Humble Backgrounds: Small-College Grads Make Big News in NCAA Playoffs

March 16th, 2015 - 6:56

In a caste-like era separating the haves from the have-nots, imperial universities are seeking mega-conferences and, perhaps in the near future, a restrictive upper division. But the socially elite won't ever be able to exclude small schools from making a big impact on the NCAA playoffs.

Smaller colleges, many of them in the hinterlands, have supplied a striking number of the biggest names in coaching. From 1995 through 2000, five of the six NCAA Tournament championship coaches (Jim Calhoun, Jim Harrick, Tom Izzo, Lute Olson and Tubby Smith) graduated from obscure colleges with smaller enrollments. In fact, it is a rarity for a Final Four not to feature at least one coach who graduated from a non-Division I school.

John Calipari, a graduate of Clarion (Pa.) State, guided Kentucky to the 2012 national championship before Michigan's John Beilein (Wheeling Jesuit, NY) and Wichita State's Gregg Marshall (Randolph-Macon VA) directed teams to the Final Four two years ago. Following is an alphabetical list of 2015 NCAA Tournament mentors who worked their way up the ladder after graduating from a small school:

NCAA Playoff Coach School Small-College Alma Mater
Dana Altman Oregon Eastern New Mexico '80
Rick Barnes Texas Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) '77
Will Brown Albany Dowling (N.Y.) '95
John Calipari Kentucky Clarion (Pa.) State '82
Bill Coen Northeastern Hamilton (N.Y.) '83
Ed Cooley Providence Stonehill (Mass.) '94
Matthew Driscoll North Florida Slippery Rock (Pa.) '92
Steve Fisher San Diego State Illinois State '67
Mark Fox Georgia Eastern New Mexico '91
Jim Hayford Eastern Washington Azusa Pacific (Calif.) '89
Chris Holtmann Butler Taylor (Ind.) '94
Tom Izzo Michigan State Northern Michigan '77
Ben Jacobson Northern Iowa North Dakota '93
Edward Joyner Jr. Hampton Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) '95
Steve Lavin St. John's Chapman (Calif.) '88
Gregg Marshall Wichita State Randolph-Macon (Va.) '85
David Richman North Dakota State North Dakota State '02
William "Bo" Ryan Wisconsin Wilkes College (Pa.) '69
Larry Shyatt Wyoming College of Wooster (Ohio) '73
Shaka Smart Virginia Commonwealth Kenyon (Ohio) '99
Russell Turner UC Irvine Hampden-Sydney (Va.) ' 92
Mike Young Wofford Emory & Henry (Va.) '86

NOTE: Illinois State, North Dakota and North Dakota State are now classified as NCAA Division I universities.