials weren't openly being showed up.
I was gonna make a joke about Kim Mulkey, but was beaten to the punch.
FWIW, I don't think you need to be Bobby Knight or Kim Mulkey to be a great coach. Indeed, I suspect that the reverse is true.
Go Iowa, beat LSU.
I was going to start an OT post about Kim Mulkey. I've read a ton of comments in the various articles about her and there's clearly one truth: if you're a fan of her team, you have no problem with her and in fact, think she's pretty great and a fighter. Maybe this is true of any fan. If it's your coach and they win, all the negative stuff about them doesn't matter and it's pretty common to make excuses for their behavior.
March 31st, 2024 at 12:28 AM ^
Witness Bobby Knight. IU fans the world over still sing his praises. He was an unchecked asshole - to that everyone agrees, even IU fans. But dear god they do love him.
I was in attendance for his speech at NGA that effectively ended him (and the NGA Director, Robert Cardillo, that invited him). Before and after the speech, he treated the females Cardillo assigned as assistants like men treated women in the 30's. It was a good speech - he was a great speaker - but what a schmuck. Treating women like that, in the 2010's, good lord...
The funny thing is once he got dementia, he turned into the nicest old man. I got my hair cut next to him a few years ago. He couldn't talk about basketball at all, but was all about pie and candy.
McCaffrey
Underwood
Izzo
Chryst
So many truly likeable coaches in the B1G.
/s
The Washington Post profile of her that came out yesterday (Saturday) didn't include any bombshells but painted her as a female Bob Knight who's entire identity is wrapped up in "us against the world." She obviously wins championships and is a "great" coach in that regard but what an awful human being. The way she treated her players who wanted to express any individuality, let alone in their personal lives, is reprehensible. One apparent difference between her and Knight is that most of his former players seem to love him whereas in her case that is far from clear.
Mulkey is a preening peacock who always wants the attention to be on her rather than her players. Just look at how she dresses. She is also the bitch who convinced Brittney Griner to stay in the closet her whole college career so as not to offend the Baylor administration. So, she puts winning over the mental health of her players, as well.
One of the things that stuck out to me in that article is her quote when she was sick. "I ain't testing," she said. I'd guess she thought she sounded tough but she really sounded like a selfish, entitled asshole. So you're sick during a pandemic and you don't give a shit if you get other people sick?
Greg Kampe