NCAA basketball: Ranking the 25 best college basketball coaches ever

No. 6: Adolph Rupp

The seventh-highest winningest coach in college basketball history, Rupp left an unforgettable legacy in his forty-two years as the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats that included four national titles, six Final Four appearances and a ridiculous 27 SEC regular-season titles.

The five-time National Coach of the Year, Rupp was Kentucky through-and-through, but his life, and basketball career, started at the University of Kansas as a player, before working his way up the ladder through Freeport High School, and settling with the Wildcats.

Rupp trails only Bee in winning percentage (.822), and was an early innovator in terms of basketball, arguably being one of the first to play a modern style of game, before it was even popular. Rupp developed tactics like the “guard around” offensive movement and screening strategy still in place by many today and adopted by many others on this list.

Known as a very superstitious man, the Wildcats legendary coach, and namesake of their famed arena, Rupp used to carry around a “lucky” bullseye in his pocket all the time.

Clearly, it worked, and he lands at the No. 6 spot on our list of greatest coaches of all time.