Humble Backgrounds: Small-College Grads Make Big News in NCAA Playoffs
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. Following is an alphabetical list of 2021 NCAA Tournament mentors who worked their way up the ladder after graduating from a small school:
2021 NCAA Playoff Coach School Small-College Alma Mater Dana Altman Oregon Eastern New Mexico '80 Rick Barnes Tennessee Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) '77 Brad Brownell Clemson DePauw (Ind.) '91 Andy Enfield Southern California Johns Hopkins (Md.) '91 Dan Engelstad Mount St. Mary's St. Mary's College (Md.) Greg Gard Wisconsin Wisconsin-Platteville '95 Joe Golding Abilene Christian Abilene Christian (Tex.) '98 Leonard Hamilton Florida State Tennessee-Martin '71 Chris Holtmann Ohio State Taylor (Ind.) '94 Tom Izzo Michigan State Northern Michigan '77 Robert Jones Norfolk State SUNY New Paltz '01 Ritchie McKay Liberty Seattle Pacific '87 Nate Oats Alabama Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) '97 Mike Rhoades Virginia Commonwealth Lebanon Valley (Pa.) '94 Kelvin Sampson Houston Pembroke (N.C.) State '78 Shaka Smart Texas Kenyon (Ohio) '99 Craig Smith Utah State North Dakota '96 Zach Spiker Drexel Ithaca (N.Y.) '00 Preston Spradlin Morehead State Alice Lloyd (Ky.) '09 Mike Young Virginia Tech Emory & Henry (Va.) '86
NOTE: Abilene Christian, North Dakota and Tennessee-Martin subsequently were classified as NCAA Division I universities.