Coaches and tumult run hand-in-hand. Which ten earn a spot as the most controversial in college basketball history?
Which Ten NCAA Coaches Rank as the Most Controversial?
In the age of microwave attention spans and hot takes, controversy seems like a relative term—a word that changes with perspective and current society. Yet, the ten listed stood the test of time as the most polarizing and occasionally unpopular in college basketball history, listed from mild to severe.
Larry Eustachy, Colorado State/Southern Miss/Iowa State/Utah State/Idaho
Despite thirteen 20-win seasons, Eustachy bounced between jobs due to his behavior. Winning 63 percent of his games at Iowa State did not cover him from the firing line. In 2003, photos of Eustachy snuggled up kissing a coed at a frat party surfaced.
After a 74-63 loss at Kansas State, Eustachy made a grave error. Although he enjoyed other head coaching gigs at other Division 1 schools, those follow dogged him for the remainder of his career.
John Calipari (Arkansas/Kentucky/Memphis/UMass)
For 33 years, Calipari patrolled the sidelines as one of the most successful coaches in recent basketball history. His teams only missed the postseason twice in that span. While you cannot argue with success, you can point to him as an early proponent of player movement.
The current Razorbacks coach made the one-and-done a crucial part of college basketball. Moreover, he perfected it. Instead of extolling the virtues of a college education, Calipari’s recruiting pitch discussed the school as a layover to the NBA. It takes the whole “student-athlete” theme and shreds it.
Kim Mulkey (LSU/Baylor)
With 25 years on the bench, Kim Mulkey enjoys the fruits of her labor. In winning four national titles, you can witness a strong legacy. However, that is undermined by what many label as selfish, angry, and intolerant. Britney Griner, one of history’s most dominant post players, maintains a frosty relationship. It starts with Griner’s assertion about Mulkey’s alleged homophobia, as described here.
Jan Van Breda Kolff (St. Bonaventure/Pepperdine/Vanderbilt/Cornell)
While you can debate the student-athlete narrative, players must at least possess credits while transferring. In 2002, transfer Jamil Terrell played Division 1 basketball without anything except a welding certificate. Van Breda Kolff and the school president circumvented the rules, allowing Terrell to play.
The controversy began with the head coach claiming he didn’t know. Coaches have staff that check this and understand what occurs in the program.
Bobby Knight (Texas Tech/Indiana/Army)
In a career that spanned five decades, Knight won three national championships and boasts the last undefeated team in men’s college basketball. At the same time, he headbutted a player, kicked another, threw chairs across the court, and choked another athlete.
First, why do all of his misdeeds remain his own, the schools that didn’t act early enough and discipline him? Knight is a testament to an old-school coach who could handle the modern game. Lastly, how rough is the list when the coach is known for controversy only ranks sixth?
Bob Huggins (West Virginia/Kansas State/ Cincinnati/Akron/Walsh)
Like Knight, Huggins’ approach became quickly outdated and extremely tiring. In addition, his on-court accomplishments wither behind the storm cloud. Mix in ample helping on tantrums, homophobic comments, and multiple alcohol-related driving arrests, and you have Bob Huggins.
Yet, one of the most egregious acts will always be his disregard for academics. Huggins graduated on 27 percent of his Bearcat players earned degrees. In four of the nine seasons, schools reported graduation rates to be zero percent.
Pokey Chatman (LSU)
Picture It: You live in a world where you finished a legendary playing career. You get a graduate assistant job, working for your mentor, and your old coach retires. From there, you take over and lead your team to three consecutive Final Four berths in the first three seasons. This is Pokey Chatman. She looked destined for coaching superstardom.
Yet, in 2007, just before the NCAA tournament, evidence surfaces that Chatman engaged in a sexual relationship with a former player. That breaks the known boundary in which coaches should never venture. Chatman never coached another college game, leaving LSU, winning 84.7 percent of her games. Coaches should live by a moral code and never cross that line.
Tyler Summitt (Louisiana Tech)
Pat Summitt’s name should never be on a list like this. However, her son, Tyler, earned a special spot. The legendary coach, beloved by players and respected by foes alike, allowed her son to carry on the family. In actuality, he dragged the surname through the mud.
As an assistant at Marquette, Summitt met freshman Booke Pumroy, a team player. Soon after, he took the head coaching job at Louisiana Tech. Pumroy transferred, which is commonplace. Things went wrong when news of Summitt and Pumroy having an extramarital affair surfaced.
In one fell swoop, Tyler Summitt cheated on his wife with a player and tanked his career. Hopefully, people will forget the younger Summitt and remember his mother as one of the greatest coaches ever.
Adolph Rupp (Kentucky)
For as long as sports have existed, racism has also resided within. Rupp, despite the whitewashing of the hundreds of times he used slurs, earns this distinction for that fact alone. When a sport depended on an overwhelming black talent pool, Rupp chose to do the exact opposite. Rupp’s quote hung in the air like diesel fumes when asked why he didn’t recruit black players.
” I don’t have to. I recruit the best White players in the country.”
The arena that the University of Kentucky plays basketball in bears his name.
Dave Bliss (Baylor/New Mexico/SMU/Oklahoma)
Bliss won 61.4 percent of his games but stands as a pariah, perhaps the most reviled man in college sports. Baylor forward Carlton Dotson shoots and kills teammate Patrick Denehy. Instead of being transparent, Bliss instructed players to lie, labeling Dennehy a drug-dealing criminal.
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No other act in college history stands above that as worst. Dave Bliss found his way out of college basketball, and the sport is better for it. Schools entrust coaches to lead with conviction and principle.
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