Top 20 College Basketball Coaches with the Highest Winning Percentages
North Carolina’s Roy Williams is College Basketball’s Active Coach with the Highest Winning Percentage
You may not have heard of Sam Burton, but he is the college basketball coach with the greatest winning percentage of all time, taking the West Texas A&M Buffaloes to 210-42 over 12 seasons.
Clair Bee, with the second best winning percentage, is another coach from the 1920′s and 1930′s. Bee made his mark with a school that is largely irrelevant in the college game today, LIU.
Then, though, some more familiar names: Kentucky‘s Adolph Rupp and UCLA‘s John Wooden.
On today’s list of the top 20 college basketball coaches with the highest winning percentages you’ll also find five actives (*), including reigning champion John Calipari and head of the current No. 1 team, Mike Krzyzewski.
Follow @VinGetz| COACH | W-L % | SCHOOL(S) | YEARS | W | L | |
| 1. | Sam Burton | .8333 | West Texas A&M | 1921-22 thru 1932-33 | 210 | 42 |
| 2. | Clair Bee | .8244 | TOTAL | 413 | 88 | |
| Rider | 1928-29 thru 1930-31 | 53 | 8 | |||
| Long Island University | 1931-32 thru 1942-43, 1945-46 thru 1950-51 | 360 | 80 | |||
| 3. | Adolph Rupp | .8218 | Kentucky | 1930-31 thru 1951-52, 1953-54 thru 1971-72 | 876 | 190 |
| 4. | John Wooden | .8039 | TOTAL | 664 | 162 | |
| Indiana State | 1947-47, 1947-48 | 44 | 15 | |||
| UCLA | 1948-49 thru 1974-75 | 620 | 147 | |||
| 5. | John Kresse | .8012 | College of Charleston | 1991-92 thru 2001-02 | 258 | 64 |
| 6. | Roy Williams* | .7988 | TOTAL | 683 | 172 | |
| Kansas | 1988-89 thru 2002-03 | 418 | 101 | |||
| North Carolina | 2003-04 thru Current | 265 | 71 | |||
| 7. | Thomas Kibler | .7962 | TOTAL | 125 | 32 | |
| Ohio State | 1908-09, 1909-10 | 22 | 2 | |||
| Washington College | 1913-14 thru 1916-17, 1919-20 thru 1924-25 | 103 | 30 | |||
| 8. | Mark Few* | .7950 | Gonzaga | 1999-00 thru Current | 353 | 91 |
| 9. | Ralph Jones | .7918 | TOTAL | 194 | 51 | |
| Butler | 1903-04 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Wabash | 1904-05 thru 1908-09 | 75 | 6 | |||
| Purdue | 1909-10 thru 1911-12 | 32 | 9 | |||
| Illinois | 1912-13 thru 1919-20 | 85 | 34 | |||
| 10. | Jerry Tarkanian | .7902 | TOTAL | 761 | 202 | |
| Long Beach State | 1969-70 thru 1972-73 | 99 | 17 | |||
| UNLV | 1973-74 thru 1991-92 | 509 | 105 | |||
| Fresno State | 1995-96 thru 2001-02 | 153 | 80 | |||
| 11. | Al McGuire | .7867 | Marquette | 1964-65 thru 1976-77 | 295 | 80 |
| 12. | James Freeman | .7830 | TOTAL | 184 | 51 | |
| St. John’s (NY) | 1927-28 thru 1935-36 | 177 | 31 | |||
| Scranton | 1947-48 | 7 | 20 | |||
| 13. | Francis Schmidt | .7818 | TOTAL | 258 | 72 | |
| Tulsa | 1915-16, 1916-17, 1918-19 thru 1921-22 | 73 | 26 | |||
| Arkansas | 1923-24 thru 1928-29 | 113 | 22 | |||
| Texas Christian | 1929-30 thru 1933-34 | 72 | 24 | |||
| 14. | Student Coaches | .7813 | Bucknell | 1895-96 thru 1907-08 | 100 | 28 |
| 15. | John Calipari* |
.7792 | TOTAL | 554 | 157 | |
| UMass | 1988-89 thru 1995-96 | 193 | 71 | |||
| Memphis | 2000-01 thru 2008-09 | 252 | 69 | |||
| Kentucky | 2009-10 thru Current | 109 | 17 | |||
| 16. | Dean Smith | .7758 | North Carolina | 1961-62 thru 1996-97 | 879 | 254 |
| 17. | Thad Matta* | .7739 | TOTAL | 332 | 97 | |
| Butler | 2000-01 | 24 | 8 | |||
| Xavier | 2001-02 thru 2003-04 | 78 | 23 | |||
| Ohio State | 2004-05 thru Current | 230 | 66 | |||
| 18. | Jack Ramsay | .7647 | Saint Joseph’s | 1955-56 thru 1965-66 | 234 | 72 |
| 19. | Frank Keaney | .7638 | Rhode Island | 1920-21 thru 1947-48 | 401 | 124 |
| 20. | Mike Krzyzewski* |
.7632 | TOTAL | 938 | 291 | |
| Army | 1975-76 thru 1979-80 | 73 | 59 | |||
| Duke | 1980-81 thru Current | 865 | 232 |
Thanks to sports-reference.com for the source data.
Photo: beyondthebets.com
Posted on December 21, 2012, in NCAA Basketball and tagged all time, best, calipari, career, Coaches, college basketball, greatest, highest, history, krzyzewski, List, ncaa basketball, sports list of the day, winning percentage. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
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