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Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 12-28-2020, 05:26 PM:

5. Orlando “Tubby” Smith (1997-2007)

National Championships: 1 (1998)

Coaching Honors: National Coach of the Year (2003), SEC Coach of the Year (Three Times)

This might seem impossible to put a coach with so much success this low on a list, but it’s Kentucky, where is he part of the UK Athletic Hall of Fame and the other four coaches were simply better.

4. Joe B. Hall (1972-1985)

National Championships: 1 (1978)

Coaching Honors: National Coach of the Year (1978), SEC Coach of the Year (Four Times)

Although nobody could, and likely never will touch, the success of the legendary Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall did a rather phenomenal job after his former coach and mentor left the game. Hall played for Rupp in the late 1940s, and then was his assistant from 1965 until he was hired at the helm.

3. Rick Pitino (1989-1997)

Record: 219-50 (.814)

National Championships: 1 (1996)

Coaching Honors: SEC Coach of the Year (Three Times)

Both Tubby Smith and Joe B. Hall might have earned National Coach of the Year honors at Kentucky, but nobody saved the Wildcats’ program from danger quite like Pitino. There is no arguing that, either.

When Pitino took over after a nice run with the New York Knicks, he inherited a mess left behind by former basketball coach Eddie Sutton, who eventually went on to have a nice career at Oklahoma State. The Emery scandal in 1989 put the Wildcats on probation for three years. Kentucky also had to serve a two-year ban from postseason play and was banned from live television during the 1989-90 season.

2. John Calipari (2009-Present)

Record: 305-71 (.811) *through the 2018-19 season

National Championships: 1 (2012)

Coaching Honors: National Coach of the Year (2015), SEC Coach of the Year (Three Times)

After a failed experiment with Billy Gillispie, Kentucky hired one of the hottest names in the game, John Calipari, who had earned National Coach of the Year honors at both UMass and Memphis and had just took the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament title game. What has happened since only adds to the lore of Kentucky hoops.

In his first recruiting class with the Wildcats, Calipari signed the No. 1 overall prospect in John Wall as well as DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, and Daniel Orton — all of whom were selected in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft after their freshman seasons. The rest truly is history and a rather iconic recruiting run of this era.

1. Adolph Rupp (1930-1972)

Record: 876-190 (.822)

National Championships: 4 (1948, 1949, 1951, 1958)

Coaching Honors: National Coach of the Year (Five Times), SEC Coach of the Year (Seven Times)

When someone does so much, it’s nearly impossible to put it into words. That’s the lasting impact of the legendary Adolph Rupp, who coached the University of Kentucky for 41 seasons until 1972 before his death in 1977.

A Halstead, Kansas native and former Kansas Jayhawks star player under Phog Allen, Rupp led Kentucky to 27 SEC regular season titles, 13 more SEC Tournament titles, six Final Four appearances and four NCAA national championships. Remarkable doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Kentucky men’s basketball is what it is today because of Rupp. He helped create the legacy that nobody before could reach or after will ever be able to duplicate.

Link

[ 12-28-2020, 05:43 PM: Message edited by: catmandoo ]

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 12-28-2020, 06:57 PM:

Reading this just makes me think there are several coaches out there who would take this job in a minute knowing they would be on top of the world here.

Posted by ukman (Member # 3032) on 12-28-2020, 08:23 PM:

We cannot run Cal out of here though. The media would paint BBN as insane fans, that can't be satisfied. We are going to have Cal for as long as he wants to keep coaching, and we just have to pray he starts recruiting better TEAMS, and that maybe he actually starts looking at his own coaching and makes some adjustments.

Posted by Trey Ball (Member # 332) on 12-28-2020, 10:27 PM:

Just my opinion but he only got Adolph Rupp in the correct position.

1. Rupp
2. Hall (I'm not sure any other coach has every followed a legend and had Joe B's success)
3. Pitino - He rebuilt a program in one year that the NCAA wanted to see destroyed for a decade.
4. Tubby - I'm not sure Pitino would have won the Title in 1998. Tubby was masterful. He also played the toughest schedule year in and year out of any UK coach in the last 30 years and the SEC was deeper than given credit by the national media.
5. Cal (I would have ranked Cal here prior to this season. He is a great coach. He just happens to have 4 better ones in front of him)

[ 12-28-2020, 10:35 PM: Message edited by: Trey Ball ]

Posted by rlt4uk (Member # 3194) on 12-28-2020, 10:49 PM:

I agree 100% Trey

Posted by country cat (Member # 1774) on 12-29-2020, 08:46 AM:

1--rupp---2 pitino--3 cal----4 hall---5 tubby---6 sutton---7 billy clyde----just my opinion

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 12-29-2020, 10:07 AM:

I'm not even going to begin to pick the order of our coaches except to say that the record shows Rupp as the best ever.

Posted by Tiptree (Member # 844) on 12-29-2020, 12:19 PM:

I rank them a bit differently, probably because my criteria may differ. I look for coaches who not only win, but change the game. So, with that in mind:

Rupp was an innovator who contributed so much to the development of the game. His winning percentage is incredible. So, he gets to the top of the list.

BUT...

The SEC during his entire time viewed basketball as a step-child sport, and did not invest in facilities, coaches, recruiting budgets, etc. Rupp ran roughshod over a very, very weak conference. By the end of his tenure, the SEC was 'waking up' a bit. During Hall's time, there were signs of serious competition. Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee, and LSU built some very strong programs. Hall still won, but he had to work a lot harder than Rupp did.

Later came the rise of Florida, the occasional good Vandy, or MSU, or Bama squad. But, over time, it has been much, much harder to run up garish winning percentages in the SEC.

So, I would still put Rupp first (I think he was good enough to dominate the SEC today), and Pitino next. He also was an innovator who embraced the 3-point shot and the press, and was a winner while at UK. I put him here despite his horrible character.

Hall, Cal, and Tubby are too close to call, so let's call them even. Cal might get a slight nod because he did have one impact upon the game -- his embrace of the one-and-done player. Tubby and Hall were just great coaches and good people who managed to win in a pressure-cooker environment.

Then would come Sutton. He was a proven coach, but not much of an innovator. He sure made some bad judgement calls that forever stained our program, so he falls below the pack.

Pulling up the rear is Billy Clyde, who should NEVER EVER have been given any consideration as our head coach. Not an innovator. Not a winner. Not a good person. Tubby's sudden departure left us in a bad spot, but we had to have better options than that.

[ 12-29-2020, 12:27 PM: Message edited by: Tiptree ]

Posted by PaulCat (Member # 513) on 12-29-2020, 02:28 PM:

I think Rupp will always be number one. He built the program.

If Pitino would've never left and still coached at Kentucky today, I believe we'd have more championships than UCLA.

Posted by Bama Cat (Member # 153) on 12-30-2020, 10:46 AM:

I would have to agree with the more championships.

Posted by Old Norm (Member # 1482) on 12-30-2020, 11:04 AM:

IMO, having more championships would not be worth having a scum bag for a coach, but that's just me.