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Once a week, USA TODAY Sports asks its network of college basketball experts to analyze the biggest topics.
This week: Who is the best of the Final Four coaches right now?
Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports: I know we have a chunk of Hall of Famers and that Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo and John Calipari have won national titles. But I'll make a case for the coach without a Division I championship.
Bo Ryan has led Wisconsin to back-to-back Final Fours. Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky are bona-fide superstars, but they wouldn't be half the players they are without Ryan's discipline and direction. Ryan has long orchestrated a smothering defense, and Wisconsin always has been a legit Big Ten threat (the Badgers haven't finished worse than fourth in the league since Ryan's been on the sidelines). And now that Ryan's players have blossomed offensively, this is a Final Four roster. Though Calipari's toughest task is meshing together a wide array of talent, Ryan's is growing it. Dekker and Kaminsky weren't top-10 recruits. Now they're All-Americans as upperclassmen. That starts with coaching.
Bennet Hayes, Rush the Court: Because the job description for a college basketball coach goes far beyond what happens for 40 minutes on game day, I'll take John Calipari. Calipari's ferocious recruiting efforts, when combined with a unique ability to mesh elite talent, make him the best coach in college basketball today. And that isn't to say that Calipari is a slouch when it comes to X's and O's; we have watched the Wildcats pull out close victories all season — including Saturday against Notre Dame — in which their coach dialed up all the right plays down the stretch. He's proved himself on the recruiting trail, in the locker room, and on the floor — Calipari is as good as it gets right now.
Paul Gotham, Pickin' Splinters:Tom Izzo. Michigan State has won two or more games in six of the last
seven NCAA tournaments, and Izzo does this with relatively less star power (seven Spartans currently are listed as playing in the NBA). MSU rarely get much preseason hype, but the Spartans get it done in March. The credit for that goes to Izzo.
Ty O'Keefe, Sports Glory: Even among the legendary coaches in this year's Final Four, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is in a class by himself. But beyond the countless accomplishments and the fact that he's found success in the NCAA and with the national team, Krzyzewski has carved out a place for himself on the Mount Rushmore of college coaches by making Duke the epitome of elite college basketball. And he's done so while facing one of the country's toughest conference schedules and dealing with the type of pressure that most couldn't imagine.
David Aldridge, Duke Report: Considering this is his fourth Final Four appearance in the past five years, it could be anyone other than John Calipari. The Kentucky head coach has changed the way many of the elite programs in college basketball function with his ability to recruit the best players to Lexington and get them to buy into his system. He often doesn't receive the credit he deserves because it's assumed that Kentucky should win because of the talent on the roster, but that's another huge part of Calipari's greatness. His recruiting prowess is second to none, and he almost always gets future NBA stars to sacrifice individual accomplishments for the good of the team. Love him or hate him, you have to acknowledge that Calipari is at the top of the mountain in college basketball right now.
This week: Who is the best of the Final Four coaches right now?
Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports: I know we have a chunk of Hall of Famers and that Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo and John Calipari have won national titles. But I'll make a case for the coach without a Division I championship.
Bo Ryan has led Wisconsin to back-to-back Final Fours. Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky are bona-fide superstars, but they wouldn't be half the players they are without Ryan's discipline and direction. Ryan has long orchestrated a smothering defense, and Wisconsin always has been a legit Big Ten threat (the Badgers haven't finished worse than fourth in the league since Ryan's been on the sidelines). And now that Ryan's players have blossomed offensively, this is a Final Four roster. Though Calipari's toughest task is meshing together a wide array of talent, Ryan's is growing it. Dekker and Kaminsky weren't top-10 recruits. Now they're All-Americans as upperclassmen. That starts with coaching.
Bennet Hayes, Rush the Court: Because the job description for a college basketball coach goes far beyond what happens for 40 minutes on game day, I'll take John Calipari. Calipari's ferocious recruiting efforts, when combined with a unique ability to mesh elite talent, make him the best coach in college basketball today. And that isn't to say that Calipari is a slouch when it comes to X's and O's; we have watched the Wildcats pull out close victories all season — including Saturday against Notre Dame — in which their coach dialed up all the right plays down the stretch. He's proved himself on the recruiting trail, in the locker room, and on the floor — Calipari is as good as it gets right now.
Paul Gotham, Pickin' Splinters:Tom Izzo. Michigan State has won two or more games in six of the last
seven NCAA tournaments, and Izzo does this with relatively less star power (seven Spartans currently are listed as playing in the NBA). MSU rarely get much preseason hype, but the Spartans get it done in March. The credit for that goes to Izzo.
Ty O'Keefe, Sports Glory: Even among the legendary coaches in this year's Final Four, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is in a class by himself. But beyond the countless accomplishments and the fact that he's found success in the NCAA and with the national team, Krzyzewski has carved out a place for himself on the Mount Rushmore of college coaches by making Duke the epitome of elite college basketball. And he's done so while facing one of the country's toughest conference schedules and dealing with the type of pressure that most couldn't imagine.
David Aldridge, Duke Report: Considering this is his fourth Final Four appearance in the past five years, it could be anyone other than John Calipari. The Kentucky head coach has changed the way many of the elite programs in college basketball function with his ability to recruit the best players to Lexington and get them to buy into his system. He often doesn't receive the credit he deserves because it's assumed that Kentucky should win because of the talent on the roster, but that's another huge part of Calipari's greatness. His recruiting prowess is second to none, and he almost always gets future NBA stars to sacrifice individual accomplishments for the good of the team. Love him or hate him, you have to acknowledge that Calipari is at the top of the mountain in college basketball right now.
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