re: Is John Wooden the greatest collegiate coach of all-time?

Wooden is generally regarded as the greatest coach of all time, across any sport.

I think part of it is he had some type of lovable, fatherly persona. Look how revered he was by Walton and Alcindor, I think that plays into it.

Will Wade obviously. Just look at his accomplishments:

1 NCAA tournament win

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Wooden is generally regarded as the greatest coach of all time, across any sport.

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funny way of spelling Phil Jackson

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Difference being Wooden had 19-20 year old kids, Phil only had to manage professionals...not baby-sit and teach kids.

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Managing highly paid professionals is harder.

If Saban had taken over Minnesota and done everything you just said, then I'd agree.

Instead of a huge pedigree brand that attracts recruits naturally. He took over Bama not Minnesota.

West Coast basketball was nothing before Wooden save for a few schools like San Francisco.

UCLA was dogshite before Wooden arrived.

UCLA was 266-279 before Wooden arrived.

Prior to Wooden's arrival, UCLA had only won two conference championships in the previous 18 years.

In his first season, Wooden guided a UCLA team that had finished with a 12–13 record the previous year to a 22–7 record—then the most wins in a season in program history.

In his second season, Wooden led the Bruins to a 24–7 record and the Pacific Coast Conference championship.

Wooden finished with 664 wins and 162 losses.

UCLA went 281-15 from 1964-1973.

There have only been 7 perfect seasons in College Basketball history and 4 of them belong to UCLA.

And widely considered the best CBB teams of all-time, the top 2 are UCLA teams.

The '73 Bruins and the '68 Bruins.

I know all that...... he was great and will never be duplicated in men’s basketball. He brought some great players there and some that weren’t great he helped them to be great....... but I don’t think he ever won a title with more than 32 teams in it....

Saban came to a great football tradition and turned it around the day he set foot on campus. And has kept what HE built there at the same level ever since......
In this day and age of football what he has done is brilliant.

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He coached 14 years at UCLA before he began winning titles.

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When did Sam Gilbert come on the scene at UCLA?

Anyone know?

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He coached 14 years at UCLA before he began winning titles

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He won Conference Titles. How many titles did Dean Smith win at UNC his first 14 years?

Wooden excelled everywhere he went.

Wooden spent two years at Dayton and nine years at Central. His high school coaching record over 11 years was 218–42.

From high school he coached Indiana State University.

In 1947, Wooden's basketball team won the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City. Wooden refused the invitation, citing the NAIB's policy banning black players.

In 1948, Wooden again led Indiana State to the conference title and Wooden coached his team to the NAIB National Tournament final, losing to Louisville. This was the only championship game a Wooden coached team ever lost.

At UCLA, Wooden had immediate success, fashioning the mark of the rarest of coaches, an "instant turnaround" for an undistinguished, faltering program.

In 1955-56, Wooden guided UCLA to an undefeated Conference Title only losing to USF which had Bill Russell and K.C. Jones (who won the NCAA title that year.)

UCLA reached the Final Four in 1962.

Then won titles in 1964 and 1965.

And then of course, the later years with Alcindor and Walton.

UCLA tied for 1st or 2nd in the Conference all those years before he won a title. And back then you had one or two representative in the NCAA tournament for each region.

So to say...oh he wasn't a great coach before the over-played Sam Gilbert comes into the picture is disengenous. Every program had a Sam Gilbert. And the NCAA investigated UCLA (because UCLA had previously been on probation for football stuff in the 50's) and nothing came of it.

Before Gilbert, before all the naysayers, Wooden won everywhere and turned a nothing program into a perennial winner...and then a dynasty.

Dan Gable - Iowa Wrestling.

From 1976 to 1997, Gable's teams compiled a dual meet record of 355–21–5. He coached 152 all-Americans, 45 national champions, 106 Big Ten Champions and 12 Olympians, including eight medalists. His teams won 21 Big Ten Conference championships, and 15 NCAA Division I titles.

End thread.

Gable is a great shout. I'll throw in Larry Kehres at Mount Union.

11 national championships, 23 conference championships, and a .929 winning percentage in 27 seasons, all in D3 without athletic scholarships.