Mount Rushmore of D3 Coaches

[Titan Q]

Sure. Why not? Who's defining the parameters of the résumés being submitted here?

It's just one more point of subjectivity.

Secondary criteria maybe...like non-D3 W/L %.  Only to break an unbreakable tie.

[thebear]

Here's the complete list of D3 coaches who have won the Title.

Food for Thought

Winning Coach   #
Ryan, Bo   4
McCarrell, Dan   3
   
Bessoir, Bob   2
Welsh, Jerry   2
Djurickovic, Bosko   2
Vander Meulen, Dave   2
Bennett, Jack   2
Edwards, Mark   2
Hixon, David   2
Miller, Pat   2
Semling, Bob   2
   
Brennan, Steve   1
Bridges, Dennie   1
Campoli, Joe   1
Douma, Ed   1
Flannery, Pat   1
Fritz, Steve   1
Giannini, John   1
Hunter, Larry   1
Johnson, Jerry   1
Lewis, Matt   1
Lonergan, Mike   1
Macedo, Dave   1
Mahaffey, Gene   1
Neer, Mike   1
Paulsen, Dave   1
Petty, Mac   1
Reynolds, Dick   1
Tauer, John   1
Vande Streek, Kevin   1
Wellman, Dale   1

(edited for spelling by GS, because he's anal-retentive about such things)

[Smitty Oom]

Well I will start us off by picking the 4 coaches I would vote for. This is with not too much thought besides reading the board and all of the wonderful applicants that have been brought forward.

1. Bo Ryan - Most all time national championships in D3, not much more needed to be said.
2. Dave Hixon - 2 national championships in 25 years of being able to participate in NCAA tourney, plus 800+ wins.
3. Mark Edwards - 650+ wins and 2 national championships.
4. Glenn Robinson - 900+ wins most all time in D3 and 5 final four appearances. Would have been a lock with just one national championship.


I know no one will agree with this list but thought I would put my thoughts out there. I would like a full list of Dan McCarrell stats, as 3 national championships is certainly quite impressive. Bosko, Bessoir and Moore would be on my Crazy Horse monument as of right now (Honorable Mention).

Grey Giovanne and Bob Semling are definitely on their way to outstanding resumes. By the time they retire they could very well be competing for a spot. I would include Tauer in that group but he would have to add a couple hundred wins and a national championship by the time they move to D1, which doesn't seem all too likely

[thebear]

Still working through my stuff, but Jerry Johnson, Le-Moyne Owen, probably needs to be on the Mount.  First D-3 national champion, & a runner up, still alive at 101 going on 102. One of the few coaches of color on this list. 46 years of college coaching. 821-447 career record.

Also - Wikipedia has this useful tool for all divisions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_college_men%27s_basketball_coaches_with_600_wins

[SpringSt7]

Well I will start us off by picking the 4 coaches I would vote for. This is with not too much thought besides reading the board and all of the wonderful applicants that have been brought forward.

1. Bo Ryan - Most all time national championships in D3, not much more needed to be said.
2. Dave Hixon - 2 national championships in 25 years of being able to participate in NCAA tourney, plus 800+ wins.
3. Mark Edwards - 650+ wins and 2 national championships.
4. Glenn Robinson - 900+ wins most all time in D3 and 5 final four appearances. Would have been a lock with just one national championship.

I think when you look at these numbers and all the available stats, it's really tough to justify leaving any of Ryan/Hixon/Edwards off. I mean 4 national championships in just 15 years is staggering when you think about the Division III landscape, I don't think you really need to justify any sort of longevity argument when his peak was that good. Hixon and Edwards speak for themselves, to be that good for so long, plus Hixon's success in a relatively short period of NCAA postseason eligibility.

That leaves the last pick, which I think has to belong to someone in the midwest, leaving off the CCIW seems criminal when you consider how much history it has in D3, and I think I'd have to go Bosko Djurickovic for my last pick.

The recent record at Carthage maybe doesn't reflect all too well but when you look at the comprehensive levels of success, to do it at two different schools (2 Final Fours 15 years apart at different schools in the same league is pretty damn good), I just can't justify leaving a resume like that off over a Robinson or Moore who are trying to make the longevity argument when there are just too many other guys who have simply accomplished more. For me the way I try to look at it a little is this: which 4 coaching resumes would I want the most? The total wins and all are great, but you remember the championships and final fours and what not, so to have 4 guys who have seen the highest of the highs, that's why I would have them: Ryan, Hixon, Edwards, Djurickovic

[Gregory Sager]

Still working through my stuff, but Jerry Johnson, Le-Moyne Owen, probably needs to be on the Mount.  First D-3 national champion, & a runner up, still alive at 101 going on 102. One of the few coaches of color on this list. 46 years of college coaching. 821-447 career record.

Wow. I had no idea that Jerry Johnson was still alive. Thanks for passing that info along.

[Ralph Turner]

I'm not sure how big of a deal getting to the Sweet 16 really is. I mean, in past years you could get to the 2nd weekend (3rd round) with one win.

I recall it happening a few times in the early 2000's. The archives of the current D3hoops.com don't go back before the 2006-07 season.

I believe that Maryville may have done it 1-2 times.

[Ralph Turner]

2010 UT-Dallas got a first round bye, beat Wheaton IL in round 2, and then lost at UWSP eventual champion 64-57.

[Gregory Sager]

Yes, I had forgotten about the bye period, after the tourney had been scaled back from 64 teams from 1998-2016.

To make up for it, I'll compile a list of all of the teams that used a bye to get to the second weekend after having won only one game.

[Greek Tragedy]

I'm not sure how big of a deal getting to the Sweet 16 really is. I mean, in past years you could get to the 2nd weekend (3rd round) with one win.

I recall it happening a few times in the early 2000's. The archives of the current D3hoops.com don't go back before the 2006-07 season.

I believe that Maryville may have done it 1-2 times.

https://www.d3hoops.com/archives/index-men

The "64-team" tournament that had byes in the 1st round started in 2006 with 5 byes (59 teams), 60 teams in 2009, 61 in 2010 and 2011, 62 from 2012-2015, 63 in 2016 and 64 since then.

[Smitty Oom]

Well I will start us off by picking the 4 coaches I would vote for. This is with not too much thought besides reading the board and all of the wonderful applicants that have been brought forward.

1. Bo Ryan - Most all time national championships in D3, not much more needed to be said.
2. Dave Hixon - 2 national championships in 25 years of being able to participate in NCAA tourney, plus 800+ wins.
3. Mark Edwards - 650+ wins and 2 national championships.
4. Glenn Robinson - 900+ wins most all time in D3 and 5 final four appearances. Would have been a lock with just one national championship.

I think when you look at these numbers and all the available stats, it's really tough to justify leaving any of Ryan/Hixon/Edwards off. I mean 4 national championships in just 15 years is staggering when you think about the Division III landscape, I don't think you really need to justify any sort of longevity argument when his peak was that good. Hixon and Edwards speak for themselves, to be that good for so long, plus Hixon's success in a relatively short period of NCAA postseason eligibility.

I agree with this. Obviously others will see it differently, but I had the hardest time choosing that fourth member. You made a good argument for Bosko.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm not sure how big of a deal getting to the Sweet 16 really is. I mean, in past years you could get to the 2nd weekend (3rd round) with one win.

I recall it happening a few times in the early 2000's. The archives of the current D3hoops.com don't go back before the 2006-07 season.

I believe that Maryville may have done it 1-2 times.

https://www.d3hoops.com/archives/index-men

The "64-team" tournament that had byes in the 1st round started in 2006 with 5 byes (59 teams), 60 teams in 2009, 61 in 2010 and 2011, 62 from 2012-2015, 63 in 2016 and 64 since then.

The byes re-started in 1998 when the tourney was pared down from 64 teams to 48. Twelve teams per tourney had opening-round byes until the tourney expanded again in 2006.

Prior to the original 64-team brackets in the 1995-97 era of the tourney, there was a set-up that featured a 40-team bracket with a Tuesday-night play-in round added to what had been a 2-1-2 format since the tourney began in 1975. This form of the bracket was in place for only one tournament, 1989. In 1990 the 40-team bracket was re-formatted to get rid of the Tuesday-night play-in round by moving it to Friday night as part of what had always been known as the regionals (the first two rounds, playing on the first weekend), with another round added to the second weekend (which was dubbed the sectionals). This created the 2-2-2 format with which we're all familiar, but with 24 byes in the first round. The format's been 2-2-2 ever since, except for 2013, when the tourney was elongated to a 1-1-1-2-0-1 format in order to synchronize the three NCAA divisions so that they could all have their championships in Atlanta on the same weekend.

[kiko]

I haven't been to this neighborhood in a bit and just found this thread.  But as soon as I found it I knew the Bosko vs Dennie debate would be running hot. 

First, here are results from every D3 tourney: https://d3hoops.com/archives/index-men

Second -- and I am a North Central guy for those who don't know me, and so don't have a dog in this fight beyond wondering why Benjy Taylor has not been discussed.  I don't think either Dennie or Bosko makes it to the elite four on Mount Rushmore, but IMO Dennie has the better case.  If Bosko's tenure had ended shortly after his second final four team, he'd have a stronger case.  But the last ten years have been:

2019-20 (15-11, 7-9 CCIW)
2018-19 (8-17, 3-13 CCIW)
2017-18 (13-12, 8-8 CCIW)
2016-17 (18-8, 11-5 CCIW)
2015-16 (10-15, 4-10 CCIW)
2014-15 (10-15, 5-9 CCIW)
2013-14 (16-10, 9-5 CCIW)
2012-13 (12-13, 7-7 CCIW)
2011-12 (12-13, 6-8 CCIW)
2010-11 (16-9, 9-5 CCIW)

That's sub-.500 as often as above .500, and to the point made earlier, the Red Men haven't really come close to the postseason in that era.  The two championships (not five -- two) as a head coach get him into the anteroom alongside a very select few coaches, but I can't overlook a decade of middling results when we are talking top-four over a 40-year era.  I would argue that in the past decade he has been at best the fourth-best coach *in his conference* -- and even that is arguable -- let alone overall all-time.

The 'did it at two schools' thing doesn't carry much weight with me (and the other guy to do so coaches my school) because it penalizes coaches who excelled year after year after year after year at one school, and there should be absolutely no penalty for that IMO.

And FWIW:
Ryan
Hixson
Edwards
Robinson

With Moore standing front-of-the-line among the half-dozen others who belong in the conversation.

[NEhoops]

I can definitely support the Ryan/Hixon/Edwards nominations.

*** Below was posted to the NESCAC board earlier this week***

Steve Moore (Muhlenberg/Wooster) – 1st in winning percentage and 2nd in wins

Glenn Van Wieren (Hope) – 7th in winning percentage and 11th in wins

Glenn Robinson (Franklin & Marshall) – 13th in winning percentage and 1st in wins

David Hixon (Amherst) – 10th in winning percentage and 3rd in wins

These are the only four coaches to be in the Top 20 in both categories. Hixon is the only national championship winner (2) of the group. Mark Edwards (WashU) who has won two national championships just missed the cut. Active coaches, Bob Semling (Wis.-Stevens Point) and Pat Miller (Wis.-Whitewater) are currently 2nd and 4th in all-time winning percentage respectively and have both won two national championships. The NCAA record book has Bo Ryan listed as 3rd all-time in winning percentage on the D3 list, but it is including his entire coaching career. If they just included his winning percentage for his 15 seasons at Wis.-Platteville (.823) he would be in the top spot and it wouldn't even be close – Moore is currently listed first (.775).   

[ronk]

 If a relevant category is wins/year, then Robinson, Hixon, Edwards, McCarrell, Bosko drop considerably in ranking.