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Why UK Is College Basketball's Greatest Program Ever | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
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Paul Ables@@PaulAblesBRTwitter LogoContributor IIIMay 8, 2012
Why UK Is College Basketball's Greatest Program Ever
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After taking home the 2012 NCAA National Championship trophy, the Kentucky Wildcats are yet again the kings of college basketball. It had been 14 seasons since the school won its previous championship, but head coach John Calipari has put the Wildcats back on top of the basketball mountain, and he does not appear to be changing that trend anytime soon.
However, this 2012 championship is not the only reason why Kentucky is college basketball's greatest program. Over the course of the sport's grand history, no other team has achieved more on-court success than the University of Kentucky.
The Wildcats are the leaders or near the lead in nearly every major category of team success, including wins, championships, Final Four appearances, NCAA Tournament success and even fan attendance. The following pages will use statistical and factual reasoning to determine why the University of Kentucky Wildcats are the single greatest program in college basketball history.
2,092 Wins and Counting
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As of the 2011-12 basketball season, the University of Kentucky is the all-time wins leader in college basketball with 2,092 victories. Kentucky is also the all-time leader in winning percentage, winning at a .763 success rate. Kansas and North Carolina follow closely behind with 2,070 and 2,065 victories, respectively. Kentucky was the first team to reach the 2,000 victory plateau, and they have extended their lead in this category since then.
This is an impressive statistic to say the least, but simply having 2,092 wins in school history does not tell the full story of Kentucky's dominance over time. They are the all-time winningest school in college basketball, but the most amazing aspect of their wins record is how consistently excellent the Wildcats have won during each era of basketball.
For example, the University of Kentucky was also the first college program to win 1,000 games in school history. They achieved this feat during the 1968 season, which is remarkable considering the fact that Kentucky was fourth overall in the wins list just 10 years prior to reaching the 1,000 mark. For an excellent illustration of Kentucky's rise up the all-time wins list, be sure to visit the page at BigBlueHistory.net.
With Kentucky being the first program to achieve 1,000 victories and the first to reach the 2,000 victory mark, there is little doubt that the Wildcats have been the most successful program over time. No other university has matched Kentucky's ability to win year in and year out, and even decade to decade.
This is further illustrated by taking a look at the official NCAA record book and examining the winningest programs by decade. The record begins in the 1930-39 decade, and Kentucky has finished among the top 10 winningest programs in every decade on the list except for the 2000-09 decade.
In fact, here is a list of Kentucky's rank per decade:
1930-39: 2nd-best winning percentage (.827)
1940-49: 1st in winning percentage (.851)
1950-59: 1st in winning percentage (.872)
1960-69: 5th-best winning percentage (.741)
1970-79: 5th-best winning percentage (.764)
1980-89: 9th-best winning percentage (.731)
1990-99: 2nd-best winning percentage (.817)
2000-09: 19th-best winning percentage (.712)
With the exception of the 2000-09 decade, Kentucky has consistently won games at a more successful rate than any other basketball program. Below is a list that totals the number of decades that the following schools have finished in the top 10 winning percentage:
As you can see, Kentucky is not only the wins leader in college basketball. They have been the standard of excellence since the dawn of the sport, and no school has matched their rate of success over the span of basketball history.
8 NCAA Championships & 15 Final Fours
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Kentucky is not a one-trick pony. In addition to winning more games than any other college program, they have also won an impressive eight NCAA national championships and made 15 appearances in the Final Four.
Although these totals do not place Kentucky at the top of each respective list, they are very close to the top.
UCLA is the all-time leader in NCAA championships, having won a record 11 titles in their school's history. There is no disputing the fact that the Bruins lead the pack when it comes to championships. However, Kentucky's total of eight championships is well ahead of the other rival schools in the sport.
In fact, here is an updated list of the programs with the most NCAA championships in college basketball:
UCLA: 11
Kentucky: 8
North Carolina: 5
Indiana: 5
Duke: 4
Kansas: 3
Connecticut: 3
As you can see, UCLA and Kentucky have pulled away from the rest of the pack at the moment. Although UCLA is the leader, here is one interesting fact: the Wildcats are catching up.
The Bruins won 10 of their 11 NCAA titles under coach John Wooden. Without a doubt, the Bruins put together the most impressive championship run of any men's basketball program. It is a feat that is unlikely to ever be repeated and should be commended.
However, those 10 championships occurred during one span, beginning with the 1963-64 title and commencing with Wooden's last championship in 1975. The Bruins did not take home another championship trophy until Jim Harrick's 1995 squad won it all, and they have yet to win another since.
Put this in perspective: UCLA has won one title in the previous 37 seasons. Since that 1975 championship, Kentucky has won four championships, Duke has won four championships, North Carolina has won four championships, Indiana has won three championships and Connecticut has won three titles. For a program that leads the nation in NCAA titles, it is interesting to note that they have not been nearly as successful or as relevant in the sport since the days of John Wooden.
In contrast, Kentucky has won their eight national championships in five different decades, starting with the 1948 NCAA Championship and commencing in this past season's 2012 NCAA Championship. The Wildcats have also won championships in 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996 and 1998.
Even though Kentucky may not have the number of titles that UCLA has, they have won them more consistently over a broader period of time. The Wildcats have continued their tradition of excellence beyond the Rupp era, whereas UCLA has not continued their tradition that John Wooden left in his departure.
In addition to NCAA championships, Kentucky is also near the lead in Final Four appearances. Playing in the Final Four is used to determine how often a program has finished the season as one of college basketball's elite. Here is the list of current leaders in Final Four appearances:
UCLA: 18
North Carolina: 18
Kentucky: 15
Duke: 15
Kansas: 14
Ohio State: 11
Louisville: 9
Indiana: 8
Michigan State: 8
Yet again, UCLA leads the pack and this is to be expected because of their championship tally. The big surprise here is that the Bruins are tied for the lead with the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are ahead of Kentucky and every other school in college basketball history. Kentucky follows up closely in third place, having gained two of these appearances in the past two seasons under John Calipari.
Although the Tar Heels can certainly brag about making the Final Four more often than Kentucky, it can also be used as a counter-argument against UNC. If a program has advanced to the sport's final weekend three more times than another school, you would expect that school to have appeared in the national championship game more often, let alone having won the title more often.
This is certainly not the case when comparing the two schools. Kentucky has three fewer appearances in the Final Four, yet they have appeared in the NCAA National Final 11 times, which is two more than the Tar Heels' nine appearances. Also, Kentucky has won the NCAA National Championship three more times than North Carolina, as evidenced above.
Kentucky's collection of championships and Final Four appearances rivals that of any other school, and they have the Bruins' top spot in sight.
5 Championship-Winning Coaches
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This statistic is arguably the most impressive in determining Kentucky's reign as the greatest program in college basketball history.
As a result of winning the 2012 NCAA National Championship, John Calipari claimed his first national championship as a head coach. More importantly, he became the fifth head coach of the University of Kentucky to win a national title at the school. Following is the list of coaches who have reached the pinnacle of the sport during their time at UK:
No other NCAA Division I program can match this feat. What this proves is that for whatever reason, the combination of resources, tradition, funding, geography, conference affiliation, and education provided by the University of Kentucky surpasses all other schools in terms of providing a head coach with the best opportunity to succeed and win a championship.
There is no clear reason for this, but what is clear is that Kentucky is unique from nearly every other college program in this regards: the majority of their success is not tied up by one dominant coaching run.
In fact, nearly every other top-flight basketball program achieved most, if not all, of their success during one coaching regime. Here is a quick look at how Kentucky compares to other programs:
Kentucky: Five head coaches have won an NCAA Championship (Rupp, Hall, Pitino, Smith, Calipari)
North Carolina: Three head coaches have won an NCAA Championship (Roy Williams, Dean Smith, Frank McGuire)
Kansas: Three head coaches have won an NCAA Championship (Bill Self, Larry Brown, Phog Allen)
UCLA: Two head coaches have won an NCAA Championship (John Wooden, Jim Harrick)
Indiana: Two head coaches have won an NCAA Championship (Bob Knight, Branch McCracken)
Duke: One head coach has won an NCAA Championship (Mike Krzyzewski)
Connecticut: One head coach has won an NCAA Championship (Jim Calhoun)
As you can see, only three universities have won a championship with three head coaches. Kentucky stands alone at the top with five coaches owning a championship ring, and this is yet another defining reason why Kentucky is the greatest college basketball program of all time.
1st Overall in NCAA Tournament Appearances, Wins, Sweet 16's and Elite 8's
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The University of Kentucky is college basketball's all-time leader in wins, and that success extends to the NCAA tournament.
Kentucky is the all-time leader in the following categories pertaining to "March Madness":
NCAA tournament appearances: 53
NCAA tournament wins:111
Sweet Sixteen appearances:39
Elite Eight appearances:34
The school's dominance in these categories should not be overstated. Their record of 53 NCAA tournament appearances is nine ahead of any other school. In other words, they have nearly one decade's worth of appearances more than any other program!
However, this is not just because of the longevity of Kentucky's basketball program, which was established in 1903. While they certainly have longevity on their side, other historic programs such as Kansas (established in 1899), Syracuse (established in 1899) and Indiana (established in 1901) have been around longer than the Wildcats.
Also, Kentucky has played in thousands of games, but they are not the leader in that category. In fact, Kansas, Duke and North Carolina have all appeared in more games than the Wildcats. However, Kentucky still has more appearances in the NCAA tournament than any other school. That in itself is remarkable.
There is one statistic that is worth noting in the above list: out of Kentucky's 39 appearances in the Sweet 16, they have advanced forward to the Elite Eight 34 of those 39 years. No other program has consistently put itself within striking distance of the Final Four than Lexington's finest.
In addition to Kentucky's success in the NCAA Final Four, National Final and National Championship categories, no other school can match the year-in-and-year-out success of the Wildcats in the NCAA tournament.
52 SEC Regular Season Championships & 29 SEC Tournament Championships
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The Kentucky Wildcats have won at the highest level during the regular season and the NCAA Tournament over the course of its history. Naturally, this tradition of excellence has extended to conference play as well.
The 2011-12 Wildcats completed a rare and impressive feat this season by winning the SEC Regular Season Championship with a perfect 16-0 record. Going undefeated in the SEC has only happened a few times in school history, and it is one factor of many that showcases the dominance that Kentucky has over the rest of the Southeastern Conference.
In fact, Kentucky is second all time with 52 conference regular season championships. Only the Kansas Jayhawks have won more, tallying 55 conference titles.
However, the Wildcats take the lead with their record of 29 conference tournament championships. They hold a small lead over bitter ACC rivals North Carolina (25 titles) and Duke (24 titles), and the fourth-place team in this category is actually Kentucky's in-state rival, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers with 18 conference tournament titles.
It can be said that Kentucky has enjoyed overwhelming success in the SEC because of the lack of other rivals in the conference. Although it is probable that the Southeastern Conference is not college basketball's best conference, it is still a competitive conference with tough arenas to play in that feature some of the most raucous road environments in college basketball.
Regardless of the conference's reputation, Kentucky has completely dominated the SEC conference since the days of Adolph Rupp and they have been as successful against their conference as any other program in college basketball history.
Whether you choose to measure a program's success via NCAA titles, Final Four appearances, NCAA tournament victories, conference championships, Sweet 16 appearances or regular season wins, Kentucky is either at or near the top in every category. In addition, the Wildcats have been among college basketball's elite in nearly every decade of play.
Regardless of how you choose to rank the greatest teams of all time, the University of Kentucky Wildcats are the greatest program in college basketball history and that trend does not appear to be stopping anytime soon.
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Kentucky Selected for Record 59th NCAA Tournament – UK Athletics
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s basketball team extended its national record for most NCAA Tournament appearances to 59 on Sunday, as the team was selected as the No. 2 seed in the East Region. The Wildcats will play Saint Peter’s, the region’s No. 15 seed, on Thursday in Indianapolis. Tipoff is set for 7:10 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on CBS.
This is the eighth time in program history Kentucky has earned a No. 2 seed since tourney seedings began in 1980. In its most recent NCAA appearance, the Cats participated as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region of the 2019 tournament, defeating Abilene Christian, Wofford and Houston before losing to Auburn in overtime in the regional finals. Ranked No. 8 in the nation at the end of the 2020 regular season, UK undoubtedly would have been in that tourney had it been played, but the event was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic. The Wildcats did not earn a bid for the 2021 tournament.
Kentucky finished the 2021-22 regular season with a 26-7 record, the 39th season in school history that the Wildcats have won at least 25 games, and the 11th time in 13 seasons under Coach John Calipari.
Kentucky tied for second in the Southeastern Conference with a 14-4 mark, one game behind league champion Auburn. In the SEC Tournament, UK defeated Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual tourney champ Tennessee is the semis.
In addition to most appearances, Kentucky holds the NCAA Tournament records for most games played (181) and most wins (129). The Cats own a 129-52 all-time record in NCAA action, with their .713 winning percentage the fourth-best in NCAA history (min. 20 games).
Looking ahead to Thursday’s matchup, Kentucky is 48-10 in NCAA Tournament openers and has won 25 of its last 26 opening-round games.
Kentucky is set to play Saint Peter’s for the first time in school history. Saint Peter’s is coming off a 60-54 win over Monmouth on Saturday in the championship of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament. SPU is 19-11 on the season and the Peacocks finished in second place of the regular-season MAAC standings with a 14-6 league mark.
Saint Peter’s is led by junior guard Daryl Banks III, who is averaging 11 points per game. Senior forward KC Ndefo averages 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Junior guard Doug Edert averages 9.3 points. The leading rebounder is junior forward Fousseyni Drame at 6. 8 boards per contest and he scores 7.2 ppg.
If Kentucky defeats Saint Peter’s, the Wildcats would face the winner of the No. 7 Murray State (30-2) and No. 10 San Francisco (24-9). UK has never faced Murray State, while the Wildcats have played San Francisco once, a 110-93 home win on Dec. 28, 1993.
Ticket information:
Tickets for the first and second round games in Indianapolis can be purchased by visiting NCAA.com/MBBTickets. Fans will find complete ticket information for all NCAA sites, including information on the NCAA Ticket Exchange (NCAA.com/Exchange), the official secondary marketplace for authentic NCAA Tournament tickets.
UK receives a limited number of tickets from the NCAA for postseason play. Eligible K Fund members who requested first and second round tickets in advance of Selection Sunday will receive a confirmation email on Monday, March 14 from the UK Ticket Office with information on whether or not the request has been fulfilled.
More information about requesting tickets for later rounds of the NCAA Tournament is available here and will be updated as Kentucky advances.
Student tickets will not be available for first and second round games, and information for later rounds will be available at UKStudentTix.com as it is finalized.
UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS MEN’S BASKETBALL SELECTION SUNDAY MAR. 13, 2022
UK Head Coach John Calipari
On his opinion of the draw … “Why would you say I usually have an opinion? I keep my opinions to myself. You know, these guys haven’t played in an NCAA Tournament so I’m trying to keep them focused on our little pod. And really, basically saying, you don’t even need to worry about San Francisco or Murray (State) because we don’t know who’s winning that game. We need to worry about Saint Peter’s and that’s how this goes. You’re playing in a pod for a weekend, that’s all you worry about, nothing else.”
On how the team’s experience can help in the postseason … “My hope is, we’ve been teaching them to be a machine so that you’re never up, down, you just keep playing. There are games where you’re not going to shoot it well but you’ve got to try to win anyway. The veteran guys, I hope, would know that. I just told the TV I was talking to that I was really upset with myself with the Tennessee stuff – we didn’t do a shootaround. It’s the first time we haven’t done a shootaround. Then you say ‘well, why didn’t you do one’. Well, we had a bad time at the arena, so we were going to go to Tampa and just go there and do a shootaround. It was only six minutes away and we decided not to do it.”
On how the SEC fared in the draw … “The Texas A&M thing, I was really stunned at. I guess before our tournament started, they weren’t close. Now, that’s hard for me to believe. They were 9-9 in our league and down the stretch, they played their best basketball. That’s what I call the eye test. But, it must have been that. It couldn’t have been any other reason because they played as well as anybody. And they had an extra game. Wasn’t it their fourth game? The final game was their fourth game in four days. You knew they were going to let go of the rope at some point. I was kind of surprised that Tennessee got a three (seed) and not a two. I was. But, again, that would have put Tennessee, Auburn and us all on the two line. Which, I would have been fine with. Like, that was good, probably deserve it.”
#0 Jacob Toppin, Jr., F
On reaction to the draw … “Before we were selected, my heart was definitely racing. The suspense was killing all of us. We just wanted to know who we were going to play. But I’m excited. This is the first tournament game for most of us and I think we’re all excited. We’re focused on our first game, and we’ll worry about the rest when it comes.”
On wearing the mask … “Yeah, that first mask I played in, it was definitely not a good one. We just needed a mask because I ended up breaking my nose, so we had to figure out what I was going to do to keep playing. We had that mask, so I put it on but it was kind of squishing my face so you couldn’t really hear what I was saying. But then in the second game, I had a better mask that was better used. I don’t think it affects my play, so we have to just get used to it I guess.”
On first tournament for some … “I mean yeah, we have a very experienced team that have played in a lot of college games but at the end of the day this is March Madness. We just have to fight. I think that’s what we’re going to do. We’re a team with experience so we’re going to stay poised because this whole year we have played in games like we’re going to play in before. So, we just have to fight and go out there and play together, and limit mistakes.”
#31, Kellan Grady, Gr., G
On how the team prepares for the NCAA Tournament … “Thankfully, we’ve got some time. We know who our opponent is now. So, we’ll channel all of our focus and energy to Saint Peter’s and try to avoid the distractions of looking ahead. We have the luxury of having time to reset. We didn’t perform well yesterday. But the regular season of the SEC in the rear view mirror now so, we’ve got to reset, touch up on some things, hammer down some of the main points of emphasis and we’ll be good to go.”
On what he thinks of the bracket … “I think there are a lot of good teams. I’m not going to try to speculate on whether we have an easier region than some of the others. I will say one thing – one of my best friends (Carter Collins) is at Murray State, so there’s a potential that that may happen. So there’s a little emotion there. Happy for him and his team to be in that position. But, like I said, we’re focused on Saint Peter’s and we’ll take this game-by-game.”
On being with a bigger school in the tournament this season, having been on the other side before … “Like I said before, these teams are in the field for a reason. We’re playing quality opponents, regardless of their seed or whatever conference they’re in. You see it every year – upsets happen every year. That’s what makes March Madness so special. For us, we just have to focus on the task at hand and respect our opponent. And that comes with us not looking ahead, not worrying about a trip to the Final Four or the Sweet 16. We’ve got to worry about the round of 64 to start and give Saint Peter’s the respect they deserve.”
Kentucky Sensational Lost to St. Peter in First Round of NCAA Tournament - Basketball NCAA.
St. Peter became only the 10th 15th seeded team to win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after it expanded to 64 in 1985.
St. Peter's odds were +18.5. The last victory in the NCAA in this scenario was recorded at 1997 year.
Kentucky had previously won 30 games in a row against teams seeded 10th or higher.
Results of NCAA-2022: Gonzag at the top, Johnny Davis-Best, Banker ahead of all newcomers
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"The Devils" by Michael Krzyzewski. Duke Blue Devils College History
The Duke Blue Devils men's team represents Duke University in the NCAA. The Blue Devils are the fourth-most winning team among all college basketball teams.
Duke won 5 NCAA titles. At the moment, Duke University has as many championship titles as the universities of North Carolina and Indiana. In first place is the University of California, and in second place is the University of Kentucky. The Blue Devils have the best winning percentage, which is 75%. Eleven Duke basketball players have been named Players of the Year, and 71 players have been selected in the NBA Draft.
In 2008, ESPN named Duke's basketball program the best: "By any measure of success, Duke is the king of the hill in college basketball among the 64 teams in the NCAA Tournament." After such recognition by the largest sports media, the Blue Devils won two more championships in 2010 and in 2015.
The history of Duke basketball dates back to 1906…
Basketball appeared on Durham's grounds in 1906 , when Duke University was still officially called Trinity College. Chief Sports Development Officer at Trinity Wilbor Wade Card introduced a new sport to the college, which was basketball. In January of that year, Trinity College played Wake Forrest. The athletes from Trinity lost the first official match with a score of 24:10. Trinity won his first title in 1920 when he won the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Engineering (now North Carolina State University). While Trinity College was waiting for the first title, albeit in the state championship, 6 coaches changed at the helm of the men's team. Everything changed after 9 became the main mentor0011 Walter Rotensis . Rotensis studied at Hamilton College and later at Princeton. When America entered the First World War, he went to fight in France with the rank of lieutenant. After returning to the US in 1919, he was invited to work at Duke.
In 1928 , Eddie Cameron became head coach of the Duke basketball team. Cameron was a professional athlete who played American football and basketball. After completing his career as a player, he began to coach at the university, but only as an assistant. Also, he was engaged in scouting and worked as a team administrator. At 19In 28, Cameron took over from George Buckheit as coach of the Duke University men's team. Cameron was with the Blue Devils for 14 seasons. With Eddie Cameron, Duke became a two-time regular season champion in the Conference and twice won the regular season and the Divisional Conference.
In 1942, became head coach of Jerry Gerard , who had been with the team for 8 years. Gerard's most successful years as a coach came in the first 4 seasons, when the Blue Devils became champions of the regular season of the Conference three times. Then Duke was under the leadership of Harold Bradley for a decade. At 1953, the Blue Devils became members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Bradley was able to win the regular season twice, in the 1954/1955 season to lead the Duke team to the 1/24 round of the NCAA tournament.
Successful Sixties Vic Bubas
Duke's sixties in men's basketball were under the tutelage of coach Vic Bubas . Vic Bubas did everything to ensure that Duke's basketball program outgrew the regional level and began to conquer the national basketball arena. Scouting became the strongest side of Bubas. He was recognized as an innovator in recruiting, he skillfully recruited personnel for scouting and was a genius in collecting information about players. Bubas was able to learn about new talent earlier than other basketball coaches. Legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith once said, “Vic taught us how to be recruits. We started with promising high school basketball players, and Vic was already working with junior classes. For some time we tried to catch up with him in this matter. Bubas' efforts paid off when his players not only lived up to the coach's expectations, but were recognized as the best in the entire country. Basketball player Art Heyman, who was noticed by Vic, became the National Player of the Year. Hayman was prepared for a completely different university - North Carolina. But it was a matter of chance, or a feud between Heyman's stepfather and a North Carolina coach, that brought Art to Vic Bubas's team. And Bubas made Art Heyman the best basketball player in college basketball of his time. The second major acquisition was Jeff Mullins of the University of Kentucky. Together, Heyman and Mullins formed a devastating duo.
College basketball in the 1960s was not what it is today. Times were different. Freshmen were not allowed to play for the varsity team, only the winner of the Conference could play in the NCAA Tournament. The basketball team of Vic Bubas blossomed in the first season. The team has gotten stronger every season. In the 1959/1960 season, he lost twice to North Carolina and Wake Forest, who were Duke's main competitors. But Bubas got his revenge on his opponents in the Conference. The Blue Devils eventually received an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament, with the Blue Devils winning two games before losing to New York University. In 7 out of 10 seasons, Vic Bubas was ranked among the top 10 coaches in college basketball by the Associated Press. Bubas led Duke to the NCAA Final Four three times (1963, 1964, 1966). The Blue Devils have won 4 championships in their Conference. In Bubas' 10 seasons at Duke, the team had a record of 213 wins to 67 losses. This record became the third in the number of victories in the 60s. Vic Bubas has a win percentage of 76, which is the 10th highest winning percentage among coaches in the NCAA. Vic Bubas retired as a coach in 1969 but remained at Duke University.
Raymond "Bucky" Waters worked with the team for the next four seasons. Before joining Duke, Waters coached the West Virginia University men's team. After Bucky Waters, the Blue Devils spent one season under Neil McGechie.
How Bill Foster got Duke back
Bill Foster's job at Duke was the most successful of his coaching career. Foster was born in 1929 and played for Elizabethtown College. He started coaching in 1960. The first team in his career was Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, then - 8 seasons in New Jersey, 3 years in Utah and, finally, six years in Duke. At the time, Duke was one of only eight universities to reach 1,000 wins, and hadn't played in the Final Four for quite some time, and indeed hadn't won a Conference tournament in a long time.
“I knew Dukes from the days of Vic Bubas when they were great. I thought the blue devils could be like that again. I was a bit shocked when they offered me to work with them. It seemed to me that it would be great to train there, ”said Foster.
In the early 1970s, colleges and universities in North Carolina competed in what was known as the Big Four Tournament. Duke did not excel in that tournament, and in the first season under the leadership of Foster, he performed just as badly. And so Bill Foster began to slowly rebuild the basketball program of the university. At 19'75 Duke got Jim Spanarkel, Player of the Year, and a year later, the great Mike Gminsky. These two made a great addition to Tate Armstrong. In the 1976/1977 season, it became clear that the Blue Devils were back: the season started with 12 wins and 3 losses. The Devils managed to defeat the University of North Carolina and Tennessee. But the winning streak could not last forever. In one of the matches with Virginia Tate, Armstrong broke his wrist and was out for the rest of the season. Without Armstrong, the young team was full of potential, but they lacked an experienced player on the court. The following season, they still surprised the world of college basketball, finishing second in the NCAA tournament, losing only to the powerful team of the University of Kentucky. Season-1978/1979 ended unsuccessfully, due to injuries, the Blue Devils finished their performance at stage 1/32. The final year of Foster's coaching career at Duke ended on a positive note, with his team finishing 5th in the Elite Eight.
Bill Foster led the team for five seasons, with a 63% winning percentage. He was named Coach of the Year at the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1978. Foster won two Conference championships, two Big Four Tournament titles, Conference regular season championship, led Duke to 1978 in the Final Four, where the "blue devils" finished second. Some underestimate Foster's achievements, praising only Krzyzewski and Bubas, but the Bill Foster era at Duke brought the Devils back to the national basketball arena. After all, Foster laid the foundation for Mike Krzyzewski's initial success.
The Coach-Kay era (1980-present)
Mike Krzyszewski has become a legend for Duke. It was Krzyzewski who led the Blue Devils to five NCAA titles, 12 Final Fours, 12 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles, and 13 CAP tournament titles. Mike Krzyzewski is the coach of the US men's national team, which he led to three Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012, 2016). Coach-Key worked with the American team at the 2010 and 2014 World Championships. At 19In '92, he was an assistant coach in the legendary team, which was nicknamed the "Dream Team" ("DreamTeam").
After being discharged in 1974, Mike Krzyszewski was invited to work for Bobby Knight's team with the Indiana Hoosiers. After a year at Bloomington, Krzyszewski was named head coach of the West Point Military Academy men's basketball team, which he coached for five years.
In March 1980, Duke announced that a new coach had been found for the Blue Devils, Mike Krzyzewski. After several seasons of team rebuilding, the Blue Devils have become one of the top teams in the NCAA Tournament. In his 34 years with Duke, Krzyszewski led the team to the playoffs 31 times. Coach-Key and Duke for 34 years has a 76% win rate (86 W - 25 L). On February 13, 2010, Krzyszewski played his 1,000th match as Duke's head coach. March 20, 2011 he won 900th game, becoming the second of three coaches who reached the bar of 900 wins. In January 2015, Mike Krzyszewski earned the 1,000th win of his career when Duke beat the St. Johns at Madason Square Garden. He became the first men's basketball coach in the NCAA to reach 1,000 wins.
National champions: 1990-1991, 1991-1992, 2000-2001, 2009-2010, 2014-2015.
"TheShot" . In 1992, the regional final between Kentucky and Duke decided who would advance to the Final Four. Two teams could not decide the outcome of the match in regular time, so the game continued in overtime. With 2 seconds left in overtime, Kentucky was ahead by one point. The last possession remained for Duke: Grant Hill made a pass to Lettner, who threw the winning ball under the siren. In 2004, this match was named by Sports Illustrated as the greatest basketball game in college basketball. ESPN listed the game as one of the top 100 sports moments of the past 25 years.
Krzyzhevskville or K-ville . It happens before a big basketball game. Simply put, there are students gathering in front of the Duke Sports Complex who want to get seats at the Cameron Indore Stadium. K-ville is erroneously referred to as a "ticket line", but it's not.
Notable Duke players: Alaa Abdelnaby, Johnny Dawkins, Cherokee Parks, Bobby Harley, Antonio Lang, Roshon McLeod, William Avery, Trajan Langdon, Grant Hill, Danny Ferry, Christian Lettner, Brian Davis, Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunlevy, Dantay Jones, Daniel Ewing, JJ Reddick, Shelwick Randolph, Sheldon Williams, Corey Maggetti, Luol Deng, Austin Rivers, Lance Thomas, Kyle Singler, Miles Plumley, Mason Plumley, Nolan Smith, Jason Williams, Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood and Kyrie Irving.
They are the all-time winningest school in college basketball, but the most amazing aspect of their wins record is how consistently excellent the Wildcats have won during each era of basketball.
The record begins in the 1930-39 decade, and Kentucky has finished among the top 10 winningest programs in every decade on the list except for the 2000-09 decade.
They have been the standard of excellence since the dawn of the sport, and no school has matched their rate of success over the span of basketball history.
Although UCLA is the leader, here is one interesting fact: the Wildcats are catching up.
The big surprise here is that the Bruins are tied for the lead with the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are ahead of Kentucky and every other school in college basketball history. Kentucky follows up closely in third place, having gained two of these appearances in the past two seasons under John Calipari.
What this proves is that for whatever reason, the combination of resources, tradition, funding, geography, conference affiliation, and education provided by the University of Kentucky surpasses all other schools in terms of providing a head coach with the best opportunity to succeed and win a championship.
Kentucky stands alone at the top with five coaches owning a championship ring, and this is yet another defining reason why Kentucky is the greatest college basketball program of all time.
While they certainly have longevity on their side, other historic programs such as Kansas (established in 1899), Syracuse (established in 1899) and Indiana (established in 1901) have been around longer than the Wildcats.
2 seed since tourney seedings began in 1980. In its most recent NCAA appearance, the Cats participated as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region of the 2019 tournament, defeating Abilene Christian, Wofford and Houston before losing to Auburn in overtime in the regional finals. Ranked No. 8 in the nation at the end of the 2020 regular season, UK undoubtedly would have been in that tourney had it been played, but the event was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic. The Wildcats did not earn a bid for the 2021 tournament.
8 boards per contest and he scores 7.2 ppg.
You’re playing in a pod for a weekend, that’s all you worry about, nothing else.”
That’s what I call the eye test. But, it must have been that. It couldn’t have been any other reason because they played as well as anybody. And they had an extra game. Wasn’t it their fourth game? The final game was their fourth game in four days. You knew they were going to let go of the rope at some point. I was kind of surprised that Tennessee got a three (seed) and not a two. I was. But, again, that would have put Tennessee, Auburn and us all on the two line. Which, I would have been fine with. Like, that was good, probably deserve it.”
We just needed a mask because I ended up breaking my nose, so we had to figure out what I was going to do to keep playing. We had that mask, so I put it on but it was kind of squishing my face so you couldn’t really hear what I was saying. But then in the second game, I had a better mask that was better used. I don’t think it affects my play, so we have to just get used to it I guess.”
We know who our opponent is now. So, we’ll channel all of our focus and energy to Saint Peter’s and try to avoid the distractions of looking ahead. We have the luxury of having time to reset. We didn’t perform well yesterday. But the regular season of the SEC in the rear view mirror now so, we’ve got to reset, touch up on some things, hammer down some of the main points of emphasis and we’ll be good to go.”
We’re playing quality opponents, regardless of their seed or whatever conference they’re in. You see it every year – upsets happen every year. That’s what makes March Madness so special. For us, we just have to focus on the task at hand and respect our opponent. And that comes with us not looking ahead, not worrying about a trip to the Final Four or the Sweet 16. We’ve got to worry about the round of 64 to start and give Saint Peter’s the respect they deserve.”
The Blue Devils have the best winning percentage, which is 75%. Eleven Duke basketball players have been named Players of the Year, and 71 players have been selected in the NBA Draft. 
The athletes from Trinity lost the first official match with a score of 24:10. Trinity won his first title in 1920 when he won the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Engineering (now North Carolina State University). While Trinity College was waiting for the first title, albeit in the state championship, 6 coaches changed at the helm of the men's team. Everything changed after 9 became the main mentor0011 Walter Rotensis . Rotensis studied at Hamilton College and later at Princeton. When America entered the First World War, he went to fight in France with the rank of lieutenant. After returning to the US in 1919, he was invited to work at Duke. 
At 19In 28, Cameron took over from George Buckheit as coach of the Duke University men's team. Cameron was with the Blue Devils for 14 seasons. With Eddie Cameron, Duke became a two-time regular season champion in the Conference and twice won the regular season and the Divisional Conference. 
Vic Bubas did everything to ensure that Duke's basketball program outgrew the regional level and began to conquer the national basketball arena. Scouting became the strongest side of Bubas. He was recognized as an innovator in recruiting, he skillfully recruited personnel for scouting and was a genius in collecting information about players. Bubas was able to learn about new talent earlier than other basketball coaches. Legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith once said, “Vic taught us how to be recruits. We started with promising high school basketball players, and Vic was already working with junior classes. For some time we tried to catch up with him in this matter. Bubas' efforts paid off when his players not only lived up to the coach's expectations, but were recognized as the best in the entire country. Basketball player Art Heyman, who was noticed by Vic, became the National Player of the Year. Hayman was prepared for a completely different university - North Carolina. But it was a matter of chance, or a feud between Heyman's stepfather and a North Carolina coach, that brought Art to Vic Bubas's team.
And Bubas made Art Heyman the best basketball player in college basketball of his time. The second major acquisition was Jeff Mullins of the University of Kentucky. Together, Heyman and Mullins formed a devastating duo. 
The Blue Devils have won 4 championships in their Conference. In Bubas' 10 seasons at Duke, the team had a record of 213 wins to 67 losses. This record became the third in the number of victories in the 60s. Vic Bubas has a win percentage of 76, which is the 10th highest winning percentage among coaches in the NCAA. Vic Bubas retired as a coach in 1969 but remained at Duke University. 
At the time, Duke was one of only eight universities to reach 1,000 wins, and hadn't played in the Final Four for quite some time, and indeed hadn't won a Conference tournament in a long time. 
The Devils managed to defeat the University of North Carolina and Tennessee. But the winning streak could not last forever. In one of the matches with Virginia Tate, Armstrong broke his wrist and was out for the rest of the season. Without Armstrong, the young team was full of potential, but they lacked an experienced player on the court. The following season, they still surprised the world of college basketball, finishing second in the NCAA tournament, losing only to the powerful team of the University of Kentucky. Season-1978/1979 ended unsuccessfully, due to injuries, the Blue Devils finished their performance at stage 1/32. The final year of Foster's coaching career at Duke ended on a positive note, with his team finishing 5th in the Elite Eight. 
Some underestimate Foster's achievements, praising only Krzyzewski and Bubas, but the Bill Foster era at Duke brought the Devils back to the national basketball arena. After all, Foster laid the foundation for Mike Krzyzewski's initial success. 
Two teams could not decide the outcome of the match in regular time, so the game continued in overtime. With 2 seconds left in overtime, Kentucky was ahead by one point. The last possession remained for Duke: Grant Hill made a pass to Lettner, who threw the winning ball under the siren. In 2004, this match was named by Sports Illustrated as the greatest basketball game in college basketball. ESPN listed the game as one of the top 100 sports moments of the past 25 years. 
