No Experience Necessary: All-American Vaughn Latest NBA Coach to Bypass College
A striking number of the NBA's most prominent active players aren't the only individuals to bypass college. Jacque Vaughn became the seventh active NBA head coach who was an All-American in college but never served as a college head coach before accepting a comparable position at the highest professional level.
Vaughn joins Doug Collins, Lionel Hollins, Mark Jackson, Doc Rivers, Randy Wittman and Mike Woodson in this category. He is the third coach with this background for the Orlando Magic, following Matt Guokas Jr. and Rivers, who went on to become the fifth such mentor for the Boston Celtics.
More than one-sixth of the nearly 300 NBA head coaches in NBA history were college All-Americans without previously coaching at the collegiate level. More than half of them have career losing records, including five from Indiana. Magic Johnson is among several All-Americans who were NBA bench bosses for partial campaigns, but following is a look at those who coached at least one full season:
| All-American | College | NBA Team(s) Coached | Pro Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danny Ainge | Brigham Young | Phoenix Suns | 136-90 |
| Elgin Baylor | Seattle | New Orleans Jazz | 86-135 |
| Alfred "Butch" Beard | Louisville | New Jersey Nets | 60-104 |
| Paul Birch | Duquesne | Pittsburgh Ironmen/Fort Wayne Pistons | 120-147 |
| Larry Bird | Indiana State | Indiana Pacers | 147-67 |
| Vince Boryla | Denver | New York Knicks | 80-85 |
| Quinn Buckner | Indiana | Dallas Mavericks | 13-69 |
| Bill Cartwright | San Francisco | Chicago Bulls | 51-100 |
| Doug Collins | Illinois State | Chicago Bulls/Detroit Pistons/Washington Wizards/Philadelphia 76ers | 408-359 |
| Bob Cousy | Holy Cross | Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings | 141-209 |
| Dave Cowens | Florida State | Boston Celtics/Charlotte Hornets/Golden State Warriors | 161-191 |
| Billy Cunningham | North Carolina | Philadelphia 76ers | 454-196 |
| Dave DeBusschere | Detroit | Detroit Pistons | 79-143 |
| Matt Guokas Jr. | St. Joseph's | Philadelphia 76ers/Orlando Magic | 230-305 |
| Tom Heinsohn | Holy Cross | Boston Celtics | 427-263 |
| Lionel Hollins | Arizona State | Memphis Grizzlies | 158-175 |
| William "Red" Holzman | CCNY | Milwaukee-St. Louis Hawks/New York Knicks | 696-604 |
| Dan Issel | Kentucky | Denver Nuggets | 180-208 |
| Mark Jackson | St. John's | Golden State Warriors | 23-43 |
| Frank Johnson | Wake Forest | Phoenix Suns | 63-71 |
| K.C. Jones | San Francisco | Washington Bullets/Boston Celtics | 522-252 |
| John "Red" Kerr | Illinois | Chicago Bulls/Phoenix Suns | 93-190 |
| Bob "Slick" Leonard | Indiana | Chicago Zephyrs/Baltimore Bullets/Indiana Pacers | 186-264 |
| John Lucas II | Maryland | San Antonio Spurs/Philadelphia 76ers/Cleveland Cavaliers | 173-258 |
| Ed Macauley | St. Louis | St. Louis Hawks | 89-48 |
| Tom Marshall | Western Kentucky | Cincinnati Royals | 35-94 |
| Dick McGuire | St. John's | Detroit Pistons/New York Knicks | 197-260 |
| Doug Moe | North Carolina | San Antonio Spurs/Denver Nuggets/Philadelphia 76ers | 628-529 |
| Don Nelson | Iowa | Milwaukee Bucks/Golden State Warriors/New York Knicks/Dallas Mavericks | 1,335-1,063 |
| Willis Reed | Grambling | New York Knicks/New Jersey Nets | 82-124 |
| Pat Riley | Kentucky | Los Angeles Lakers/New York Knicks/Miami Heat | 1,210-694 |
| Glenn "Doc" Rivers | Marquette | Orlando Magic/Boston Celtics | 546-433 |
| Bill Russell | San Francisco | Boston Celtics/Seattle SuperSonics | 341-290 |
| George Senesky | St. Joseph's | Philadelphia Warriors | 119-97 |
| Bill Sharman | Southern California | San Francisco Warriors/Los Angeles Lakers | 333-240 |
| Gene Shue | Maryland | Baltimore-Washington Bullets/Philadelphia 76ers/San Diego Clippers | 784-861 |
| Paul Silas | Creighton | San Diego Clippers/Charlotte-New Orleans Hornets/Cleveland Cavaliers | 387-488 |
| Scott Skiles | Michigan State | Phoenix Suns/Chicago Bulls/Milwaukee Bucks | 427-417 |
| Jerry Sloan | Evansville | Chicago Bulls/Utah Jazz | 1,221-803 |
| Isiah Thomas | Indiana | Indiana Pacers/New York Knicks | 187-223 |
| Rudy Tomjanovich | Michigan | Houston Rockets/Los Angeles Lakers | 527-416 |
| Wes Unseld | Louisville | Washington Bullets | 202-345 |
| Jacque Vaughn | Kansas | Orlando Magic | 1st season in 2012-13 |
| Sam Vincent | Michigan State | Charlotte Bobcats | 32-50 |
| Darrell Walker | Arkansas | Toronto Raptors/Washington Bullets | 56-113 |
| Jerry West | West Virginia | Los Angeles Lakers | 145-101 |
| Paul Westphal | Southern California | Phoenix Suns/Seattle SuperSonics/Sacramento Kings | 318-279 |
| Lenny Wilkens | Providence | Seattle SuperSonics/Portland Trail Blazers/Cleveland Cavaliers/Atlanta Hawks/Toronto Raptors/New York Knicks | 1,332-1,155 |
| Randy Wittman | Indiana | Cleveland Cavaliers/Minnesota Timberwolves/Washington Bullets | 118-238 |
| Mike Woodson | Indiana | Atlanta Hawks/New York Knicks | 224-292 |