If you could have one coach in ncaa history

[GeorgeStrait IU]

in their primce to coach the Hoosiers the next 15 seasons, who would you chose? Dead or alive? To make IU as great as it can be with the resources etc. If NIL wasnt a thing, and with NIL as a thing. Bob Knight not allowed..

I'd choose Rick Majerus with no NIL. But with today's game and style with NIL etc, I'd choose Rick Pitino. Who would be your two choices?

 

[TR32]

The obvious choices are McCracken and Everett Dean, but if we are only taking coaches who were outside IU...
Maybe Henry Iba and Al McGuire as some of the older greats...
Or John Beilein and Bo Ryan as more modern greats.

 

[CriticArisen]

If not RMK then Wooden with or without NIL. A Hoosier but not a Hurrying Hoosier in his last cycle on this mortal coil. He had a similar philosophy to RMK-your most important opponent is yourself.

 

[IUNorth]

If not RMK then Wooden with or without NIL. A Hoosier but not a Hurrying Hoosier in his last cycle on this mortal coil. He had a similar philosophy to RMK-your most important opponent is yourself.

Without NIL...Brad Stevens
With NIL...Brad Stevens

Ha ha...

Actually...without NIL, probably Coach K; with NIL, probably Wooden.

 

[Tammany Hall]

Wooden had a ton of NIL back in his day.

 

[IUNorth]

Wooden had a ton of NIL back in his day.

As I was typing it...I was wondering how he would have fared if everyone else had it. Might not have done as well.

I might have to change my answer to Coach K for both answers.

 

[Ladoga]

Tony Hinkle

 

[IUNorth]

Without NIL...Normal Dale. Sure, he punched a kid while at Ithaca...but he did win a Natty there, and won a state title in Indiana.

With NIL...Pete Bell. He grappled with the moral dilemmas, but was able to land Neon and Ricky. Can't imagine what IU would do with players like that?!

 

[asindc]

Larry Brown. Consistently coached his teams above their talent level at both the pro and college levels.

 

[wi_hoosier]

in their primce to coach the Hoosiers the next 15 seasons, who would you chose? Dead or alive? To make IU as great as it can be with the resources etc. If NIL wasnt a thing, and with NIL as a thing. Bob Knight not allowed..

I'd choose Rick Majerus with no NIL. But with today's game and style with NIL etc, I'd choose Rick Pitino. Who would be your two choices?

I mean, the easy thing would be to say Coach K... but I don't think he has near the same success in BTown that he did at Duke. And not sure he would have the success with equal NIL footing honestly.

The part that is throwing me is "in their prime". I take that as you saying it has to be someone older. Because right now Hurley is in his prime and is killing it.

So, one I'm liking would be Roy Williams. He always seemed to be able to successfully blend NBA talent with role players. I would be curious what Beilein could do if at IU in his prime. He was kinda ahead of the times as far as style of play offensively.

Here is a name that most would not think of or throw out there, Arad McCutchan. He was an innovator. I believe his 1965 squad went 29-0 with blowout wins over Iowa, Notre Dame, Northwestern, LSU, UMass amonsts some others. They played stifling defense and ran teams up and down the floor. They were led by NBA legend Jerry Sloan, who as a 6'6" point guard was also their tallest player Not saying you could do that today, but he demanded tough disciplined defense and his innovated approach would have adapted the offense to something successful today.

 

[CriticArisen]

Larry Brown. Consistently coached his teams above their talent level at both the pro and college levels.

Without NIL...Normal Dale. Sure, he punched a kid while at Ithaca...but he did win a Natty there, and won a state title in Indiana.

With NIL...Pete Bell. He grappled with the moral dilemmas, but was able to land Neon and Ricky. Can't imagine what IU would do with players like that?!

Arthur Chaney won the championship with four kids and a dog. Greatest job of coaching I have ever witnessed.

 

[gwtwhoosier]

in their primce to coach the Hoosiers the next 15 seasons, who would you chose? Dead or alive? To make IU as great as it can be with the resources etc. If NIL wasnt a thing, and with NIL as a thing. Bob Knight not allowed..

I'd choose Rick Majerus with no NIL. But with today's game and style with NIL etc, I'd choose Rick Pitino. Who would be your two choices?

Wooden with or without NIL

 

[edub72]

Coach K

Duhh

 

[bsmitty08]

in their primce to coach the Hoosiers the next 15 seasons, who would you chose? Dead or alive? To make IU as great as it can be with the resources etc. If NIL wasnt a thing, and with NIL as a thing. Bob Knight not allowed..

I'd choose Rick Majerus with no NIL. But with today's game and style with NIL etc, I'd choose Rick Pitino. Who would be your two choices?

Today’s climate…I would go with a Hurley or Bill Self.

 

[WhyisIUBBcursed]

Dan Dakich. Hands down

 

[birdforbogey]

Bill Self

 

[kmathum]

Wooden had a ton of NIL back in his day.

Sam Gilbert was a visionary. Way ahead of his time.

 

[jsig]

Adolfph Rupp

 

[Stuffshot]

If not RMK then Wooden with or without NIL. A Hoosier but not a Hurrying Hoosier in his last cycle on this mortal coil. He had a similar philosophy to RMK-your most important opponent is yourself.

Wooden? Wooden? Sigh.

Wooden won most of his championships in fields of only 16 teams, with only one team from each conference. In those days, Ivy League was given as many tournament slots as the Big Ten, ACC, SEC. Wooden's last championship was in 1975, when the field was increased to 32 teams. He was never proven in a grueling field of 64 teams.

His conference sometimes had as few as 8 teams (and maybe only 6 some years). The PAC-6, -8 or -10 was not very challenging.

In Wooden's day, UCLA was almost always assigned to the West Regional of the NCAA tournament, played in Pauley Pavilion, UCLA's home court as well as home town. With those small fields of 16, this pretty much gave UCLA a free pass to the Final Four every year.

Wooden was a great recruiter, but had plenty of advantages, including not only LA glamor but also an informal NIL program and an NCAA with very few recruiting regulations. I never considered him an gamechanging ingame coach -- he won games by recruiting tons of the best players, not by making adjustments at halftime.

Knight and Krzyzewski were the best in game coaches by far.

 

[HoosierAlum07]

Tony Hinkle

I’d vote Hinkle myself since he coached my grandfather.

 

[CriticArisen]

Wooden? Wooden? Sigh.

Wooden won most of his championships in fields of only 16 teams, with only one team from each conference. In those days, Ivy League was given as many tournament slots as the Big Ten, ACC, SEC. Wooden's last championship was in 1975, when the field was increased to 32 teams. He was never proven in a grueling field of 64 teams.

His conference sometimes had as few as 8 teams (and maybe only 6 some years). The PAC-6, -8 or -10 was not very challenging.

In Wooden's day, UCLA was almost always assigned to the West Regional of the NCAA tournament, played in Pauley Pavilion, UCLA's home court as well as home town.

Wooden was a great recruiter, but had plenty of advantages, including not only LA glamor but also an informal NIL program and an NCAA with very few recruiting regulations. I never considered him an gamechanging ingame coach -- he won games by recruiting tons of the best players, not by making adjustments at halftime.

Knight and Krzyzewski were the best in game coaches by far.

You make good points but players did improve in his program and respected him. He was low key but his teams did play a well structured game and meshed into cohesive teams. His players were well behaved and his teams radiated structured competence. They played within themselves at all times. Not fair to mention RMK (whom I would have selected) since OP eliminated him as an option. I never liked Coach K nor his teams.