Mark Among Few Good Men: Zags Coach Dominates Conference Opponents

May 20th, 2020 - 8:14

A principal reason Jerry Tarkanian became a Hall of Famer was the fact he was the only retired coach in NCAA Division I history to win more than 90% of his assignments for a school in a single conference including both regular season and postseason league tourney (229-19 mark in PCAA/Big West with UNLV in a 10-year span from 1982-83 through 1991-92).

Among active coaches, Gonzaga's Mark Few likely is en route to extending his stunning string of consecutive NCAA playoff appearances in as many seasons to 22 next campaign with the Zags after reaching the 90% win-plateau in 2017-18. His domination of the West Coast Conference not only is in regular-season competition (295-31) but also in league tournament action (45-5). Few isn't expected to fall much, if any, from list of league rulers in the near future. Ditto winning percentage overall through 21 campaigns as Few (.828) ranks second at this juncture in his career behind legendary Clair Bee (.850) and ahead of Adolph Rupp (.824) and Tarkanian (.813).

John Calipari was the only coach to win 80% of his league assignments in two conferences with different schools until slipping to 79% in the SEC in 2017-18. If Few remains at his present success level, Calipari could go unbeaten 12 consecutive campaigns in SEC regular season and league tourney competition with Kentucky freshman phenoms and still trail Few percentage-wise in conference domination.

Brad Stevens won 80.8% of Butler's Horizon League games in five seasons but fell just short of meeting the minimum of 100 decisions in a single conference on the following list before subsequently moving on to the Atlantic 10 and NBA's Boston Celtics. Stevens has had a significantly superior pro career than Tarkanian, who compiled a 9-11 record in a brief stint with the San Antonio Spurs at the start of the 1992-93 campaign. Few ranks runner-up, just ahead of North Carolina State's Everett Case, among the following coaches who have won more than 75% of their games in a single conference including participation in league tourney play:

Coach School Conference Seasons Regular-Season League Tourney Overall Pct.
Jerry Tarkanian UNLV PCAA/Big West 1983-92 205-17 24-2 229-19 .923
Mark Few Gonzaga West Coast 2000-20 295-31 45-5 340-36 .904
Everett Case North Carolina State Southern 1947-53 87-11 20-1 107-12 .899
Adolph Rupp Kentucky SEC 1933-72 397-75 57-6 454-81 .849
Roy Williams Kansas Big 12 1997-2003 94-18 14-4 108-22 .831
Gregg Marshall Winthrop Big South 1999-2007 104-24 19-2 123-26 .826
John Calipari Memphis C-USA 2001-09 117-25 17-5 134-30 .817
Bill Self Kansas Big 12 2004-20 237-53 31-8 268-61 .815
John Calipari Kentucky SEC 2010-20 151-41 23-4 174-45 .795
Rick Majerus Utah Western Athletic 1991-99 118-30 15-6 133-36 .787
Eddie Sutton Arkansas Southwest 1975-85 139-35 13-7 152-42 .784
Bob Huggins Cincinnati C-USA 1996-2005 123-33 16-6 139-39 .781
Pete Gillen Xavier Midwestern Collegiate 1986-94 83-25 17-4 100-29 .775
Vic Bubas Duke ACC 1960-69 106-32 22-6 128-38 .771
Stew Morrill Utah State Big West 1999-2005 91-28 13-3 104-31 .770
Charlie Spoonhour SW Missouri State Mid-Continent 1984-90 73-21 9-4 82-25 .766
Lute Olson Arizona Pacific-10 1984-2007 328-102 16-6 344-108 .761
Joe Williams Furman Southern 1971-78 67-25 18-3 85-28 .752
Denny Crum Louisville Metro 1977-95 173-59 33-9 206-68 .752

NOTES: Huggins (West Virginia), Marshall (Wichita State) and Williams (North Carolina) are active coaches currently employed by other schools. . . . UCLA's John Wooden won 81% of his games in the PCC/AAWU/Pacific-8 from 1948-49 through 1974-75 but none of those contests included conference tournament competition.