Humble Backgrounds: Small-College Grads Guiding Power-League Members

In a caste-like era separating the haves from the have-nots, imperial universities are seeking mega-conferences 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 among power-conference members.

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-NCAA Division I school.

New Arkansas bench boss Hog John Calipari, a graduate of Clarion (Pa.) State, guided Kentucky to the 2012 national championship before Michigan's John Beilein (Wheeling Jesuit NY) and Wichita State's Gregg Marshall (Randolph-Macon VA) directed teams to the Final Four the second half of the previous decade. Following is an alphabetical list of fraternity of active power-league mentors working their way up the ladder after graduating from a small school:

Current Head Coach	Power-League Member	Small-College Alma Mater
Dana Altman	Oregon (Big Ten)	Eastern New Mexico '80
Rick Barnes	Tennessee (SEC)	Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) '76
Brad Brownell	Clemson (ACC)	DePauw (Ind.) '91
John Calipari	Arkansas (SEC)	Clarion (Pa.) State '82
Ed Cooley	Georgetown (Big East)	Stonehill (Mass.) '94
Andy Enfield	Southern Methodist (ACC)	Johns Hopkins (Md.) '91
Steve Forbes	Wake Forest (ACC)	Southern Arkansas '88
Greg Gard	Wisconsin (Big Ten)	Wisconsin-Platteville '95
Earl Grant	Boston College (ACC)	Georgia College '00
Ross Hodge	West Virginia (Big 12)	Texas A&M-Commerce '03
Chris Holtmann	DePaul (Big East)	Taylor (Ind.) '94
Tom Izzo	Michigan State (Big Ten)	Northern Michigan '77
Chris Jans	Mississippi State (SEC)	Loras College (Iowa) '91
Tommy Lloyd	Arizona (Big 12)	Whitman College (Wash.) '98
Steve Lutz	Oklahoma State (Big 12)	Texas Lutheran '95
Ben McCollum	Iowa (Big Ten)	Northwest Missouri State '03
Nate Oats	Alabama (SEC)	Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) '97
Ryan Odom	Virginia (ACC)	Hampden-Sydney (Va.) '96
T.J. Otzelberger	Iowa State (Big 12)	Wisconsin-Whitewater '01
Lamont Paris	South Carolina (SEC)	College of Wooster (Ohio) '96
Mike Rhoades	Penn State (Big Ten)	Lebanon Valley (Pa.) '95
Micah Shrewsberry	Notre Dame (ACC)	Hanover College (Ind.) '99
Shaka Smart	Marquette (Big East)	Kenyon (Ohio) '99
Kyle Smith	Stanford (ACC)	Hamilton (N.Y.) College '92
Jerome Tang	Kansas State (Big 12)	North Central Bible College (Minn.)
Brent "Buzz" Williams	Maryland (Big Ten)	Oklahoma City '94
Kevin Young	Brigham Young (Big 12)	Clayton State (Ga.) '04
Mike Young	Virginia Tech (ACC)	Emory & Henry (Va.) '86

NOTE: Texas A&M-Commerce subsequently was classified as an NCAA DI university (joining Southland Conference) and OCU previously was designated as a major college.