Read the opposing arguments from Sports Geek and Bleacher Fan.
I really wish all of the loyal TSD readers could have been a part of our editorial meeting Wednesday night. We all know that Dick Vitale loves Coach K and Robert Montgomery Knight. We know that Tim McCarver believes the Yankees can do no wrong. We know that Urban Meyer has a deep relationship with Tim Tebow, and if you don’t believe that, then maybe you should ask Orlando Sentinel reporter Jeremy Fowler. But all of those “infatuations” are extremely minute when compared to the feelings Sports Geek has toward Tom Izzo. All I have to say is “wow.” For more on that, take a look at his article.
In all seriousness, we are debating today the best tournament coaches of the past ten years. While I have nothing but respect for Izzo and Roy Williams, who is Bleacher Fan’s choice, it is obvious to me that Bill Self is the best tournament coach of the past decade.
You know, before researching information for this debate, I had forgotten that Bill Self took Tulsa to the Elite Eight back in 2000. It was the school’s first ever Elite Eight appearance. But we all know that Self made his name coaching for Illinois and Kansas.
I am a big believer that Self’s work at Illinois has largely gone unnoticed by fans and the media. Perhaps that is because of his hasty move to Kansas after telling Fighting Illini supporters that he was happy in Champaign. In his first season there he led Illinois to the Elite Eight before falling to national runner up Arizona. And though it really has no bearing on his status as a tournament coach, keep in mind that it was largely “his players” that went to the national championship game when Bruce Weber took over.
While in Kansas, he has continued the success that he achieved at previous stops. He took his first Kansas team to the Elite Eight in 2004 where the Jayhawks lost to eventual national runner-up Georgia Tech. In 2008, he finally won the big one as the Jayhawks defeated the Memphis Tigers in a thrilling national title game. It was indeed redemption for Self, but especially for the Jayhawks and Rock Chalk Jayhawk nation.
Self is one of two active coaches to take three teams to the Elite Eight. Can you name the other? It is Rick Pitino, of course. His last twelve teams have made the NCAA tournament. Granted, this year’s team underachieved once in the tournament. And yes, two of his earlier Kansas teams lost in the first round of the tournament. Beginning with the 2000 NCAA tournament when he was finishing up his stop at Tulsa, his teams have gone 24-10 in the crapshoot known as March Madness. Not bad at all!
Sometimes I feel as though Self does not necessarily get a lot of credit as it is taken a lot to overcome the stigma that Kansas chokes in the tournament. That stigma was built in large part by Bleacher Fan’s choice today, Roy Williams. And yeah, maybe Kansas does underachieve in the tournament at times. But it is hard to argue with Self’s results at three different schools. That is something Tom Izzo and Roy Williams cannot say.
