Winner From Start: Few Among Few Mentors With Nothing But Winning Marks

April 19th, 2020 - 8:10

North Carolina's blue-blood program went from no-show classes several years ago to no-show premier players this past campaign. Carolina Coach Roy Williams suffered his first losing record in 32 seasons (14-19). Despite incurring at least 14 defeats each of last four campaigns since aligning with UNC in ACC, the most illuminating item about Jim Boeheim ranking among the nation's all-time winningest coaches is the bespectacled "Baron of Upstate New York" assembled a stunning streak of nothing but winning records in his first 44 seasons with Syracuse. En route to cracking 1,000-win plateau, Boeheim's worst worksheet was 16-13 in 1981-82 when the NIT-bound Orange dropped four of its last five outings.

Adolph Rupp never had a losing record in 41 campaigns but did post one break-even mark with Kentucky (13-13 in 1966-67). Among active coaches, Michigan State's Tom Izzo never has registered a losing record in his first 25 seasons but had one break-even mark (16-16 in inaugural campaign in 1995-96). When assessing this topic, keep in mind the following mentors among the all-time biggest winners each had multiple non-winning seasons: Phog Allen (four non-winning records), Jim Calhoun (six), Lefty Driesell (four), Lou Henson (eight), Hank Iba (eight), Bob Knight (two), Mike Krzyzewski (four), Lute Olson (three), Dean Smith (two) and Eddie Sutton (two).

Gonzaga's Mark Few, who never has finished a season without being at least 12 games above .500, joined the following list of six major-college coaches in history with winning marks every year in college careers spanning more than 20 years:

Coach Seasons Campaign Closest to Non-Winning Record
Jim Boeheim 44 16-13 (Syracuse in sixth season in 1981-82)
*Jerry Tarkanian 31 16-12 (UNLV in eighth of 19 seasons with Rebels in 1980-81) and 19-15 (Fresno State in seventh of seven seasons with Bulldogs in 2001-02)
John Wooden 29 14-12 (UCLA in 12th of 27 seasons with Bruins in 1959-60)
Lou Carnesecca 24 17-12 (St. John's in 20th season in 1987-88)
Peck Hickman 23 13-12 (Louisville in 14th season in 1957-58)
Mark Few 21 23-11 (Gonzaga in eighth season in 2006-07)

*Tarkanian also compiled seven more winning records in as many seasons for two community colleges in California, where he won five consecutive state championships after notching a 14-13 mark in 1961-62 at Riverside City College to begin his coaching odyssey.