Personal Items: Trivia Tidbits on Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament Coaches

There is a tendency to overindulge at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Anyone digesting the following assortment of incisive facts on the remaining 16 NCAA Tournament coaches should find that variety is the spice of CollegeHoopedia's smorgasbord. Remember: If a morsel isn't appetizing, don't be a glutton for punishment in trying to comprehend what makes the Sweet 16 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 Texas.

ARIZONA: Sean Miller was Big East Conference Freshman of the Year in 1987-88 with Pittsburgh (9.3 ppg, 5.8 apg, 85.1 FT%). He delivered the assist for teammate Jerome Lane's backboard-shattering dunk ("Send It In, Jerome!").

CONNECTICUT: Kevin Ollie compiled the best won-loss record of any first-year DI head coach last season with a 20-10 mark.

DAYTON: Ryan "Archie" Miller played high school basketball in Pennsylvania under his father, John, who compiled 657 victories in 35 years.

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.

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

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

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.

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 only two seasons after the Golden Griffins suffered an all-time high in defeats (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 their respective weddings.

STANFORD: Johnny Dawkins was the leading scorer for Duke's 1986 NCAA Tournament runner-up. The fourth-leading scorer and rebounder for the Blue Devils that season was ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who paced the team in field-goal shooting (59.4%).

TENNESSEE: Cuonzo Martin was an East St. Louis, Ill., high school teammate of Notre Dame and NBA forward LaPhonso Ellis.

UCLA: Steve Alford amassed the fourth-best free-throw percentage in DI history (89.8% with Indiana from 1983-84 through 1986-87). His father, Sam, led the NAIA in free-throw shooting in 1963-64 with a mark of 91.2% for Franklin (Ind.).

VIRGINIA: Tony Bennett is the son of former DI coach Dick Bennett, who guided Wisconsin to the 2000 Final Four, and brother of women's coach Kathi Bennett.