It isn't even close! Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who won two national championships in '91 and '92 and coached the Blue Devils to the final four in '86, '88, '89, '90, and '94, is the clear winner in our quest to find out who are the best college coaches in the nation. But then the picture becomes less clear as 10 coaches all got enough votes to be within our margin of error of being ranked second behing Krzyzewski. Obviously a recent appearance in the NCAA Final Four counts for something, as in the final analysis our #2, #3, and #4 ranked head coaches - Utah's Rick Majerus, Arizona's Lute Olson, and Kentucky's Tubby Smith - have all coached in the last two title games. Cincinnati's Bobby Huggins hasn't been in the final four since 1992, but he's had the Bearcats in the final eight several times and he takes a backseat to nobody in recruiting and his Al McGuire-like relationship with his players. Kansas head coach Roy Williams has watched his teams underachieve during the last four or five years, but he also took the Jayhawks to the final four in '91 and '93. Temple's John Chaney, Purdue's Gene Keady, and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun have never been in the final four, but all are relentless competitors and all have done a tremendous job of maintaining a high level of excellence over the years. Stanford's Mike Montgomery is the new kid on the block, as he took The Cardinal the final four a year ago. Knight's last championship was in '87 and his last final four appearance was in '92, but he doesn't appear to be done yet.

In the next group are an up-and-coming guy in St. John's head coach Mike Jarvis, the retiring St. Louis head coach Charlie Spoonhour, and Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton, who failed to get to the final four when he was at Kentucky, but is only one of several head coaches to get the final four at two different schools (Arkansas in '78 and Oklahoma State in '95). The College of Charleston's John Kresse, who also is ranked as the top coach at the lower Division I level, rounds out the top 15. He's followed by Virginia's Pete Gillen and four Big 10 coaches - Ohio State's Jim O'Brien, Illinois' Lon Kruger, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, and Wisconsin's Dick Bennett.

The "Best of the Rest," which is headed by Valparaiso head coach Homer Drew, who has his team back in the NCAA Tournament again this year. Also on list of "Best of the Rest" are several young coaches like Florida's Billy Donovan, Illinois State's Kevin Stallings, N.C. State's Herb Sendek, UCLA's Steve Lavin, Southwest Missouri State's Steve Alford, Tulsa's Bill Self, Texas A&M's Melvin Watkins, Florida State's Steve Robinson. We have some guys who have been around for a while like South Carolina's Eddie Fogler, Maryland's Gary Williams, Arizona State's Rob Evans, Princeton's Bill Carmody, Pennsylvania's Fran Dunphy, Xavier's Skip Prosser, George Mason's Jim Larranaga, Wake Forest's Dave Odom, Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson, UNC-Charlotte's Bobby Lutz, Evansville's Jim Crews, UNC-Wilmington's Jerry Wainwright, Miami-FL's Leonard Hamilton, Iowa State's Larry Eustachy, Texas' Rick Barnes, and George Washington's Tom Penders. And of course there are a number of coaches who have been to the final four or won the NCAA championship, like Arkansas' Nolan Richardson, Rhode Island's Jim Harrick, Louisville's Denny Crum, Minnesota's Clem Haskins, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian, and North Carolina's Bill Guthridge, who have to be mentioned.

Although there is very little continuity in terms of players remaining all four years in college, the obvious number of great coaches in the game today is close to an all time high. Maybe this explains why interest in the college game continues to grow and grow. And remember we're missing some of the most important guys. Rick Pitino, John Calapari, and perhaps even Larry Brown, are really college coaches masquerading as NBA coaches. And it was the end of an era when North Carolina's Dean Smith and Georgetown's John Thompson both retired.

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP HEAD COACHES IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL

1. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)                                                        11. Bob Knight (Indiana)

2. Rick Majerus (Utah)                                                                 12. Mike Jarvis (St. John's)

3. Lute Olson (Arizona)                                                                13. Charlie Spoonhour (St. Louis)

4. Tubby Smith (Kentucky)                                                          14. Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State)

5. Bobby Huggins (Cincinnati)                                                   15. John Kresse (College of Charleston)

6. John Chaney (Temple)                                                             16. Jim O'Brien (Ohio State)

7. Roy Williams (Kansas)                                                           17. Lon Kruger (Illinois)

8. Gene Keady (Purdue)                                                               18. Pete Gillen (Virginia)

9. Mike Montgomery (Stanford)                                                19. Tom Izzo (Michigan State)

10. Jim Calhoun (Connecticut)                                                  20. Dick Bennett (Wisconsin)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP X's AND O's HEAD COACHES

1. Rick Majerus (Utah)                                                                  9. Mike Montgomery (Stanford)

2. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)                                                        10. Mike Jarvis (St. John's)

3. Denny Crum (Louisville)                                                         11. Charlie Spoonhour (St. Louis)

4. Dick Bennett (Wisconsin)                                                      12. Skip Prosser (Xavier)

5. Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State)                                              13. Roy Williams (Kansas)

6. Bill Carmody (Princeton)                                                        14. Jim O'Brien (Ohio State)

7. Tom Davis (Iowa)                                                                       15. Bob Knight (Indiana)

8. Rollie Massimino (Cleveland State)                                      16. Dan Peters (Youngstown State)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP RECRUITING HEAD COACHES

1. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)                                                        12. Jim Larranaga (George Mason)

2. Bobby Huggins (Cincinnati)                                                   13. Rick Stansbury (Mississippi State)

3. Billy Donovan (Florida)                                                            14. Jim Calhoun (Connecticut)

4. Roy Williams (Kansas)                                                            15. James "Bruiser" Flint (Massachusetts)

5. Kevin O'Neill (Northwestern)                                                16. Pete Gillen (Virginia)

6. Steve Lavin (UCLA)                                                                  17. Bobby Cremins (Georgia Tech)

7. Lute Olson (Arizona)                                                               18. Bill Bayno (UNLV)

8. Tubby Smith (Kentucky)                                                         19. Kevin Bannon (Rutgers)

9. Leonard Hamilton (Miami-FL)                                               20. Tom Izzo (Michigan State)

10. Pat Kennedy (DePaul)                                                           21. Jay Wright (Hofstra) 

11. Mark Gottfried (Alabama)                                                    22. Brian Ellerbe (Michigan)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP GAME PREPARATION HEAD COACHES

1. Rick Majerus (Utah)                                                                11. Bobby Huggins (Cincinnati)

2. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)                                                        12. Charlie Spoonhour (St. Louis)

3. Bob Knight (Indiana)                                                                13. Herb Sendek (N.C. State)

4. John Chaney (Temple)                                                             14. John Kresse (College of Charleston)

5. Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State)                                              15. Dick Bennett (Wisconsin)

6. Lon Kruger (Illinois)                                                               16. Norm Stewart (Missouri)

7. Mike Montgomery (Stanford)                                                17. Roy Williams (Kansas)

8. Bill Guthridge (North Carolina)                                           18. Lute Olson (Arizona)

9. Gene Keady (Purdue)                                                              19. Seth Greenberg (South Florida)

10. Tubby Smith (Kentucky)                                                      20. Don DeVoe (Navy)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP YOUNG HEAD COACHES (FIVE YEARS OR LESS AT THE DIVISION I LEVEL)

1. Billy Donavan (Florida)                                                            15. Rob Barnes (Mississippi)

2. Steve Alford (Southwest Missouri State)                             16. Buzz Peterson (Appalachian State)

3. Steve Lavin (UCLA)                                                                  17. Bobby Lutz (UNC-Charlotte)

4. Tom Izzo (Michigan State)                                                      18. Bill Self (Tulsa)

5. Tommy Amaker (Seton Hall)                                                 19. Shakey Rodriquez (Florida International)

6. Mark Gottfried (Alabama)                                                      20. Jessie Evans (Southwestern Louisiana)

7. Mike Brey (Delaware)                                                             21. Milton Barnes (Eastern Michigan)

8. Paul Hewitt (Siena)                                                                  22. Dennis Felton (Western Kentucky)

9. Tim Welsh (Providence)                                                         23. Jeff Schneider (Cal-Poly-San Luis Obispo)

10. Melvin Watkins (Texas A&M)                                            24. Larry Shyatt (Clemson)

11. Kevin Stallings (Illinois State)                                            25. Jay Wright (Hofstra)

12. Phil Martelli (St. Joseph's)                                                  26. Tim O'Toole (Fairfield)

13. Bill Carmody (Princeton)                                                     27. Jerry Wainwright (UNC-Wilmington)

14. Bill Ellerbe (Michigan)                                                         28. Lorenzo Romar (Pepperdine)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE HEAD COACHES AT THE LOWER DIVISION I LEVEL

1. John Kresse (College of Charleston)                                    15. Milton Barnes (Eastern Michigan)

2. Homer Drew (Valparaiso)                                                        16. Dennis Felton (Western Kentucky)

3. Steve Alford (Southwest Missouri State)                              17. Jeff Schneider (Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo)

4. Ken "Fang" Mitchell (Coppin State)                                     18. Jay Wright (Hofstra)

5. Fran Dunphy (Pennsylvania)                                                   19. John Beilein (Richmond)

6. Mike Brey (Delaware)                                                              20. Jim Phelan (Mt. St. Mary's)

7. Billy Herrion (Drexel)                                                              21. Mike Hideman (Wisconsin-Green Bay)

8. Bill Carmody (Princeton)                                                         22. Tim O'Toole (Fairfield)

9. Don Monson (Gonzaga)                                                             23. Jerry Wainwright (UNC-Wilmington)

10. Bob McKillop (Davidson)                                                        24. Dan Hipsher (Akron)

11. Kevin Stallings (Illinois State)                                             25. Lorenzo Romar (Pepperdine)

12. Paul Hewitt (Siena)                                                                 26. Jeff Lebo (Tennessee Tech)

13. Larry Hunter (Ohio University)                                           27. Fran O'Hanlon (Lafayette)

14. Jessie Evans (Southwestern Louisiana)                             28. Phil Matthews (San Francisco)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP ASSISTANT COACHES  WHO ARE READY FOR HEAD COACHING JOBS

1. Bobby Gonzalez (Virginia)                                                      11. Greg Lakey (St. Louis)

2. Quin Snyder (Duke)                                                                 12. Kevin Clark (St. John's)

3. Phil Ford (North Carolina)                                                      13. Mike Davis (Indiana)

4. George Felton (Kentucky)                                                       14. Dean Demopoulos (Temple)

5. Matt Doherty (Kansas)                                                             15. Michael Hunt (Georgia)

6. Paul Biancardi (Ohio State)                                                    16. Louie Orr (Syracuse)

7. Michael Holton (UCLA)                                                            17. Joe Scott (Princeton)

8. Tom Crean (Michigan State)                                                   18. Sean Sutton (Oklahoma State)

9. Neil Dougherty (Kansas)                                                          19. Jim Platt (Florida State)

10. Billy Hahn (Maryland)                                                            20. Will Rey (Wright State)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP ASSISTANT COACHES WHO AREN'T LIKELY TO MOVE, EXCEPT FOR THE PERFECT JOB

1. Phil Ford (North Carolina)                                                      10. Sean Sutton (Oklahoma State)

2. Bernie Fine (Syracuse)                                                            11. Rick Callahan (South Carolina)

3. Rich Daly (Missouri)                                                                12. Jim Harrick, Jr. (Rhode Island)

4. George Felton (Kentucky)                                                       13. Danny Tarkanian (Fresno State)

5. Matt Doherty (Kansas)                                                             14. Sam Alford (Southwest Missouri State)

6. Billy Hahn (Maryland)                                                             15. Jim Rosborough (Arizona)

7. Kevin Cantwell (Georgia Tech)                                              16. Fran McCaffery (Notre Dame) 

8. Dean Demopoulos (Temple)                                                    17. Jeff Judkins (Utah)

9. Dave Leitao (Connecticut)                                                       18.  Frank Kendrick (Purdue)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP RECRUITING ASSISTANT COACHES 

1. Bobby Gonzalez (Virginia)                                                     13. Billy Hahn (Maryland)

2. George Felton (Kentucky)                                                      14. Larry Harris (N.C. State)

3. Quin Snyder (Duke)                                                                15. Eugene Harris (Auburn)

4. Rich Daly (Missouri)                                                               16. Dave Spiller (Ohio State)

5. Dave Zimroth (South Florida)                                                17. Louie Orr (Syracuse)

6. Frank Kendrick (Purdue)                                                      18. Tom Kelsey (Alabama)

7. Mike Wilson (Baylor)                                                             19. Greg Vetrone (UNLV)

8. Jim Saia (UCLA)                                                                      20. Kurtis Townsend (Michigan)

9. Larry Harrison (DePaul)                                                        21. Geoff Arnold (Massachusetts)

10. Karl Hobbs (Connecticut)                                                     22. Tony Benford (Arizona State)

11. John Pelphrey (Florida)                                                        23. Mick Cronin (Cincinnati)

12. Dave Miller (Southern Cal)                                                  24. Tracy Dildy (DePaul)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP YOUNG ASSISTANT COACHES 

1. Mick Cronin (Cincinnati)                                                       11. Jim Christian (Pittsburgh)

2. Shawn Finney (Kentucky)                                                       12. John Welsh (Fresno State)

3. Tod Kowalczyk (Rutgers)                                                        13. Jerry Eaves (Louisville)

4. Derek Thomas (St. Louis)                                                       14. Jim Harrick, Jr. (Rhode Island)

5. Sean Miller (N.C. State)                                                          15. Clyde Vaughn (Long Beach State)

6. John Pelphrey (Florida)                                                           16. Tony Barbee (Wyoming)

7. Mike Hopkins (Syracuse)                                                       17. Sean Kearney (Delaware) 

8. Steve DeMeo (Providence)                                                      18. Bill Gillespie (Tulsa)

9. Tom Pecora (Hofstra)                                                              19. Pat Knight (Indiana)

10. Mike Gillian (George Mason)                                             20. Todd Howard (IUPUI)

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP HIGH SCHOOL & PREP SCHOOL COACHES

1. Bob Hurley - Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ                          13. Kevin Boyle - Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ

2. Max Goode - Pittsfield (MaineCentral Inst.) ME                  14. Danny Haney - Lexington (Catholic) KY

3. Morgan Wootten - Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD                     15. John Miller - Beaver Falls (Black Hawk) PA

4. Bill Ellerbee - Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA                    16. Jack Keefer - Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN

5. Stu Vetter - ????????????                                                    17. Bernard Griffith - New Orleans (St. Augustine) LA

6. Maurice Hicks - New York (Rice) NY                                   18. John Sarandrea - New Castle (H.S.) PA

7. Dale Mabrey - Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY         19. Wayne Merino - Lakewood (Artesia) CA

8. Wayne McClain - Peoria (Manual) IL                                   20. Gary DeCesare - Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY

9. Ed Pepple - Mercer Island (H.S.) WA                                    21. Gary McKnight - Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA

10. Jack Curran - Jamaica (Archbishop Molloy) NY             22. Ron Naclerio - Bayside (Cardozo) NY

11. Bob Farrell - West Orange (Seton Hall Prep) NJ            23. Mike Price - Cincinnati (Oak Hills) OH

12. Steve Smith - Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA                  24. Scott Shepard - Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP HIGH SCHOOL & PREP SCHOOL PROGRAMS

1. Mouth of Wilson (Oak Hill) VA                                             14. Chatham (Hargrave Military) VA

2. Pittsfield (Maine Central Institute) ME                                15. Indianapolis (Lawrence North) IN

3. Jersey City (St. Anthony) NJ                                                 16. Lakewood (Artesia) CA

4. Hyattsville (DeMatha) MD                                                       17. Durham (Mt. Zion Christian) NC

5. Compton (Dominguez) CA                                                       18. Peoria (Manual) IL

6. Philadelphia (Simon Gratz) PA                                              19. Oakdale (St. Thomas More) CT

7. New York (Rice) NY                                                                 20. Santa Ana (Mater Dei) CA

8. Winchendon (School) MA                                                       21. Mercer Island (H.S.) WA

9. Elizabeth (St. Patrick) NJ                                                       22. Los Angeles (Westchester) CA

10. Middle Village (Christ the King) NY                                  23. Alameda (St. Joseph) CA

11. Louisville (Pleasure Ridge Park) KY                                 24. Philadelphia (Roman Catholic) PA

12. Chicago (Martin Luther King) IL                                       25. Louisville (Ballard) KY

13. Bronx (St. Raymond's) NY

THE HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP SCOUTING SERVICES & RECRUITING PUBLICATIONS (THE HOOP SCOOP WAS EXCLUDED)

1. All-Star Sports & ACC Today - Bob Gibbons

2. Recruiter's Handbook & Prep Stars - Brick Oettinger & Dave Telip

3. H.S.B.I. Report - Tom Konchalski

4. Insiders Reports - Russ Blake

5. Orange County Register - Frank Burlison

6. Assists, Turnovers, & Loose Balls - Stephen Wacaser

7. Recruiting USA - Dave Benezra & Mark Mayemura

8. Full-Court Magazine - Courtney Goldwire & Rob Matera

9. Midwest Basketball - Greg Swaim

10. Recruiting Beat - Patrick Jira

11. Illinois Prep Bullseye - Roy & Harv Schmidt

12. Ron Briscoe Regional Scouting Service - Ron Briscoe