Least favorite College BBall coaches

[Airhog]

Which college coaches do you dislike the most?

For me, its probably Bobby Knight. I dont like the way he treats his players.

[TargetPractice6]

Rick Pitino.

I'm grateful for the banner, but just can't stand the guy.

[bosshogg23]

Billy Donovan has always annoyed me. No real reason, just does.

[illinifan999]

Bill Self.

[Cap Ologist]

Roy "Can't Win The Big One" Williams

[terpkristin]

Coach K.
Arrogant slime.

/tk

[Radii]

Easily Bobby Knight.

[sovereignstar]

Clem Haskins

[Easy Mac]

Lute Olsen

[SackAttack]

Whoever's coach for Kansas at any given time.

[Z²+]

Jim Calhoun. Biggest whiner ever.

[Tigercat]

If we can vote for our own coaches, until he succeeds in not taking it up the rear with a trout in the tourny, I will say John Brady.

[Neuqua]

Bill Self.

[Joe]

Coach K. What a smug asshole.

[k0ruptr]

riley wallace

[hoopsguy]

All the Illinois fans that are voting Bill Self just are not showing much of a sense of history.

Bruce Pearl. Lock.

[Cap Ologist]

I also hate UConn's women's bball coach, he's a class A jerk.

[Craptacular]

All the Illinois fans that are voting Bill Self just are not showing much of a sense of history.

Bruce Pearl. Lock.
I'm guessing you'd love to see Ill and UWM win today then, huh? Bruce Pearl coaching against Illinois. Bruce Weber coaching against his alma mater. In Chicago. They might need extra security for that one.

[INDalltheway]

Self sure can recruit... You should be happy he can do that Illini fans.

[paperstreetsoap]

Sha sheff ski

[terpkristin]

Sha sheff ski
may as well call him coach k like the rest of us do. saves having to remember how to spell that mess.

/tk

[Ryno]

All the Illinois fans that are voting Bill Self just are not showing much of a sense of history.

Bruce Pearl. Lock.

I rememeber. My top three are Pearl, Digger Phelps, and Knight. All of them for lying during the witch hunt against Illinois. I don't like Self, but he comes in a distant fourth.

[hoopsguy]

I'm guessing you'd love to see Ill and UWM win today then, huh

I'm not sure how I feel about it, actually. Since I root for Pearl to lose every game he is involved with it is tough for me the ask for this matchup. But I would clearly enjoy it if Illinois put a 30 point beating on those guys. Still, I don't know that the current players would have the same kind of chip on their collective shoulder as the fans in this one. Plus I would have to read more crap about the hot young coach in UWM for another week. Best case scenario is that Pearl decides to parlay his recent success in much the same fashion as Buzz Peterson did (moving to Tennessee and losing) a couple of seasons ago.

[hoopsguy]

Dola - it makes me puke that Digger picks Illinois to win the title. Get off our bandwagon, jagbag.

[lcjjdnh]

Coach K

[Ryno]

I don't know that the current players would have the same kind of chip on their collective shoulder as the fans in this one.

They don't. Nick Smith said that we should "get over it". To an outsider, that probably seems like a reasonable thing to do, but as someone who was a student in the early 90's, I won't ever forget. We were on the verge of becoming an elite school, and were robbed of it without due process.

As much as I would like to beat UWM by about 80, I don't want any part of them or the media distraction that would come with it.

[hoopsguy]

Ditto. I was a high school senior in '89 and rode out to Seattle to watch the Final Four. Those teams were loaded and ready to dominate during my college years before that crap came out. Juwan Howard was considered a 'lock' to go to Illinois, just to cite one recruiting casualty out of that scandal. It has taken 10-15 years to put the program back to where it was before Pearl broke out the tape recorder, including my college years. No chance that I'm ever going to forget it, let bygones be bygones, or whatever the mature response is considered to be.

[HerRealName]

What's the story here with Iowa and Illinois? I spent most of the early 90's inebriated and I don't remember much other than a recruiting scandal in Chicago. Was it over Marcus Liberty?

[panerd]

What's the story here with Iowa and Illinois? I spent most of the early 90's inebriated and I don't remember much other than a recruiting scandal in Chicago. Was it over Marcus Liberty?

I am a little hazy, but I remember a recruit (Dion Thomas?) told Bruce Pearl, who was an assistant at Iowa, on a tape recorder that Illinois offered up some "fringe" benefits to attend the school. All of the Illini fans like to get up in arms because the tape recording could never be substantiated and the Illini got a slap on the wrist from the NCAA. So they take their anger out on Pearl.

I liken it to what is happening with my team (Mizzou) and Quin Snyder and Ricky Clemons. Obviously there were some shady dealings going on with the program and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tried to uncover them. Well in typical NCAA fashion a bunch of coaches resigned and we got a slap on the wrist. (Why would two assistants resign if nothing illegal happened?) Well Mizzou fans now like to blame Clemons, the NCAA, and the post-disptach when in fact it is our coach who brought all of the problems on himself. Maybe the Illini could figure out after 15 years that it was more of Jimmy Collins problem for his recruiting methods than Pearl for trying to expose them.

Run a clean program and you have nothing to worry about. Try to bend the rules and little and then cry that everyone else does it and suffer the consequences.

[An Outsider]

Ditto. I was a high school senior in '89 and rode out to Seattle to watch the Final Four. Those teams were loaded and ready to dominate during my college years before that crap came out. Juwan Howard was considered a 'lock' to go to Illinois, just to cite one recruiting casualty out of that scandal. It has taken 10-15 years to put the program back to where it was before Pearl broke out the tape recorder, including my college years. No chance that I'm ever going to forget it, let bygones be bygones, or whatever the mature response is considered to be.

They don't. Nick Smith said that we should "get over it". To an outsider, that probably seems like a reasonable thing to do, but as someone who was a student in the early 90's, I won't ever forget. We were on the verge of becoming an elite school, and were robbed of it without due process.

As much as I would like to beat UWM by about 80, I don't want any part of them or the media distraction that would come with it.

Get over it.

[hoopsguy]

Deon Thomas, actually. Illinois was competing with Iowa for him, and Pearl was an assistant there. The Illinois version of events is that Pearl led the questioning in a way to get Thomas to admit that the Illini had offered him a Blazer or something along those lines. What is not disputed is that Pearl illegally taped a phone conversation and then submitted it as proof that Illinois was cheating in their recruiting practices. The NCAA investigated for three years before finally leveling heavy sanctions. However, they did not uncover any proof that Pearl's charges were accurate. Again, the Illini version is that the NCAA had to justify their lengthy investigation with some kind of punishment. But the fact that they had such an extended investigation had already taken the steam out of the program in a way that lost scholarships really couldn't.

Digger Phelps chimed in that Illinois had been dirty in their recruitment of LaPhonso Ellis, who ended up at Notre Dame. If the thread had been about NBA playera that we hate then LaPhonso would have been at the top of my list.

[sovereignstar]

You can illegally tape a phone conversation when you're on one side of the line?

[panerd]

You can illegally tape a phone conversation when you're on one side of the line?

Assuming that you are asking me (as I appear to side with Pearl in my post) the answer is I don't know. But living in Saint Louis I have had this debate with Illini fans for 15 years. There is no secret conversation if nothing crooked is going on. Sorry, but I don't have a real problem with dirty players/coaches being exposed even if the evidence won't stand up in court.

EDIT: I have already mentioned earlier that I was one of the few Tiger fans I know who was calling for Quin Snyder's head with the Ricky Clemons mess. Unfortunatly we were the #2 team in the country at the time so nobody else seemed to mind. Now that we are two years removed from the tournament a lot of Tiger fans are seeing what comes to those who dance with the devil.

[sovereignstar]

After 2 minutes of research it sounds like the legality of the actual phone call was questioned, not the recording of it.l

[panerd]

After 2 minutes of research it sounds like the legality of the actual phone call was questioned, not the recording of it.l

Well, you will always get two sides on this issue. The University of Illinois and everyone else. But if you think you know as much after two minutes of research as someone who got coverage of this event for like 4 straight years then fine. Not trying to be confrontative, but I don't think there is anyone with some knowledge of the program (outside of Illini fans) who don't think the recruiting practices of the late 80's Illini were very shady.

Of course we can blame Bruce Pearl, Digger Phelps, the NCAA, etc. until we are blue in the face.

[sovereignstar]

Uh.. I couldn't care less about the scandal. I was just appeasing my own curiousity on that one detail.

[HerRealName]

Thanks for the history lesson. Was Illinois' big rival Iowa before this mess or was that the beginning?

[Ryno]

The bottom line is that Illinois got slapped with "Lack of Institutional Control" for an assistant coach loaning a player $10 for a pizza and a few signatures missing on two loan applications for cars. There was no proof (or reason to believe) that the loans were paid by anyone other than the players or their upper-middle class parents.

The NCAA, lead by someone with ties to Iowa, was convinced that Illinois was cheating. Upon finding no proof of anything other than listed above, they came down as hard as they could. The results were far more than a slap on the wrist and crippled the program for 4-5 years.

There was no Blazer given to Deon Thomas. The tape was essentially dismissed because it was cut and spliced in numerous places. It was proved that Pearl badgered Deon numerous times and at all hours of the night. It was illegal in Illinois to tape phone conversations without the other party knowing, but I don't believe it was in Iowa.

The only people who accused the Illini of cheating were the ones afraid that the sleeping giant was waking up. Iowa, Indiana, and Notre Dame thrived with players recruited from Illinois. Once Illinois started keeping the best ones in state, the respective coaches did everything they could to stop it.

Years later, Ellis admitted that everything he and Digger said about Illinois was false.

Am I biased? Yes.
Were the Illini squeaky clean? Probably not.
Were they treated fairly and punished for proven evidence? Not even close.

[Ryno]

Thanks for the history lesson. Was Illinois' big rival Iowa before this mess or was that the beginning?

We were before the incident, but afterward it became much more heated. Rational or not, most of the Illini fans that were around then still have a bitter feeling toward them. The only reason the rivalry has died down is because Illinois has dominated the past few years.

[mhass]

All this Iowa/Illinois talk and no one mentions Steve Alford as least favorite coach? I will. He's a rotten human.

[bosshogg23]

All this Iowa/Illinois talk and no one mentions Steve Alford as least favorite coach? I will. He's a rotten human.

I know very little about Alford. Whats the problem with him? My grandmother is a HUGE Indiana fan and loves him from his days there. She would probably gag if I said he was a rotten human.

[the_meanstrosity]

Call me crazy, but I love Bobby Knight. Any coach that can provide the kind of soundbytes he does is good with me. If you've seen the clip tonight with Ross and Knight at the Texas Tech press conference then you'll know what I'm talking about. I love coaches that are characters. What I would give to have a league with Billy Tubbs, Norm Stewart, and Bobby Knight in it. Those would be some classic press conferences.

My least favorite coach is probably Rick Barnes from Texas. I just recall him whining from his days in the ACC and certainly from his time at Texas. He's a good coach, but just whines a bit too much for me.

[JeeberD]

riley wallace

A k0 sighting! :eek:

1a. Bob Knight
1b. Billy Gillispie

[mhass]

I know very little about Alford. Whats the problem with him? My grandmother is a HUGE Indiana fan and loves him from his days there. She would probably gag if I said he was a rotten human.
I've know all this second hand, but here's what I recall off the top of my head:
-Arranging for a church youth group to do a "service project" that amounted to yard work at his house. Then berating them for not doing it correctly.
-Trying to use his name recognition for free cars, lawn mowers and vacations. Getting angry when people refuse.
-Having the least-secret mistress in Iowa

From what I gather, people really liked his dad, but he's not with the team any longer. And these may all be nasty rumor, but I've heard so many people say things like this with no apparent reason to lie. I don't like the way he handled Pierre Pierce either. Makes me believe the other stuff.

[sterlingice]

Sha sheff ski
I go with Krew-Ja-Woo-Ski when I have to spell it.

SI

[ColtCrazy]

Jim Boheim(sp) of Syracuse. Gade A whiner, can't stand him, and loved seeing Vermont knock him out.

Also, Mike Davis. Decent recruiter, but cannot coach. Why was anyone even talking about IU being a bubble team, they were 15-13 for gosh sakes.

[dawgfan]

Not being an ACC guy, I'm surprised at the level of vitriol for Coach K. Is there anything more to this beyond simple jealosy at his success?

[terpkristin]

He's an arrogant bastard. Has "rules" for people who come to his court but doesn't follow rules set by teams when he's visiting. He tries to say he's and his team is above all the mess in college basketball in terms of asshole fans and yells at schools when they "violate" his sense of what's "right" but then doesn't monitor his own fans to the extent. He seems to think his boys and Cameron Crazies are above it all but really they're as slimy as the rest of the ACC fans (and as an ACC person, I can fully attest to the fact that most ACC fans are complete and utter assholes).

Total arrogant bastard slime.

/tk

[Balldog]

He doesn't coach anymore but Randy Ayers.

[digamma]

He's an arrogant bastard. Has "rules" for people who come to his court but doesn't follow rules set by teams when he's visiting. He tries to say he's and his team is above all the mess in college basketball in terms of asshole fans and yells at schools when they "violate" his sense of what's "right" but then doesn't monitor his own fans to the extent. He seems to think his boys and Cameron Crazies are above it all but really they're as slimy as the rest of the ACC fans (and as an ACC person, I can fully attest to the fact that most ACC fans are complete and utter assholes).

Total arrogant bastard slime.

/tk
He also has one of the foulest "in-game" mouths of any coach around.

[terpkristin]

He also has one of the foulest "in-game" mouths of any coach around.
As to that, I have no room to talk, since Gary Williams also has one of the foulest "in-game" mouths around. The difference between Gary and Coach K, though? Gary doesn't pretend he's holier than thou.

/tk

[digamma]

As to that, I have no room to talk, since Gary Williams also has one of the foulest "in-game" mouths around. The difference between Gary and Coach K, though? Gary doesn't pretend he's holier than thou.

/tk
Yeah, that was the point to which I was alluding (I just left out that second sentence).