I must say that these are two of my my favorite coaches...These two always seem to get it done...I'm sure most had these two teams off the radar and maybe even out of the bracket by now..You have to give credit to these guys though..They always find a way to get the team to step up in the big dance...Who you got??
Tom Izzo - Coach / Michigan State (1995 - Present)
Head coaching record |
Overall |
494–198 (.714) |
Accomplishments and honors |
Championships
1 NCAA Division I Tournament Championship ( 2000) 6 NCAA Regional Championships – Final Four (1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010) 7 Big Ten Championships (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2012) 4 Big Ten Tournament Championships (1999, 2000, 2012, 2014) Accomplishments9 Elite Eights (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015) 13 Sweet Sixteens (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) 18 NCAA Tournament bids (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
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Awards
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Playing career
Izzo was born and raised in Iron Mountain in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where he met best friend and former NFL head coachSteve Mariucci. Both attended Iron Mountain High where they were teammates on the football, basketball and track teams. AtNorthern Michigan University in Marquette, where they were roommates, Izzo played guard for the men's basketball team from 1973 to 1977. In his senior season, he set a school record for minutes played and was named a Division II All-American.
Coaching philosophy
We'll play anybody, anyplace, anytime. It doesn't matter, morning, noon or night, and it doesn't matter who it is.
Izzo's teams are known for strong guard play, toughness and rebounding. Izzo is famed for his "war" rebounding drill, in which the players wear football helmets and shoulder pads. His motto is "Players Play – Tough Players Win".His other coaching philosophy is that "he doesn't determine playing time, players do." Izzo is also known for scheduling extremely tough non-conference schedules as preparation for the NCAA tournament. This way the players have already played the top teams in the country and won't be fazed come March Madness.
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Rick Pitino - Coach / Louisville (2001 - Present)
Head coaching record |
Overall |
721-253 (.740) |
Accomplishments and honors |
Championships
2 NCAA Division I Tournament Championships ( 1996, 2013) 7 NCAA Regional Championships – Final Four (1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2012, 2013) 1 America East Tournament Championship (1983) 2 America East Regular Season Championships (1980, 1983) 5 SEC Tournament Championships (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997) 2 SEC Regular Season Championships (1995, 1996) 2 C-USA Tournament Championships (2003, 2005) 1 C-USA Regular Season Championship (2005) 3 Big East Tournament Championships (2009, 2012, 2013) 2 Big East Regular Season Championships (2009, 2013) 1 AAC Regular Season Championship (2014) 1 AAC Tournament Championship (2014)
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Awards
1 NABC National Coach of the Year (1987) 1 John Wooden National Coach of the Year (1987) 3 SEC Coach of the Year (1990, 1991, 1996) 1 C-USA Coach of the Year (2005)
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Early years
Pitino was born in New York City, New York and was raised in Bayville, New York. He was captain of the St. Dominic High Schoolbasketball team in nearby Oyster Bay, Long Island.[5] He enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1970. He was a standout guard for the Minutemen basketball team. His 329 career assists rank tenth all-time at UMass, as of the 2009–10 season.He led the team in assists as a junior and senior.[7] The 168 assists as a senior is the eighth-best single season total ever there.[9] Pitino was a freshman at the same time future NBA legend Julius Erving spent his junior (and final) year at UMass, although the two never played on the same team because freshmen were ineligible to play varsity basketball at the time. Other teammates of Pitino's include Al Skinner, who also went on to become a successful college coach, and baseballer Mike Flanagan, who went on to pitch in the major leagues and win the AL Cy Young Award in 1979. Pitino earned his degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) in 1974.
Collegiate coaching
Pitino is currently head coach of the University of Louisville. Previous college coaching assignments include Boston University,Providence College, and the University of Kentucky. As a collegiate head coach, Pitino has compiled a 629–234 record, for a .732 winning percentage that is ranked 10th among active coaches and 29th all-time among all collegiate basketball coaches entering the 2012 season.
Pitino is considered by many to be one of the first coaches to promote fully taking advantage of the 3-point shot, first adopted by the NCAA in 1987. By exploiting the 3-point shot, his teams at Kentucky in the early 1990s were known as Pitino's Bombinos, as a significant portion of the offensive points came from the 3-point shot. Even now, Pitino's teams are known for the 3-point threat and all of his teams rank towards the top in 3-point attempts per season.
Many of Pitino's players and assistant coaches have gone on to become successful collegiate coaches. In total, 21 former Pitino players and coaches have become Division I head coaches, including Florida's Billy Donovan, Texas Tech's Tubby Smith, Arizona State's Herb Sendek, Cincinnati's Mick Cronin, Minnesota's Richard Pitino, Seton Hall's Kevin Willard as well as Cal State Northridge's Reggie Theus
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Writeup taken from wiki**
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On Sunday these two meet up once again to do battle.
Which coach would you rather have on your sideline Sunday?