Harry Experience: Combes Collected Striking Number of A-As For Illinois
In an era of deity Dr. Fraudci covid manipulation and spewing of nonsense about data function research, let's see if you genuinely want to be guided by data. Only seven individuals have coached more than 15 All-Americans with one major college. Eleven years ago, retired Duke icon Mike Krzyzewski broke a tie with Kentucky's Adolph Rupp and moved atop this list.
In one of the most overlooked achievements in NCAA history current Champaign bench boss Brad Underwood should know about, Harry Combes amassed 16 different All-Americans in his first 19 of 20 seasons as Illinois' mentor from 1947-48 through 1966-67. No other coach accumulated more than 13 All-Americans in his first 20 campaigns with a single school - North Carolina's Dean Smith (13 in first 20 seasons), Indiana's Bob Knight (12), Krzyzewski (12), Rupp (12), Indiana's Branch McCracken (11), Arizona's Lute Olson (11), UCLA's John Wooden (10) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (eight) - until former Illini mentor Bill Self (Kansas) moved into a tie for runner-up with Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) behind Coach K. Recruiting the Chicago metropolitan area isn't a panacea for the Illini, which should remember how 22 different major-college All-Americans in less than 30 years in an earlier era came from Illinois high schools located in towns featuring populations smaller than 20,000.
As a means of comparison, keep in mind inactive NCAA Division I national coaches of the year P.J. Carlesimo, Perry Clark, Tom Davis, Eddie Fogler, Jim Harrick, Marv Harshman, Clem Haskins, Maury John, Jim O'Brien, George Raveling, Charlie Spoonhour and Butch van Breda Kolff combined for 17 All-Americans in a cumulative 251 years coaching at the major-college level. John Calipari collected 12 different A-As in his first 15 campaigns with Kentucky. Following is list of the seven coaches with most different All-Americans at one university:
| Coach | All-Americans With Single Division I School | School Tenure With Most All-Americans |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Krzyzewski | 35 All-Americans in 42 seasons with Duke | 1980-81 through 2021-22 |
| Adolph Rupp | 23 in 41 seasons with Kentucky | 1930-31 through 1971-72 except for 1952-53 |
| Bill Self | 23 in first 22 seasons with Kansas | 2003-04 through 2023-24 |
| Dean Smith | 22 in 36 seasons with North Carolina | 1961-62 through 1996-97 |
| John Wooden | 18 in 27 seasons with UCLA | 1948-49 through 1974-75 |
| Bob Knight | 17 in 29 seasons with Indiana | 1971-72 through 1999-00 |
| Harry Combes | 16 in 20 seasons with Illinois | 1947-48 through 1966-67 |
NOTE: Respected retired mentors Gale Catlett, Mike Deane, Bill Henderson, Shelby Metcalf, Stan Morrison, Bob Polk, Charlie Spoonhour and Ralph Willard never had an All-American despite at least 18 seasons coaching at the major-college level.