| You are here: Home > March Mayhem > Feature |
|
Dean's list
Dean Smith's 877th win came in 1997 during the second round of the NCAA's against Colorado. The win put the 'dean of coaching' ahead of legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp (876) for most victories in major-college history. He finished his career with 879 victories, including 11 trips to the Final Four.
Smith is the only coach to crack the 50-win plateau in NCAA Tournament competition. His success helped him to the Final Four in four different decades -- a feat he owns alone.
Smith entered the postseason that year with two more tourney victories than the total compiled by the 11 active coaches at the time with at least 10 tournament decisions (82 appearances):
New Mexico's Dave Bliss, West Virginia's Gale Catlett, Navy's Don DeVoe, outgoing Memphis coach Larry Finch, Providence's Pete Gillen, Virginia's Jeff Jones, Florida State's Pat Kennedy, New Mexico State's Neil McCarthy, DePaul's Joey Meyer, Northern Iowa's Eldon Miller and UC Santa Barbara's Jerry Pimm.
(Note: Some of these mentors are no longer with the schools they coached when compiling this record.)
Smith believes his biggest achievement in the tourney's history was his run in the late '60s. "I'm most proud of reaching the Final Four four times in six years from 1967-72," Smith said. "Back in the old days (before 1975), we had to win the ACC Tournament just to go to the playoffs. That's real pressure!" He is also pretty proud of the fact that he holds the tourney victory total, 23 consecutive playoff appearances and a record 13 consecutive trips to the regional semifinals (1981 through 1993).
Despite John Thompson's retirement, seven of the 11 mentors to compile at least 28 NCAA playoff victories are still active. The following are the coaches with the most NCAA Tournament wins through 2000 (FF signifies Final Four appearances):
*Denotes active status
|