Professional Grade: Hurley Faced Uphill Battle If He Left UConn For Lakers
Would Dan Hurley, who directed Connecticut to back-to-back NCAA titles, have found out it's a star-crossed crossing over from college to the NBA if he had accepted a position with the Los Angeles Lakers? Would Hurley have been more like Nebraska's Fred Hoiberg, who returned to his old college stomping grounds (previously with Iowa State) following a mediocre NBA stint with the Chicago Bulls, or a rarity such as Larry Brown. Just ask Detroit dumpster-diver director Dick Vitale if it takes more than a fresh or "pretty" face to make a successful transition. Only a handful of NBA coaches boast tenures as long as Hurley's contract offer (six seasons). Brad Stevens, who guided Butler to back-to-back NCAA playoff championship games in 2010 and 2011, compiled a losing NBA playoff record with the Boston Celtics (38-40). Ditto Billy Donovan with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls (19-27) after piloting Florida to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007.
Brown, one of the first six men to be hired by an NBA team after winning an NCAA championship, is the only individual in this category to compile a winning NBA playoff record. Three other coaches directed teams to the NCAA Final Four and the NBA championship series - Jack Ramsay (St. Joseph's 1961 and Portland Trail Blazers 1977), Fred Schaus (West Virginia 1959 and the Los Angeles Lakers 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966) and Butch van Breda Kolff (Princeton 1965 and the Lakers 1968, 1969). Neither Ramsay (8-11) nor Schaus (6-7) finished their collegiate coaching careers with winning NCAA playoff records, however.
Only Phil Jackson and Pat Riley coached in and won more NBA playoff games than Brown. Following is an alphabetical list summarizing the NBA careers of Brown and 18 additional individuals who aligned with NBA franchises as head coaches (10 of them lasting fewer than four seasons in the pros) after guiding at least one college team to the Final Four:
| Coach | NCAA Final Four Team(s) | NBA Years | Regular-Season | Playoff Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Beilein | Michigan '13 & '18 | 1 | 14-40 | 0-0 |
| Larry Brown | UCLA '80/Kansas '86 & '88 | 27 | 1,098-904 | 100-93 |
| John Calipari | Massachusetts '96/Memphis '08/Kentucky '11, '12, '14 & '15 | 3 | 72-112 | 0-3 |
| P.J. Carlesimo | Seton Hall '89 | 9 | 239-315 | 6-13 |
| Billy Donovan | Florida '06 & '07 | 9 | 399-319 | 19-27 |
| *Bob Feerick | Santa Clara '52 | 2 | 63-74 | 0-2 |
| Ed Jucker | Cincinnati '61, '62 & '63 | 2 | 80-84 | 0-0 |
| Doggie Julian | Holy Cross '47 & '48 | 2 | 47-81 | 0-0 |
| Lon Kruger | Florida '94/Oklahoma '16 | 3 | 69-122 | 0-0 |
| Frank McGuire | St. John's '52/North Carolina '57 | 1 | 49-31 | 6-6 |
| Mike Montgomery | Stanford '98 | 2 | 68-96 | 0-0 |
| Harold Olsen | Ohio State '39, '44, '45 & '46 | 3 | 95-63 | 7-11 |
| Rick Pitino | PC '87/Kentucky '93, '96 & '97/Louisville '05, '12 & '13 | 6 | 192-220 | 6-7 |
| Jack Ramsay | St. Joseph's '61 | 21 | 864-783 | 44-58 |
| Fred Schaus | West Virginia '59 | 7 | 315-245 | 23-38 |
| Brad Stevens | Butler '10 & '11 | 8 | 354-282 | 38-40 |
| Jerry Tarkanian | UNLV '77, '87, '90 & '91 | 1 | 9-11 | 0-0 |
| Butch van Breda Kolff | Princeton '65 | 9 | 266-253 | 21-12 |
| Tex Winter | Kansas State '58 & '64 | 2 | 51-78 | 0-0 |
*Feerick's NBA record includes one season with the Washington Capitols (1949-50) before he was named coach at Santa Clara.
NOTES: Jucker (Rollins), Julian (Dartmouth), Kruger (UNLV and Oklahoma), McGuire (South Carolina), Olsen (Northwestern), Pitino (Kentucky and Louisville), Schaus (Purdue), Tarkanian (Fresno State), van Breda Kolff (Lafayette and Hofstra) and Winter (Northwestern and Long Beach State) returned to college as head coaches after their stints in the NBA. . . . Ken Loeffler was coach of the St. Louis Bombers and Providence Steamrollers for three seasons (1946-47 through 1948-49) before directing La Salle to back-to-back Final Fours (1954 champion and 1955 runner-up). . . . Phil Woolpert, coach of San Francisco's back-to-back NCAA champions (1955 and 1956), coached the San Francisco Saints for one season in the old American Basketball League.