Weep On It/Think On It/Sleep On It/Drink On It. That could be the motto for Alabama, Brigham Young and Missouri after they remained the "Susan Lucci" schools of Division I upon each of them losing in the NCAA Tournament's second round. The troubled trio have participated in at least 20 NCAA Tournaments but never advanced to a Final Four.

Missouri has participated in a regional final four times but fell short in reaching the Promised Land. Boston College is another bridesmaid on multiple occasions, losing three regional finals (1967, 1982 and 1994) in 18 tourney appearances (22-19 record) since the field expanded beyond eight teams in 1950.

Alabama (20-20) is the only school with a non-losing NCAA playoff record among the following list of five frustrated institutions in a quagmire because they've made a minimum of 20 appearances without reaching the Final Four:

NOTE: Xavier's record includes second-round victory over Notre Dame.

After Richmond shocked Jim Boeheim-coached Syracuse in 1991 and Santa Clara kayoed Lute Olson's Arizona squad in 1993, the next three #15 seed victories over #2 seeds came at the hands of historically-black colleges and universities - Coppin State over South Carolina in 1997 and Hampton over Iowa State in 2001 before Kyle "The Mighty" O'Quinn powered Norfolk State to a stunning 86-84 decision over Missouri - prior to Lehigh generating a gigantic aftershock with a 75-70 win over Duke.

O'Quinn's stature shouldn't come as a total surprise to anyone who read CollegeHoopedia.com's mid-major summary a couple of weeks ago when he was designated the nation's best-kept secret. Similarly, Lehigh's emotionally- and intellectually-stimulating "road" operation on the Blue Devils could be a byproduct of their doctor/coach Brett Reed (see playoff coaches "Degrees of Success") being uninterested in them celebrating a 20th anniversary of their epic contest with Kentucky in 1991.

Norfolk State's bid to become the first HBCU to reach a Sweet 16 triggers a history lesson. Perceived in most quarters as picking-on-patsies fodder, the truth about black crime in basketball is that it's a big sin many fans don't know or can't recall the high degree of success historically-black colleges and universities enjoyed at the small-college level. For instance, Norfolk State appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament 10 times in a 12-year span from 1984 until finishing third in the 1995 tourney.

Most of these HBCU institutions currently are imprisoned at the NCAA Division I level, where they're little more than indentured servants doing the bidding of their major university masters almost always getting whipped on the road during non-conference competition.

What many observers should know is seven different historically black colleges and universities advancing to the NCAA DI level captured a total of nine NAIA and NCAA College Division Tournament championships in a 21-year span from 1957 through 1977 (Tennessee State from 1957 through 1959, Grambling '61, Prairie View A&M '62, Winston-Salem State '67, Morgan State '74, Coppin State '76 and Texas Southern '77). Coppin State is the lone school in this group to go on and post a triumph in the NCAA Division I playoffs.

Winson-Salem State saw what life looked like on the DI side of the fence and abandoned ship after only one season. All but two of the 25 HBCUs endured at least one season with 20 defeats in a six-year span from 2003-04 through 2008-09. The pair that emerged unscathed during that stretch were Hampton (worst record was 13-17 in 2003-04) and Norfolk State (11-19 in 2006-07).

Conference members from the Mid-Eastern Athletic and Southwestern Athletic have won only 10% of their NCAA Division I Tournament games. Alcorn State registered the first three of the following modest total of nine HBCU wins in the DI tourney (four in preliminary round competition; including Florida A&M's 15-point victory over Lehigh in 2004) since the SWAC and MEAC moved up to the Division I level in 1979-80 and 1980-81, respectively:

1980 Midwest First Round: #8 Alcorn State 70 (Baker/Smith game-high 18 points), #9 South Alabama 62 (Rains 22)
1983 Midwest Preliminary Round: Alcorn State 81 (Phelps 18), Xavier 75 (Fleming 16)
1984 Midwest Preliminary Round: Alcorn State 79 (Phelps 21), Houston Baptist 60 (Lavodrama 14)
1993 West First Round: #13 Southern (LA) 93 (Scales 27), #4 Georgia Tech 78 (Mackey 27)
1997 East First Round: #15 Coppin State 78 (Singletary 22), #2 South Carolina 65 (McKie 16)
2001 West First Round: #15 Hampton 58 (Williams 16), #2 Iowa State 57 (Rancik/Shirley 10)
2004 Preliminary Round: Florida A&M 72 (Woods 21), Lehigh 57 (Tempest 13)
2010 Preliminary Round: Arkansas-Pine Bluff 61 (Smith 14), Winthrop 44 (Corbin 13)
2012 West First Round: #15 Norfolk State 86 (O'Quinn 26), #2 Missouri (Dixon 22)

SWAC member Grambling never has appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament. Success wasn't so difficult to find for the Tigers at the small-college level. Beginning with third-rounder Charles Hardnett in 1962, they supplied one of the top 21 NBA draft picks four consecutive years through 1965. A total of 23 products from historically black colleges and universities now at the NCAA DI level were among the following top 22 NBA draft choices in a 20-year span from 1957 through 1976:

1957 - Sam Jones (North Carolina Central/8th pick overall) and Bob McCoy (Grambling/10th)
1958 - Ben Swain (Texas Southern/8th)
1959 - Dick Barnett (Tennessee A&I/5th)
1960 - none
1961 - Ben Warley (Tennessee A&I/6th) and Cleo Hill (Winston-Salem State/8th)
1962 - Zelmo Beaty (Prairie View/3rd) and Charles Hardnett (Grambling/21st)
1963 - Hershell West (Grambling/16th)
1964 - Willis Reed (Grambling/10th)
1965 - Wilbert Frazier (Grambling/12th) and Harold Blevins (Arkansas AM&N/17th)
1966 - none
1967 - Earl Monroe (Winston-Salem State/2nd) and James Jones (Grambling/13th)
1968 - none
1969 - Willie Norwood (Alcorn A&M/19th)
1970 - Jake Ford (Maryland State/20th)
1971 - Fred Hilton (Grambling/19th) and Ted McClain (Tennessee State/22nd)
1972 - none
1973 - none
1974 - Truck Robinson (Tennessee State/22nd)
1975 - Marvin Webster (Morgan State/3rd), Eugene Short (Jackson State and Tom Boswell (South Carolina State before transferring to South Carolina/17th)
1976 - Larry Wright (Grambling/14th)

Stature as a great player has never had anything to do with becoming a good coach. In fact, it can be a hindrance because of great expectations. But New Mexico's Steve Alford is among the 12 individuals in history to coach a team to the NCAA Division I Tournament after earning a spot on an NCAA first- or second-team consensus All-American squad. Clem Haskins is the only All-American who also played in the NBA to have more NCAA tourney coaching victories than Alford, the lone All-American to coach three different schools in the playoffs. Following are the All-Americans in this category:

Coach	School	Playoff Years	Alma Mater	All-American Years
Steve Alford	Southwest Missouri State	1999	Indiana	1st team in 1986 and 1987
	Iowa	2001-05-06
	New Mexico	2010 and 2012
Henry Bibby	Southern California	1997	UCLA	1st in 1972
Bob Calihan	Detroit	1962	Detroit	2nd in 1939
Bob Cousy	Boston College	1967 and 1968	Holy Cross	1st in 1950
Larry Finch	Memphis State	1988-89-92-93-95	Memphis State	2nd in 1973
Sidney Green	Florida Atlantic	2002	UNLV	2nd in 1983
Clem Haskins	Western Kentucky	1981 and 1986	Western Kentucky	1st in 1967
	Minnesota	1989-90-94-95-97-99
Walt Hazzard	UCLA	1987	UCLA	1st in 1964
Branch McCracken	Indiana	1940-53-54-58	Indiana	1930
Jeff Mullins	UNC Charlotte	1988 and 1992	Duke	2nd in 1964
John Shumate	Southern Methodist	1993	Notre Dame	1st in 1974
John Wooden	UCLA	1950-52-56-62-63-64-65-67-68-69-70-71-72-73-74-75	Purdue	1930 through 1932

NOTES: The NCAA did not distinguish between first- and second-team All-Americas until 1939. . . . Alford (5-5 NCAA Tournament record after 2012 first-round victory), Bibby (0-1), Cousy (2-2), Green (0-1), Haskins (11-8), Hazzard (1-1), Mullins (0-3) and Shumate (0-1) played in the NBA.

Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 6 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who was the only player to lead the nation in scoring average in the same season he played for a team reaching the NCAA Tournament championship game? Hint: He was the first player to score more than 30 points in a Final Four game and the only individual to crack the 30-point plateau in the national semifinals and final in the same season. He was also the only Big Eight Conference player to lead the nation in scoring.

2. Of the 60 or so different players to score at least 2,500 points and/or rank among the top 25 in career scoring average, who was the only one to have a winning NCAA playoff record in his career plus post higher scoring, rebounding and field-goal shooting playoff averages than he compiled in the regular season? Hint: The player scored at least 17 points in all 10 of his NCAA playoff games.

3. Who was the only football Heisman Trophy winner to play in the basketball Final Four? Hint: He won the Most Outstanding Player Award in a Liberty Bowl after setting a school record for longest run from scrimmage.

4. What was the only Final Four matchup to have both coaches opposing his alma mater? Hint: It's happened twice. The protege was an assistant at his alma mater for 10 years.

5. Who is the only coach to oppose his alma mater more than twice at the Final Four? Hint: He is also the only coach in the 20th Century to twice win conference and NCAA tournaments in the same year.

6. Who is the only unbeaten coach in NCAA playoff history? Hint: He is the only NCAA basketball championship coach to also be baseball coach at the same school when it won a College World Series game.

7. Who was the only coach with more than 30 NCAA Tournament victories to earn those wins at more than one school until Lute Olson (Iowa and Arizona) joined him in 1998? Hint: Three schools for the first coach were slapped with an NCAA probation during his stints there.

8. Who is the only coach in back-to-back years to win at least one NCAA playoff game in his first season with two different schools? He coached Butler the previous campaign. Hint: He was an assistant under three coaches who directed two different schools to the NCAA Tournament (Charlie Coles, Tates Locke and Herb Sendek).

9. Name the only school to gain an at-large invitation despite losing all of its conference road games. Hint: Three years earlier, the school received an at-large bid despite losing four league road games by at least 25 points.

10. Of the individuals to both play and coach in the NCAA Tournament, who leads that group in both scoring and rebounding totals? Hint: He was the leading scorer in the biggest blowout in regional final history.

Answers (Day 6)

In a caste-like era separating the haves from the have-nots, imperial universities are seeking megaconferences 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, aspiring to secure his first NCAA title with top-ranked Kentucky, graduated from Clarion (Pa.) State. Following is an alphabetical list of Calhoun, Calipari, Izzo and other NCAA Tournament mentors who worked their way up the ladder after graduating from a small school:

NOTES: Elon, Illinois State, Long Beach State and Tennessee-Martin are now classified as NCAA Division I colleges.

Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 5 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):

1. Who is the only player to score more than 30,000 points in his pro career after never appearing in the NCAA playoffs? Hint: He is the only former major-college player to become NBA Most Valuable Player after failing to participate in the NCAA Tournament. He was 0-2 in the NIT, where he lost his final college game by 41 points, before leaving college for the pros with one season of eligibility remaining.

2. Who is the only person to play for an NBA championship team before coaching an NCAA titlist? Hint: He was a backup to an NBA all-time great after being the leading scorer and rebounder for a team winning an NIT crown.

3. Who became an NCAA playoff coach after being the only player in history to participate with two different schools in the NCAA championship game? Hint: One of the teams he played for was undefeated. He coached two different schools in the tourney.

4. Who is the only coach to engineer a turnaround featuring an NCAA playoff appearance in his first full season at a new job although the school compiled a record of more than 20 games below .500 the previous year? Hint: It was his only year as coach at the school.

5. Name the only mid-major conference to have two different members reach a regional semifinal as at-large teams in the same year, beating opponents from the Big East, Big 12 and SEC in the process. Hint: Two other members of the same league achieved the feat in the previous seven years. Only two of its current members haven't won playoff games when seeded five or more places worse than a major university currently a member of one of the current consensus top six leagues since seeding started in 1979.

6. Name the only former NCAA Tournament champion not to win at least one playoff game since capturing the title. Hint: It's the first NCAA champion to have black players in its starting lineup and is the only school to win the NCAA playoffs and NIT in the same year. The school is also the only former major college to compile a winning playoff record in the Division I Tournament.

7. Name the school with the most playoff games decided by one or two points (four) on its way to a championship. Hint: It was the first school to need six victories to claim the national crown and is the only school to have two different coaches capture a national championship after compiling a losing record in their first seasons as a major-college head coach.

8. Who is the only coach to win his first 12 tournament games decided in overtime or by fewer than six points in regulation? Hint: His first of three NCAA championship game teams had four players become NBA first-round draft choices.

9. Name the only state to have more than six different schools reach the Final Four. Hint: The state went 31 years between its two national championships.

10. Name the only person to coach two different universities in back-to-back years when each school made its initial playoff appearance. Hint: He reached the national championship game with one of the schools.

Answers (Day 5)

Missouri, headed for the SEC as a new member next season, bowed out in style by capturing the Big 12 Conference Tournament championship. The Tigers won their three tourney games by an average of 15.7 points.

The last year teams slammed the door shut on their way out of conferences was in 2005, when four schools achieved the feat. La Salle did it twice in a 10-year span from 1983 to 1992.

Following is a chronological look at league tournament champions in their final season as a member of a non-disbanding alliance before bidding adieu and promptly joining another league:

NOTE: South Carolina, coached by Frank McGuire, captured the 1971 ACC Tournament and Southwestern Louisiana, coached by Bobby Paschal, won the 1982 Southland Tournament before they left their leagues to become independents.

Emphasizing a "one-and-only" theme for a "one-and-only" event, here is Day 4 of a treasure-trove of tantalizing NCAA Tournament trivia questions from CollegeHoopedia.com (10 per day from Selection Sunday through the championship game) tracking the only coach, conference, player or school to be linked to a distinguished or dubious achievement (click here for answers or conduct research digesting historical morsels in CollegeHoopedia's year-by-year highlights):

1. Name the only conference to have five different members win the national championship although it has only one title in the previous 22 years. Hint: One of the five members to capture a title didn't participate in the NCAA playoffs from 1948 through 1993. The league came within eight points of going 0-11 in the tournament in 1995 and 1996.

2. Name the only conference to have all of its current members win at least one NCAA Tournament game in the 1990s. Hint: It's the only league to have all of its current members participate in at least 10 NCAA playoff games.

3. Who is the only coach to have more than 15 of his teams appear in the playoffs but none reach the Final Four? Hint: He has the worst record in NCAA Tournament history for any coach with at least 25 decisions and was also 1-5 in the NIT. He has more victories as a pitcher in the College World Series for his alma mater than basketball Final Four appearances. He is the only active coach with more than 700 victories never to advance to the national semifinals.

4. Who is the only retired major college coach with more than 700 victories to never reach the Final Four? Hint: He is the only coach to go at least 20 years between NCAA Tournament appearances with the same school.

5. Who is the only coach to leave an NCAA champion before the next season for another coaching job? Hint: He is the only coach to earn a trip to the Final Four in his first college season despite finishing the season with at least 10 defeats. He is also the only coach to reach the NCAA final after finishing fourth or lower in regular-season conference standings. Moreover, he is one of just two coaches, both were also NBA head coaches, to take two different schools to the NCAA playoff championship game.

6. Who is the only coach to direct teams to the NCAA Final Four and the NBA Finals and compile a winning NCAA playoff career record? Hint: His son coached at three Division I schools, taking two of them to the NCAA playoffs.

7. Name the only school to become NCAA champion despite losing five home games during the regular season. Hint: The school didn't participate in nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments and twice in a four-year span in the mid-1970s lost a first-round game after reaching the national final the previous season.

8. Name the only coach of an NCAA titlist to previously play major league baseball. Hint: The Hall of Famer's 18-year college head coaching career was all at one university.

9. Who is the only coach to compile NCAA playoff records at least three games above .500 at two different schools (minimum of five victories at each school) before Rick Pitino arrived at Louisville? Hint: The coach earned a doctorate.

10. Name the only school to have six different coaches take the university to the Final Four. Hint: Of the schools to win at least two national championships, it's the only one in the select group to go more than 25 years between titles.

Answers (Day 4)

NCAA Tournament coaches will need to draw upon all of their resources to motivate their clubs in postseason play. If intellect is a factor, Lehigh coach Brett Reed might have an advantage insofar as he has a doctorate in Instructional Technology from Wayne State. Following is a quick glance at the educational background of the other mentors in this year's NCAA playoffs:

A fourth consecutive trip to the NIT is not what Northwestern had in mind this season. The NCAA playoffs are little more than "Never Never Land" for the Wildcats and the following four other schools never to participate in the national championship tournament despite being designated as major colleges since the late 1940s (number of coaches during that span in parentheses):

Unrealistic expectations spread like a virus across the country when a young pup such as Brad Stevens won 11 NCAA Tournament games in his first four seasons coaching mid-major Butler. But many school administrations and boosters need to exercise a little patience in this era of instant gratification.

Supporters should take a chill pill if Ray McCallum (15th year with Ball State, Houston and Detroit), Greg McDermott (11th at DI level with Northern Iowa, Iowa State and Creighton) and Mark Schmidt (11th with Robert Morris and St. Bonaventure) remain winless in NCAA Tournament competition by losing their openers.

Take a long look at how long it took for the following alphabetical list of high-profile coaches, including all-time leader Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, to secure their first NCAA playoff victory.

NOTE: The victories for Greer, McCarthy and Newton were the only one they posted in NCAA playoff participation.

There is a tendency to overindulge at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Anyone digesting the following assortment of incisive facts on the 68 NCAA Tournament coaches should find that variety is the spice of CollegeHoopedia's occasionally irreverent smorgasbord. Remember: If a morsel isn't appetizing, don't be a glutton for punishment in trying to comprehend what makes the playoff coaching community tick. Just proceed directly to the next tidbit. Sooner or later, there's bound to be a factoid you can savor en route to the Final Four in New Orleans.

ALABAMA: Anthony Grant was Dayton's leading scorer (13 ppg) and rebounder (6 rpg) as a senior in 1986-87. He averaged 10.7 ppg and 6.6 rpg for the Flyers' NCAA playoff team in 1985 and 7.1 ppg and 4.8 rpg for their NIT squad in 1986.

BAYLOR: Scott Drew served as coach of an Athletes In Action (AIA) squad that toured Croatia and Bosnia in the summer of 1997.

BELMONT: Rick Byrd was a student assistant coach at Tennessee under the legendary Ray Mears.

BRIGHAM YOUNG: At Dixie College (Utah), Dave Rose was first-team all-conference in both basketball and baseball before transferring to Houston. He was a member of the famous "Phi Slamma Jamma" squad featuring Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler in 1983 when the Cougars were ranked NO. 1 nationally and finished second in the NCAA Tournament. Rose's daughter, Chanell, played forward for the BYU women's basketball team and is married to Cougars guard Brock Reichner.

CALIFORNIA: Mike Montgomery had six former assistants serving as Division I head coaches - Barry Collier (Nebraska), Trent Johnson (Boise State/Stanford/LSU), Ernie Kent (Oregon), Stew Morrill (Utah State), Doug Oliver (Idaho State), Willis Wilson (Rice/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).

CINCINNATI: Mick Cronin's father, Harold "Hep" Cronin, compiled more than 400 victories as a high school coach in the greater Cincinnati area.

COLORADO: Tad Boyle, who played for Kansas under Ted Owens and Larry Brown, was a commodities broker in Kansas City before entering the coaching profession.

COLORADO STATE: The two coaches who preceded Tim Miles as bench boss of North Dakota State subsequently guided Division I schools to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-year years - Ray Giacoletti (Eastern Washington and Utah) and Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa).

CONNECTICUT: Jim Calhoun, making his 13th trip to the NCAA Tournament in 1999 when the Huskies won the championship, became the first coach to reach the Final Four after more than 12 playoff appearances. Calhoun won first-round games in back-to-back NCAA tourneys with Northeastern in 1981 and 1982.

CREIGHTON: Following graduation from Northern Iowa, Greg McDermott played one season of professional basketball in Switzerland. McDermott led the Panthers in field-goal shooting three consecutive seasons from 1985-86 through 1987-88 when he was a combined 59.5% from the floor. He ranked 16th in the nation in that category as a junior.

DAVIDSON: Bob McKillop was North Carolina coach Matt Doherty's high school mentor at Long Island Lutheran. Fordham coach Tom Pecora served as an assistant under McKillop at L.I. Lutheran. McKillop scored three points for East Carolina against Lefty Driesell-coached Davidson in the 1969 Southern Conference Tournament championship game. McKillop then transferred to Hofstra, where he led the Flying Dutchmen in assists in 1971-72 with 3.3 per game.

DETROIT: Ray McCallum, the only Ball State athlete ever to have his uniform number retired (#10), won the Frances Pomeroy Award in 1983 as the nation's top player shorter than six feet tall. During his seven-year tenure as coach for his alma mater from 1993-94 through 1999-2000, he won an amazing 70% of his games decided by fewer than six points.

DUKE: Mike Krzyzewski, who has three daughters, became a grandfather for the first time in mid-November 1999. He was an assistant with Dave Bliss, Bob Donewald and Bob Weltlich on Indiana coach Bob Knight's staff in 1974-75. Krzyzewski had the worst three-year record for the Blue Devils (38-47 from 1980-81 through 1982-83) since George Buckheit went 16-30 from 1924-25 through 1926-27.

FLORIDA: Billy Donovan, a third-round pick from Providence in the 1987 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz, was selected ahead of Yale center Chris Dudley. Donovan averaged 2.8 points per game his first two seasons with the Friars before averaging 18 ppg his last two campaigns. Donovan's teammates with the New York Knicks in 1987-88 included eventual Division I head coaches Sidney Green and Louis Orr. His high school coach (St. Agnes, N.Y.), Frank Morris, coached former Gators starting guard Teddy Dupay in high school (Ft. Myers, Fla.). Donovan was an assistant with Herb Sendek, Tubby Smith and Ralph Willard on Rick Pitino's coaching staff at Kentucky in 1989-90 after working with an investment banking firm on Wall Street. Donovan, who led the Big East Conference in steals in 1986-87 with 1.9 per game, is the son of William Donovan, Boston College's captain as a senior in 1961-62.

FLORIDA STATE: Leonard Hamilton, who set a school record by scoring 54 points for Gastonia (N.C.) Community College before attending Tennessee-Martin, was hired by Wilmington, N.C., native Michael Jordan to coach the Washington Wizards in 2000-01. Hamilton's nine-victory increase in Big East competition with Miami (FL) from 1994 to 1995 is the largest in conference history.

GEORGETOWN: John Thompson III, whose father (Georgetown's John Thompson Jr.) and college coach (Princeton's Pete Carril) are both in the Hall of Fame, has a brother, Ronny, who was an assistant at Georgetown under their dad. John III ranked second for most assists in a Tigers career with 358 when he finished playing for them in 1987-88.

GONZAGA: Mark Few was never a head coach at any level before inheriting that position after Dan Monson departed for Minnesota. Few was an assistant for two different Oregon high schools before becoming an aide with the Zags under Dan Fitzgerald and Monson. Few's wedding vows in 1994 were exchanged with Rev. Norm Few, the father of the groom.

HARVARD: Tommy Amaker, a third-round pick from Duke in the 1987 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, was selected ahead of Yale center Chris Dudley. He served as a graduate assistant on coach Mike Krzyzewski's staff while studying in Duke's business school. Amaker's wife, Stephanie, earned a PhD.

INDIANA: Tom Crean, a brother-in-law of San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, coached at Alma College and Mount Pleasant High School while he was an undergraduate student at Central Michigan.

IONA: Tim Cluess was a part-time caterer for a Holiday Inn while coaching at the small-college level with C.W. Post. Cluess and his three older brothers (Hank, Greg and Kevin) all played for St. John's.

IOWA STATE: Fred Hoiberg, an Ames, Iowa, product nicknamed "The Mayor," served as Vice President of Basketball Operations with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

KANSAS: Bill Self served as an assistant on the Big Eight Conference coaching staffs of Larry Brown (Kansas) and Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State). Self, an Oklahoma State alumnus, played in the Big Eight against Maryland coach Mark Turgeon (Kansas) and top two NBA draft picks Steve Stipanovich (2nd selection overall in 1983/attended Missouri), Wayman Tisdale (2nd in 1985/Oklahoma) and Danny Manning (1st in 1988/Kansas). Self, Oklahoma's High School Player of the Year over Tisdale in 1980-81, directed Oral Roberts to the nation's best winning percentage among independent schools in 1996 (18-9) and 1997 (21-7).

KANSAS STATE: Frank Martin, the son of Cuban immigrants, served as a bouncer at a nightclub while attending Florida International in Miami.

KENTUCKY: John Calipari lettered two years for UNC Wilmington before transferring to Clarion (Pa.) State.

LAMAR: Pat Knight was coach of the Wisconsin Blast of the International Basketball Association and Columbus Cagerz of the United States Basketball League. He was also an administrative assistant and scout with the NBA's Phoenix Suns and an assistant coach with the CBA's Connecticut Pride.

LEHIGH: Dr. Brett Reed began his collegiate coaching career with Oakland (Mich.) Community College, where he was an assistant for his father's program.

LONG BEACH STATE: Dan Monson played football as a receiver for Idaho, where his father, Don, was named national coach of the year by the NABC upon posting a 27-3 record with the Vandals in 1981-82. Dan is the only son with more Division I coaching victories than his father (minimum of more than 200 wins apiece).

LONG ISLAND: Jim Ferry guided Adelphi University (N.Y.) to winning streaks of at least 20 games each of his last two seasons with the Golden Panthers in 2000-01 and 2001-02. He was a career 42.8% (121-of-283) shooter from three-point range for Keene (N.H.) State College.

LOUISVILLE: Rick Pitino averaged more assists per game (5.6) than points (4.7) in his two-year playing career with Massachusetts. Al Skinner, Boston College's all-time winningest coach, was captain of the 1973-74 UMass squad that was led in assists by Pitino for the second straight season.

LOYOLA (MD.): Jimmy Patsos' brother, Chris, captained the Florida Southern baseball team to the 1981 NCAA Division II World Series championship.

MARQUETTE: Brent "Buzz" Williams received his nickname while attending Navarro College, where he "buzzed" around the junior college basketball team so often the coach issued him the moniker.

MEMPHIS: Josh Pastner, while an AAU coach in the Houston area, coached future NBA players such as T.J. Ford, Daniel Gibson and Emeka Okafor. Pastner was a college teammate of Arizona All-American Miles Simon, an ESPN analyst who was named Most Outstanding Player at the 1997 Final Four.

MICHIGAN: John Beilein is the only active mentor in the country to register 20-win seasons at the junior college, NAIA, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division I levels. A 22-7 record in 1993-94 in his second year at the major-college level with Canisius was the winningest in school history at the time and came just two seasons after the Golden Griffins suffered an all-time high in losses (8-22 mark in 1991-92). His uncle, Joe Niland, coached Canisius for five seasons from 1948-49 through 1952-53.

MICHIGAN STATE: Tom Izzo was a teammate in high school (Iron Mountain, Mich.) and college (Northern Michigan) of former Detroit Lions coach Steve Mariucci. Izzo, a running back, and Mariucci, a quarterback, were the best men in each others' weddings.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE: Sean Woods, a member of Kentucky's "Unforgettables," scored 21 points in a 1992 East Regional final at Philadelphia against Duke. His running bank shot gave UK a 103-102 lead with 2.1 seconds remaining before Christian Laettner's subsequent jumper as time expired gave the Blue Devils a dramatic victory.

MISSOURI: Frank Haith's nephew, Sean Bell, was slain by New York City police in a controversial November 25, 2006, 50-bullet shooting incident.

MONTANA: Wayne Tinkle played professionally for 12 seasons (in CBA, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Greece and briefly in International Basketball League). The youngest of 11 children (seven girls and four boys) is married to former Lady Griz basketball standout Lisa McLeod.

MURRAY STATE: Steve Prohm began college at Division III Oglethorpe in Atlanta before promptly transferring to Alabama, where he worked as student manager.

NEW MEXICO: Steve Alford amassed the fourth-best career free-throw percentage in Division I history when his eligibility expired (89.8% with Indiana from 1983-84 through 1986-87). His father, Sam Alford, led the NAIA in free-throw shooting in 1963-64 with a mark of 91.2% for Franklin (Ind.).

NEW MEXICO STATE: Marvin Menzies, like his predecessor (Reggie Theus), came to NMSU after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach under Louisville's Rick Pitino.

NORFOLK STATE: Anthony Evans' teams at Delhi (N.Y.) Tech secured a #1 junior college ranking each of his seasons there in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

NORTH CAROLINA: Roy Williams' son, Scott, was a backup guard with the Tar Heels. The all-time winningest coach through 23 seasons could go winless the next two years and still boast more victories than any mentor through his first 25 campaigns.

UNC ASHEVILLE: Eddie Biedenbach, an All-ACC first-team guard in 1965-66 with North Carolina State, married a former Wolfpack cheerleader (Barbara). His first varsity coach in college was Press Maravich, the father of LSU legend Pete Maravich. Biedenbach frequently played against Pistol Pete in informal workouts.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE: Mark Gottfried led Alabama in most three-point field goals with 81 in 1986-87, the first year the rule was introduced nationwide. That squad is one of only three teams in NCAA history with five active players scoring over 1,000 points in their college careers (teammates included Derrick McKey, Terry Coner, Jim Farmer and James Jackson). Mark's father, Joe, coached Southern Illinois for three seasons from 1978-79 through 1980-81 before becoming athletic director at South Alabama. Mark's uncle, Mike, a national game-day announcer for ESPN, was head football coach with Murray State, Cincinnati, Kansas and Pittsburgh.

NOTRE DAME: Mike Brey, Danny Ferry's assistant coach at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md., joined Mike Krzyzewski's staff two years after the national player-to-be enrolled at Duke in 1985. Brey's mother, the former Betty Mullen, held the world record in the 50-meter butterfly and competed with the U.S. team at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. His uncle, Jack Mullen, averaged 4.7 points per game as a sophomore guard for Duke's first ACC Tournament championship team in 1960.

OHIO UNIVERSITY: John Groce played in high school at Danville, Ind., under Todd Lickliter, who went on to coach Butler and Iowa.

OHIO STATE: Thad Matta, a transfer from Southern Illinois, led Butler in assists and three-point field-goal percentage in 1987-88 and free-throw percentage in 1988-89. He was involved in postseason play in each of his six seasons as a full-time assistant coach from 1994-95 through 1999-2000 with Miami (Ohio), Western Carolina and Butler. At first glance, Matta is a native of the ultimate smaller Illinois basketball community named Hoopeston. However, the town rhymes with "up" not "hoop."

PURDUE: Matt Painter's father attended Big Ten Conference rival Indiana.

ST. BONAVENTURE: Mark Schmidt was a freshman at Boston College in 1982 when he played in successive NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional games against legendary coaches Ray Meyer (DePaul), Jack Hartman (Kansas State) and Guy Lewis (Houston). As a senior in 1985, Schmidt played 11 minutes in the Eagles' 74-73 second-round victory against Mike Krzyzewski-coached Duke in the Midwest Regional.

SAINT LOUIS: Rick Majerus served as an assistant under Don Nelson with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1986-87.

SAINT MARY'S: Randy Bennett played for his father, Tom, at Mesa Community College before attending UC San Diego. At Mesa, Bennett helped his team to a 56-10 record and two Arizona J.C. championships.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Steve Fisher is the only individual to be named head coach at the start of an NCAA Tournament and then go on to direct the school to the NCAA title (Michigan in 1989 after replacing Bill Frieder). Fisher won his first 12 NCAA playoff games decided by fewer than six points or in overtime with the Wolverines before bowing to Western Kentucky, 82-76, in OT in 1995 in the opening round.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: Scott Nagy's father, Dick, was a longtime assistant coach at Illinois under Lou Henson. Scott, who set a record for assists with Delta State (Miss.), was named Gulf South Conference Athlete of the Year in 1988.

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI: Larry Eustachy was a high school and junior college teammate of former San Jose State coach Steve Barnes in California. Barnes was an assistant under Eustachy at three schools (Idaho, Utah State and Iowa State). Eustachy served with current Arkansas State coach John Brady as Mississippi State aides under Bob Boyd in the mid-1980s.

SOUTH FLORIDA: Former Kent State coach Stan Heath played for a different Mid-American Conference school (Eastern Michigan) and served as an assistant at another MAC member (Bowling Green).

SYRACUSE: Jim Boeheim, an avid golfer, served as varsity golf coach for the Orange from 1967 until the program was disbanded in 1973. He was an assistant basketball coach under Roy Danforth during that period. Boeheim, a three-year teammate of Syracuse All-American Dave Bing in the mid-1960s, played in the CBA for the Scranton Miners. On five occasions (1977-84-96-01-03), Boeheim guided the Orangemen to the Top 20 in a final AP poll after they were not ranked that high in the preseason.

TEMPLE: Fran Dunphy, in his first varsity start for La Salle, held Niagara's Calvin Murphy to eight field goals after Murphy averaged 38.2 points per game the previous season in 1967-68. Dunphy ended his college career in 1969-70 with a career-high 29 points against Miami (FL).

TEXAS: The Longhorns' turnaround in 1998-99 (19-13 record after going 14-17 in 1997-98 under Tom Penders) enabled Rick Barnes to become the only active coach to take two different schools to the NCAA playoffs in his maiden voyage with them after they posted a losing mark the previous campaign. He previously achieved the feat with Providence in the late 1980s. Barnes posted the nation's best winning percentage by a first-year major college head coach in 1987-88 when he went 20-10 (.667) in his lone season with George Mason.

UNLV: Dave Rice was an assistant coach with the Runnin' Rebels under Jerry Tarkanian, Tim Grgurich, Bill Bayno and Charlie Spoonhour.

VANDERBILT: Kevin Stallings, in his first 37 seasons that began as a freshman under legendary high school coach Vergil Fletcher at Collinsville, Ill., has been with only one team that posted a losing record (Vanderbilt was 11-18 in 2002-03) - high school, junior college, player for Purdue, assistant at Purdue, assistant at Kansas and head coach at Illinois State and with Vandy. He was on the same staff with Jerry Green, Steve Robinson and Mark Turgeon during coach Roy Williams' first four seasons with the Jayhawks from 1988-89 through 1991-92.

VERMONT: John Becker coached two seasons at Gallaudet, the country's only four-year liberal arts college for the deaf and hearing impaired.

VIRGINIA: Tony Bennett is the son of former DI coach Dick Bennett and brother of women's coach Kathi Bennett.

VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH: Shaka Smart became the career assists leader for Kenyon College, a liberal arts school in Ohio.

WESTERN KENTUCKY: Ray Harper was the SWC Rookie of the Year in 1980-81 when he averaged 9.8 ppg and 3.9 apg for Texas coach Abe Lemons.

WEST VIRGINIA: In 1976-77, forward Bob Huggins led the fledgling Eastern Collegiate Basketball League in free-throw shooting with a mark of 84.4% for the Mountaineers. He wanted to play professionally but turned to coaching after a woman accidentally steered her car into the path of his ten-speed on a hilly street with the handlebars snapping his knee. Huggins, one of the top 10 high school scorers in the history of the state of Ohio, directed Akron to the nation's best winning percentage among independent schools in 1988 (21-7) and 1989 (21-8).

WICHITA STATE: Gregg Marshall, after his birth in Greenwood, S.C., spent the first 3 1/2 years of his life on College Avenue, which is located adjacent to his previous coaching stop (the Winthrop campus).

WISCONSIN: Bo Ryan, who led Wisconsin-Platteville to four NCAA Division III championships in the 1990s, is one of seven coaches in history to capture four or more NCAA Tournament titles - joining UCLA's John Wooden, Kentucky's Adolph Rupp, Indiana's Bob Knight, Evansville's Arad McCutchan, North Park's Dan McCarrell and Cal State Bakersfield's Pat Douglass. Ryan was the winningest coach by percentage in the 1990s at any NCAA level (266-26, .928). He still holds a Wilkes College record with 18 field goals in a single game and was named conference baseball coach of the year at Racine in 1973-74. Ryan married coach Bill Cofield's secretary, Kelly, when he was an assistant with the Badgers. Ryan was a Badgers aide in 1979-80 when Dick Vitale, less than a month after being fired by the Detroit Pistons, made his ESPN debut as an analyst in a game at DePaul.

XAVIER: Chris Mack played for Athletes in Action in 1993 and in Europe in 1994. His wife, Christi, was Director of Basketball Operations for the Musketeers' women's basketball team from 2001 through 2003.