Professional Grade: Brad Stevens Faces Star-Crossed Crossing Over to NBA
After Brad Stevens went green leaving Butler for a hefty contract to spearhead the Boston Celtics' rebuilding fortunes, the odds are greater for the NBA's youngest coach to return to college than posting a winning NBA playoff record by the expiration of his six-year contract. San Antonio's Gregg Popovich is the NBA's only head coach with a tenure of more than six seasons at his present position. Moreover, the prospect of gifted guard Rajon Rondo coming back from an injury and exhibiting contentment more than work stoppage during an extended youth movement are slim and none.
SMU's Larry Brown, one of six men to be hired by an NBA team after winning an NCAA championship, is the only one 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. Stevens, who directed Butler to back-to-back NCAA playoff championship games in 2010 and 2011, will find out it's a star-crossed crossing over from college to the NBA. Following is an alphabetical list summarizing the NBA careers of Brown and 15 additional individuals who aligned with NBA franchises as head coaches after marshalling a college team to the Final Four:
| Coach | NCAA Final Four Team(s) | NBA Years | Regular-Season | Playoff Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Brown | UCLA '80/Kansas '86 & '88 | 27 | 1,098-904 | 100-93 |
| John Calipari | Massachusetts '96/Memphis '08/Kentucky '11 & '12 | 3 | 72-112 | 0-3 |
| P.J. Carlesimo | Seton Hall '89 | 9 | 239-315 | 6-13 |
| *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 | 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 | 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 |
| 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.