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NCAA basketball: Ranking the 25 best college basketball coaches ever

By Nate Williamson

Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Blue Devils, Roy Williams, North Carolina Tar Heels. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Blue Devils, Roy Williams, North Carolina Tar Heels. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Best college basketball coaches ever
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

No. 21: John Calipari

There’s no doubt that John Calipari comes with a fair share of caveats, thanks to some vacated wins due to various scandals, despite being cleared in both cases.

Calipari still has an official 733 total wins as a head coach and is still growing on that total at a young age of 61. If you count the vacated wins, he sits as the No. 13 coach all-time. Even if you don’t count the vacated wins, he sits at No. 23, with plenty of opportunities to climb.

Since Calipari began his career, he’s taken teams to win the big dance in 2012, been to four (non-vacated) Final Fours, won six SEC Tournaments and regular seasons, 4 Conference USA Tournaments, and 5 Conference USA regular seasons. He’s been the Naismith College Coach of the Year three times, amongst numerous other coaching awards.

The accolades don’t end at his team’s performances though, as he’s coached some impressive talent as well, including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, John Wall, and Derrick Rose all having starred for Coach Cal.

As a matter of fact, there were several seasons wherein the Wildcats and Coach Cal had players on more NBA rosters than rosters they didn’t.  At the beginning of the 2019-20 NBA season, a staggering 29 players on NBA opening-day rosters played and finished their college careers with Coach Cal.

His records are impressive enough, but he’ll perhaps best be known for the insane amount of talent he was able to recruit, and then aid in their journey into future NBA stars.