Soccer and males’s basketball have traditionally headlined school athletic departments, however discovering success in each sports activities stays an elusive process for a lot of faculties. Hitting on each hires and supporting them efficiently has been a problem for even probably the most high-profile schools, however a choose few have managed to face aside.
The previous few years have been a fast interval of change throughout each sports activities. At one time, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Alabama’s Nick Saban may swing this checklist. Now, each are retired. So is North Carolina’s Roy Williams, whereas Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is again within the NFL. Different super combos had been additionally just lately break up up as Mike Elko left Duke for Texas A&M, whereas Arizona’s Jedd Fisch deserted Tommy Lloyd for Washington. None of this elements in girls’s school basketball — in any other case, LSU with Brian Kelly and Kim Mulkey would make a robust case for the highest spot.
With a lot turnover, the teaching panorama is shifting virtually day by day. Even a robust look within the 2024 NCAA Match may very well be sufficient to shake up the checklist. However heading into the 2024 NCAA Match, let’s take a look on the high 10 school soccer/males’s basketball teaching mixtures within the nation.
1. Kansas: Lance Leipold/Invoice Self
The perfect teaching combo in school athletics resides in … Lawrence, Kansas? Self is the consensus greatest coach in school basketball with 16 Massive 12 regular-season titles, two nationwide titles and an 809-247 profession report. Leipold, in the meantime, is the fastest-rising veteran on the soccer aspect, remodeling woeful Buffalo and now Kansas packages into constant winners. He is coming off a 9-4 season in 2023 with this Jayhawks program and back-to-back bowl berths (for Kansas!).
2. Kentucky: Mark Stoops/John Calipari
The Wildcats have a severe declare to the No. 1 spot, however latest outcomes knock them down barely. Stoops has dropping information in every of the previous two SEC campaigns, whereas Calipari has not reached the second weekend of the NCAA Match since 2019. Nonetheless, the general résumés of those two coaches are stellar. Calipari has a nationwide championship and 6 Remaining Fours beneath his belt. Stoops has led Kentucky to the best interval of sustained success because the program was led by the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. His two 10-win seasons match the identical quantity as each different coach in UK historical past mixed.
3. Alabama: Kalen DeBoer/Nate Oats
The Crimson Tide had been a mainstay on the high of those lists, however Saban’s retirement drops Alabama again into the pack. Nonetheless, DeBoer led Washington to a Faculty Soccer Playoff Nationwide Championship look final season and boasts a downright foolish 104-12 teaching report, together with the 25-3 mark at Washington. Oats’ inventory has additionally slipped barely prior to now calendar yr, however he boasts two SEC titles and Candy 16 appearances prior to now 4 seasons.
4. North Carolina: Mack Brown/Hubert Davis
Contextualizing North Carolina’s two energetic coaches is troublesome. Brown is considered one of solely three energetic school soccer coaches with a nationwide championship, however his crown got here in 2005. Nonetheless, his Texas résumé and 5 consecutive bowl seasons at UNC are spectacular. UNC missed the NCAA Match for the primary time in additional than a decade final season beneath Davis, however he ought to shoot again up the teaching rankings after main UNC to its first regular-season ACC title in 5 years. He additionally nonetheless has a nationwide title sport look beneath his belt simply two seasons in the past.
A lot of the legendary coaches in school basketball have retired, however Izzo simply retains on trucking. Izzo has eight Remaining Fours, 10 Massive Ten regular-season championships to his title and simply certified for his twenty sixth consecutive March Insanity. Smith was an excellent rent from Oregon State, the place he gained Co-Pac-12 Coach of the Yr honors in 2022. The Beavers went 25-13 in his remaining three seasons at one of many hardest jobs within the sport, and now he has a recent slate at Michigan State to guide this system again to prominence.
6. Oregon: Dan Lanning/Dana Altman
The Geese have a beautiful mixture of expertise and expertise on the teaching entrance. Altman fittingly captured his eighth tourney look and sixteenth general after the Geese crashed the get together after profitable the Pac-12 Match title, his fourth in 10 years. Altman, in the meantime, has 754 wins throughout 4 teaching stops. Lanning is among the fastest-rising coaches in school soccer after main Oregon to a 22-5 report via two seasons, together with a Fiesta Bowl victory this previous yr. The Geese’ soccer crew shall be a preferred nationwide title choose in 2024 within the faculty’s first yr as a member of the Massive Ten.
7. Tennessee: Josh Heupel/Rick Barnes
Like Oregon, the Volunteers boast a mixture of up-and-comer with a seasoned veteran. After 17 years at Texas, Barnes has remodeled Tennessee basketball right into a winner. The Vols captured the 2024 SEC regular-season championship and have averaged 24 wins over the previous seven years. Heupel gained the FWAA First-Yr Coach of the Yr at each UCF and Tennessee, and he later captured SEC Coach of the Yr in 2022 after a breakout 11-2 marketing campaign. He’s 27-12 throughout three seasons in Knoxville.
8. Houston: Willie Fritz/Kelvin Sampson
Outdoors of Self, Sampson has a case subsequent to any coach in school basketball after an unimaginable run with the Cougars. Houston has gained six consecutive convention championships between the AAC and Massive 12, and it enters 2024 as a No. 1 seed with a robust nationwide title case. Fritz is a newcomer to the power-conference stage, however his monitor report of profitable in any respect ranges stands aside. From JUCO to Group of 5, Fritz has gained 247 video games, seven convention championships and two junior school nationwide titles. He gained nationwide coach of the yr in 2022 as he led Tulane to a Cotton Bowl win over USC.
9. Iowa State: Matt Campbell/TJ Otzelberger
Otzelberger led one of many quickest turnarounds school basketball has ever seen, elevating a crew that went 2-22 the earlier season to the Candy 16. Iowa State captured a No. 2 seed within the 2024 NCAA Match after profitable the Massive 12 tourney championship, its greatest seed in 20 years. Campbell’s inventory slipped after a dropping season in 2022, however he has six profitable seasons prior to now seven years. That is greater than the Cyclones had within the 25 earlier seasons earlier than his arrival.
10. Miami: Mario Cristobal/Jim Larrañaga
Cristobal stays a lightning rod after inconsistent early outcomes with Miami, however his stints at Oregon and FIU stay extremely spectacular. The Geese gained two convention titles beneath his watch, whereas the Panthers gained their solely convention championship since beginning as an FBS soccer program in 2004. The Hurricanes had a down yr on the hardwood in 2024, however Larrañaga led Miami to an ACC title and Remaining 4 in 2023. He has gained greater than 700 video games throughout three stops and guided George Mason to probably the most surprising Remaining Fours in school basketball historical past in 2006.
