Very impressive. To put it in a GW context, here are the auto bids by GW head coaches:

Bill Reinhart - 2
Karl Hobbs - 2
All other coaches in GW history - 0
 

I actually don't think it is that misleading. Yes, the competition is tougher in the power 5 conferences, but the power 5 conferences also have significant advantages in terms of recruiting and retaining talent. There is not equality within D1, but there should be general equality within each conference. If it was so much easier to win auto bids in smaller conferences, why is Few the only smaller conference coach in the list above?

John Cheney coached at Temple for 24 years, and McKillop has been at Davidson for 33 years. I'm not sure how many auto bids they had, but I'm sure its quite a bit less than Few. I am sure there are other examples of great coaches that stayed at schools in smaller conferences for many years as well.

Rising has this right.  It's more than just a coach having a long tenure.  It's the coaching salaries, the facilities, the recruiting budgets, etc.  Also, the A10 has always had schools who were financially able to compete against Temple (your other example, McKillop, is interesting in that his salary has always been well below market rate, which was a trade-off for having your home paid for, complete job security, and a court named after you).  This made it far more difficult for a school like Temple to dominate year in and year out.  By contrast, for many years, Gonzaga was the only WCC school who spent anywhere near what it would take to compete against the top majors.  St. Mary's eventually attempted to close the gap and today, others are following suit (hence, a much stronger conference today than what it formerly was).  Even with other WCC schools now trying to compete, they are still nowhere near where Gonzaga is in every sense.

Last edited by Gwmayhem (3/09/2022 11:00 am)

DC Native wrote:

BTW, I'm not saying Mark Few is the greatest coach in men's college basketball history, just arguing that the accomplishment should not be dismissed either.

 No one is dismissing it just saying it is not as impressive as if it were done in a Power 5 Conference. The others immediately below him on the list had a much tougher road.

DC Native wrote:

Very impressive. To put it in a GW context, here are the auto bids by GW head coaches:

Bill Reinhart - 2
Karl Hobbs - 2
All other coaches in GW history - 0
 

Excellent point. Was it easier for Mike Jarvis who had 0, for all his success than power leagues?  I'd say no

Barry if it's so much easier for Few how come the rest of the list is all blue bloods?  I'd say they have it easiest.  Martelli got St Joe's very briefly to this Gonzaga level and then never again. Not easy at all to sustain this kind of dominance

Same with that 2020 Dayton team, then right down to Earth from a 1 seed to the bubble.

Who else but Few has accomplished anything remotely similar at a non power school??

far easier at a blue blood

Last edited by The Dude (3/09/2022 11:59 am)

The Dude wrote:

DC Native wrote:

I actually don't think it is that misleading. Yes, the competition is tougher in the power 5 conferences, but the power 5 conferences also have significant advantages in terms of recruiting and retaining talent. There is not equality within D1, but there should be general equality within each conference. If it was so much easier to win auto bids in smaller conferences, why is Few the only smaller conference coach in the list above?

Exactly. That's a question that never seems to get answered

Dude, the question was answered. There are very few guys who coach at a smaller school for 17 years. They are either fired or move on to bigger schools.

The Dude wrote:

There are many Coaches who stayed decades with the same non Power school, in our league alone 3-4 come to mind including several listed above.

Few, in  his 23 season, has 17 conference tourney titles and 21 WCC titles.  The other guys on the list who he has surpassed have 10-20 more years as Coaches. 

Having just turned 59, Few may double this # before its all said and done.

Here's a list of longest tenured Coaches (from a few years ago)
Kampe 34 years Oakland, Byrd 32 years Belmont, McKillop 29 years Davidson, Cottrell 26 years Houston, Martelli 23 years St Joes, OHanlon 23 years Lafayette, James Jones 19 years Yale. 
Randy Bennett is next at 17 years in Few's league and his #1 rival.  (now 22 years in a row)  

https://herosports.com/longest-tenured-coaches-division-1-mens-basketball-byby/

 

 Seriously Dude, do you even read what you type? You listed 6 guys with a tenure as long or longer than Few. Do you know how many non-Power 5 conference basketball schools there are? I will tell you - about 280. So it's very good you found 6 guys out of 280 or about 2%. Nothing like using the exception to try to invalidate the rule.

Brad Stevens was on his way at Butler, but decided to leave for the NBA.