The 25 best coaches in college basketball

The knock on Weber since his days at Illinois is that he isn't a great recruiter. But his in-game tactics can't be ignored. He's won outright or shared regular-season titles in three different conferences (Missouri Valley, Big Ten and Big 12). In 2018, Weber also came within a game of taking his second different school to the Final Four.

It's hard to believe Drew is entering his 16th season at Baylor. When he took over the program in the early 2000s, it was in disarray amid turmoil and in desperate need of an image upgrade. But under Drew's watch, the Bears have reached the Sweet 16 four times and Elite Eight twice. They also won an NIT title in 2013.

The 2018 Coach of the Year in the Big East with Xavier, Mack will now try to turn things around at Louisville. The Cardinals program needs some rehabilitation and Mack, who guided the Musketeers to eight NCAA Tournament appearances and one Elite Eight, is a safe choice with plenty of upside.

Miller is in charge of revitalizing one of the most storied programs in all of college sports — not too much pressure. After taking Dayton to four straight NCAA Tournament trips, the Hoosiers went 16-15 in his debut season of 2017-18. This time, Miller has star freshman Romeo Langford to show off and help take Indiana back to the Big Dance after not being invited the last two seasons.

Entering his 35th season as a coach, Larranaga has totaled 631 victories. The 2013 national coach of the year has led Miami to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and four over his seven seasons there. However, the Bronx native might be most well known for guiding George Mason on an improbable run to the Final Four in 2006.  

Holtmann earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in 2018 after guiding the Buckeyes to a 25-9 mark and a second-place regular-season finish during his first season in Columbus. The former Butler boss believes his second campaign at Ohio State will be more of a challenge, but we should not put anything past a guy who has been named Coach of the Year in three different leagues over the last six seasons.

The winningest basketball coach in Wichita State history, Marshall is 20 victories shy of 500 for his career. He's guided the Shockers to seven consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by a run to the Final Four in 2013. A season later, Marshall earned national Coach of the Year honors after Wichita went 35-0 before losing to Kentucky in the Round of 32. 

Dixon won 328 games at Pitt and already 45 in his first two seasons at TCU, which reached the NCAA Tournament in 2018 for the first time in 20 years. The Horned Frogs have big expectations this season, and Dixon remains one of the most consistently successful coaches in the nation. Back in 2009, he guided the U.S. under-19 national team to a gold medal at the world championships.

Cronin has enjoyed tremendous success at Cincinnati, where he's won at least 30 games in each of the last two seasons. He's also one of six coaches in the country to lead his team to NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the last eight seasons. Cronin seemed destined to be a coach, considering his father, Harold "Hep" Cronin, is one of the winningest high school coaches in Ohio basketball history.

Barnes' coaching resume over 31 seasons is pretty impressive: 661 wins, 23 NCAA Tournament appearances, six Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights and a Final Four, in 2003. After making Texas a perennial NCAA Tournament participant through 17 seasons, Barnes is hoping to turn things up at Tennessee. Last season's share of the SEC regular-season title can't hurt.

No other Notre Dame coach has won more games than Brey's 403 entering this season. An assistant under a pair of coaching legends in DeMatha High School's Morgan Wootten and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, Brey has guided the Irish to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances in 18 seasons. They reached the Elite Eight in both 2015 and '16.

A coaching disciple of Bruce Weber, Painter recently signed an extension to stick around West Lafayette into the next decade.The three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year has taken his alma mater to the Sweet 16 each of the last two seasons and posted his first 30-win campaign in 2017-18 — when he also topped 300 career victories. 

He may be curt at times, perhaps a little standoffish, but it is tough to argue with Huggins' track record. "Huggy Bear" is third among active Division I coaches, with 845 victories entering this season, and his teams have made 24 NCAA Tournaments in 36 seasons. Huggins led Cincinnati to the Final Four in 1992 and West Virginia to the national semifinals in 2010.

Things have been a little rough of late and it's uncertain how much time Miller has left at Arizona, but he remains one of the most talented coaches in the country. Whether at Xavier or Arizona, Miller has won 367 games and made four trips to the Elite Eight in 14 seasons. He faces one of his biggest coaching challenges with the Wildcats this season, so it will be interesting to see how Miller handles it all. 

Kruger has been there and done that, whether it be in college or the NBA. He's won more than 600 games on the collegiate level and joins Tubby Smith as the only coaches to lead five different programs (in Kruger's case, Kansas State, Florida, Illinois, UNLV and Oklahoma) to the NCAA Tournament. His 1994 Gators and Sooners of 2016 each made it to the Final Four. 

Bennett's legacy might be slightly tarnished as the coach of the only No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed to fall to a 16th seed, but the reigning national Coach of Year still ranks among the elite in his business. His Cavaliers won a school-record 31 games last season, and Bennett enters his 10th season at Virginia having posted at least 30 wins in three of the last five campaigns.

Self has always been known as a top-notch recruiter, but whether he's gone outside the lines to be that good remains to be seen. Though his only national title came 11 seasons ago, he's guided the Jayhawks to three Final Fours in all and to an NCAA-record 14 consecutive Big 12 regular-season crowns. Some believe he should have won more than one NCAA title at Kansas, but that's one more championship than most coaches own.   

While predecessor Dan Monson might have introduced the basketball world to Gonzaga, Few has taken the program from mid-major power to perennial national championship contender. Few enters his 20th season in charge of the Zags as the winningest active coach in terms of percentage at .819 (535-118). Gonzaga has made the NCAA Tournament field in each of his 19 seasons as coach and finally got over the hump with its first Final Four and National Championship game trip in 2017.

Beilein doesn't have five-star talent every season, but there might not be anybody better when it comes to fitting his players into a system and building success from there. He's taken four different schools — Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia and Michigan — to the NCAA Tournament. Twice in the last six seasons, his Wolverines have reached the National Championship game when many didn't give them a chance. With more than 700 wins, it's wise never to count out Beilein and any of his teams.

Second among active Division I coaches in wins, Boeheim is likely the first name that comes to mind when mentioning Syracuse athletics of any kind. He's led five teams to the Final Four, won the 2003 national title and seems to get the best out of his players, even when there doesn't seem much there — the 2016 team is a perfect example. Like others on this list, Boeheim has had his run-ins with the NCAA but continues to show why he's a Hall of Famer.

Williams is up there with the coaching greats of the game, but he earned his Hall of Fame status at his alma mater in Chapel Hill. All three of his national championships and five of his nine Final Four berths have come with the Tar Heels. Also, Williams does not seem to be slowing down while approaching 850 career victories — which he should accomplish this season.

Coach K has adopted the one-and-done philosophy of late, and it helped him win a fifth national title in 2015. He has three freshmen who are potential 2019 lottery picks at the moment. No Division I coach has won more games than Krzyzewski, who also has taken 12 of his Duke teams to the Final Four. 

Many have won more games than Izzo or produced better talent, but perhaps nobody gets the most from what he's got to maintain consistent success. The Hall of Famer won the 2000 national championship, led Michigan State teams to seven Final Fours, eight regular-season Big Ten titles and a league-record 21 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. 

For as much as people want to bash Calipari for his one-and-done approach to recruiting and the issues he left behind at UMass and Memphis, his teams are successful because he can coach a little, too. He will also do just about anything for his players — present or past. He joins Coack K and John Wooden as the only coaches to make four Final Fours in a five-year span, with his lone national title coming in 2012.

Two national championships in three seasons is enough to put Wright at the top of this list. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Wright's approach to coaching and basketball is that he never seems satisfied. Wright, with 544 career wins entering this season, also has blossomed into an elite recruiter and could have another star in the making with freshman guard Jahvon Quinerly.