The Era of Historic Coaching in College Basketball is coming to an end. Let’s take a look at which coaches may be lacing them up for the last time.
One of the winningest head coaches in NCAA Men’s Basketball history has announced that he will retire at the end of this season. Herb “The Shot Doc” Magee announced on Tuesday that he will be retiring after the 2020-21 basketball season from Jefferson University.
He has a career record of 1,123-444 (.717 winning percentage) over 53 seasons, and only Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski has picked up more wins in men’s collegiate basketball.
We are getting close to the end of the historic basketball coaches in the collegiate game as the ones that have held positions for decades are getting to their retirement stage, and it’s going to be a sad day when we don’t have a big-time name drawing in the casual fan.
College Basketball’s Future
There are many people that are drawn to college basketball, whether it be they have come from basketball schools themselves, wanting to see the future of basketball, or what I think is the reason for incredible personalities from these coaches.
You don’t really know what type of program these players will be in with the constant changing of players, but the head coach seems to be the biggest personality in the entire sport.
Looking at NCAA’s official website, four of the top-six coaches in terms of most career Division 1 wins (Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, UConn’s Jim Calhoun but is not there anymore, and West Virginia’s Bob Huggins) are still active. We are nearing the end of the historic head coaches in collegiate basketball.
What Does That Mean For Recruiting?
That is a question that I obviously do not have the answer to. The ideology of having one of the most recognizable coaches walking into your living room in an attempt to recruit you to join their basketball program is incredible, and that could be fading away.
Playing for a legendary coach is one of the most incredible feelings that a player could have, as that means the program has a lot of talent, and they know what it takes to be a winner.
This definitely means that players could be more scarce as typically, when a legendary head coach either retires or leaves a program that has been dominant, that program tends to take a bit of a fall for the next handful of years at the minimum.
This also could mean more players signing off on playing overseas professionally to chase their dreams of joining the NBA’s G League to develop under the NBA minor league umbrella. There are more possibilities that can eventually hurt the college basketball scene with elite talent.
The Era of Historic Coaching in College Basketball is Ending – Conclusion
The college basketball scene can be in trouble with the draw of playing for an elite coach is gone as the years go by. Playing for a Coach K or Herb Magee can be the reason why a program gets a star recruit, but now with that window closing, players don’t have that separating factor.
College basketball can be an even more wide-open sport than it already has proven to be.
