Humble Backgrounds: Small-College Graduates Coach Many of Top Seeds
March 13th, 2022 - 20:34
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 six years ago. Taylor (Ind.) classmates John Groce and Chris Holtmann are among the following alphabetical list of 2022 NCAA Tournament mentors who worked their way up the ladder after graduating from a small college:
2022 NCAA Playoff Coach School Small-College Alma Mater Scott "Griff" Aldrich Longwood Hampden-Sydney (Va.) '96 Rick Barnes Tennessee Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) '77 John Becker Vermont Catholic (D.C.) '90 Randy Bennett Saint Mary's UC San Diego '96 John Calipari Kentucky Clarion State (Pa.) '82 Ed Cooley Providence Stonehill (Mass.) '94 Andy Enfield Southern California Johns Hopkins (Md.) '91 Greg Gard Wisconsin Wisconsin-Platteville '95 John Groce Akron Taylor (Ind.) '94 Ray Harper Jacksonville State Kentucky Wesleyan '85 Eric Henderson South Dakota State Wayne State (Neb.) '00 Chris Holtmann Ohio State Taylor (Ind.) '94 Tom Izzo Michigan State Northern Michigan '77 Chris Jans New Mexico State Loras (Iowa) '91 James Jones Yale Albany (N.Y.) 86 Robert Jones Norfolk State SUNY New Paltz '01 Tommy Lloyd Arizona Whitman (Wash.) '98 Steve Lutz Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Texas Lutheran '95 Scott Nagy Wright State Delta State (Miss.) '88 Nate Oats Alabama Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) '97 T.J. Otzelberger Iowa State Wisconsin-Whitewater '01 Lamont Paris Chattanooga College of Wooster (Ohio) '96 Kelvin Sampson Houston Pembroke (N.C.) State '78 Shaka Smart Marquette Kenyon (Ohio) '99 Dedrique Taylor Cal State Fullerton UC Davis '97 Mike Young Virginia Tech Emory & Henry (Va.) '86
NOTE: Albany and UC Davis subsequently were classified as NCAA Division I universities.