what order would you rank our coaches from first to last??

[HagginHall1999]

I think Cal is going to have to start recruiting like he used to years ago if he’s going to get out of this slump. Anyone that remembers his teams at UMass and Memphis know what I’m talking about.

I may be wrong but I feel like if Cal starts recruiting more players that will play 3-4 years, runs more of an nba style offense, I think that things would improve tremendously.

Doesn't seem to have any interest in doing that. I'm not sure he even could with landscape of the game now. I get where you are going but IMHO I bet he looks at that as the hard way to do it. He is looking for lightning in a bottle right now. Get #2 and call it a day.

 

[Woodrow_Call_1998]

Doesn't seem to have any interest in doing that. I'm not sure he even could with landscape of the game now. I get where you are going but IMHO I bet he looks at that as the hard way to do it. He is looking for lightning in a bottle right now. Get #2 and call it a day.

I may be wrong but I just feel like the one and done culture is to difficult to maintain with NIL and the transfer portal. Recruit one or two five stars a year and the rest should be guys that have potential to be really good college players in a year or two. One quote that I’d bet on that coaches are using against Cal with transfer portal players is he’s been quoted saying he would “take talent over experience” many times. I’d bet on it that’s been shown to portal recruits.

 

[UKAlum88]

Not a baseless argument.
We all know the current status of this program under Cal.

Do you really think the coach who got us in this position is going to suddenly change who he is so that the program can recover??

If so, I'll have some of what you are smoking or drinking. The downward trend continues under Cal.

You do know there’s middle ground, right? I’m the rarity that can want Cal gone but still recognize what he’s done at UK. What he’s done at UK is far better than Pitino and nothing you or anyone else can say will change my mind.

If Pitino was the basketball mastermind y’all make him out to be, he wouldn’t have had to cheat in attempt to beat Cal and UK. He would have game planned differently because he’s a mastermind, right??? 😂

 

[JonathanW]

You do know there’s middle ground, right? I’m the rarity that can want Cal gone but still recognize what he’s done at UK. What he’s done at UK is far better than Pitino and nothing you or anyone else can say will change my mind.

If Pitino was the basketball mastermind y’all make him out to be, he wouldn’t have had to cheat in attempt to beat Cal and UK. He would have game planned differently because he’s a mastermind, right??? 😂

AGAIN....we aren't comparing looking at post-UK (or pre-UK) performances.

WHILE AT UK, what Pitino did in 8 years was very comparable to what Cal did his first 8 years at UK. The 6 years since, Cal has performed at a MUCH LOWER LEVEL such that his whole body of work is more comparable to Hall and Tubby. Pitino never had such a dropoff at UK. You I guess are trying to argue that he would have had the same dropoff had he stayed; but there is no way to know that, in fact he resurrected a down-trending team making them a top 10 power once again, which leads one to believe he wouldn't have turned bad had he stayed at UK.

What has Cal done at UK that was "far better than Pitino"? You've yet to cite one single thing.
While I gave you a whole list of ways to compare the two, all but 1 (of the 11) favored RP.
At best you can argue that they TIE in a bunch of areas, and even that argument is shaky.

 

[BigRedMachineBigBlueNation]

Calipari is a fraud of a coach. He would have never made the HoF if it wasn’t for Kentucky.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

1. Rupp
2. Calipari
3. Pitino
4. Tubby
5. Joe B
6. Sutton


















Last. BCG

Trash post.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

pitino.....Cal.....Rupp.....HAll......Tubby....Sutton....Billy Clyde

1. Rupp
2. Calipari
3. Pitino
4. Tubby
5. Joe B
6. Sutton


















Last. BCG

1.Rupp
2.Cal
3.Pitino
3b. Sutton
5.Joe B.
6. Tubby

This is the correct list.

There's no way Cal is ahead of Pitino.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Rupp
Cal (may drop to 3, but not quite yet)
Pitino
Hall
Smith
Sutton
Billy

He dropped there the second he went 9-16.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

It’s very easy, it’s the correct ranking.

Nope.

 

[Skyguyb27]

Agreed...100%

1. Rupp (Titles and win % are league of his own)
2. Pitino (took over from scrap heap....not only won it all in 1996 but that was one of all time dominate teams. 2 other final fours, the 1992 elite eight loss was best game in college b-ball history and left Tubby a full deck he rode to a ring.
.....
....
....
Big drop to
3. Hall (1 title and 3 final fours....beat elite Indiana team in 1975...which enhanded rivalry and pissed off Bobby Knight). Missed NCAA 3 times ....but was a 32 team tournament until 1985. So he never missed 64 team NCAAA tourney.
4. Cal...I can either way with Cal or Joe B. 1 title and 3 final fours. But he's missed 2 NCAA 64 team and is crapping the bed the further he goes. And he's an all around a-hole to fanbase IMO.
Decent drop to Tubby

5. Tubby
6. Sutton
....
....
....
Big drop to Billy

I have no words to put Cal over Pitino....not even in same zip code.

I agree with this.

 

[Tubbyfan78]

1. Rupp
2. Pitino

3. Tubby
4. Cal
5. Joe B

6. Eddie


7. Billy G

 

[cathouse]

You do know there’s middle ground, right? I’m the rarity that can want Cal gone but still recognize what he’s done at UK. What he’s done at UK is far better than Pitino and nothing you or anyone else can say will change my mind.

If Pitino was the basketball mastermind y’all make him out to be, he wouldn’t have had to cheat in attempt to beat Cal and UK. He would have game planned differently because he’s a mastermind, right??? 😂

Wait...what are you talking about?
Nowhere in my post did I say Pitino was a basketball mastermind.
I thought we were talking about ranking UK coaches from first to last based on their accomplishments at UK???
What post are you responding to????
I stand by my opinion on the best coaches at UK.

P.S. Coaching performance at UL or MN or ANY other school other than UK is no comparison to coaching at UK.

 

[UKAlum88]

Wait...what are you talking about?
Nowhere in my post did I say Pitino was a basketball mastermind.
I thought we were talking about ranking UK coaches from first to last based on their accomplishments at UK???
What post are you responding to????
I stand by my opinion on the best coaches at UK.

P.S. Coaching performance at UL or MN or ANY other school other than UK is no comparison to coaching at UK.

You can stand by whatever you please, doesn’t make it true. Cal has shown he’s a better coach than Pitino at every single stop he’s been, especially UK. There’s proof of that but you choose to ignore it.

You might not have been one of the ones calling Pitino the 🐐, idk, I don’t keep up with everyone’s usernames but all your buddies say he’s a mastermind.

Usually accomplishments determine your greatness unless your Pitino and then you get to live off of the “what could have beens.”

 

[UKAlum88]

AGAIN....we aren't comparing looking at post-UK (or pre-UK) performances.

WHILE AT UK, what Pitino did in 8 years was very comparable to what Cal did his first 8 years at UK. The 6 years since, Cal has performed at a MUCH LOWER LEVEL such that his whole body of work is more comparable to Hall and Tubby. Pitino never had such a dropoff at UK. You I guess are trying to argue that he would have had the same dropoff had he stayed; but there is no way to know that, in fact he resurrected a down-trending team making them a top 10 power once again, which leads one to believe he wouldn't have turned bad had he stayed at UK.

What has Cal done at UK that was "far better than Pitino"? You've yet to cite one single thing.
While I gave you a whole list of ways to compare the two, all but 1 (of the 11) favored RP.
At best you can argue that they TIE in a bunch of areas, and even that argument is shaky.

Pitino didn’t stick around long enough to fall off at Uk, he saved his fall off for UL, while losing to Cal in embarrassing fashion time and time again.

 

[NociHTTP]

I may be wrong but I just feel like the one and done culture is to difficult to maintain with NIL and the transfer portal. Recruit one or two five stars a year and the rest should be guys that have potential to be really good college players in a year or two. One quote that I’d bet on that coaches are using against Cal with transfer portal players is he’s been quoted saying he would “take talent over experience” many times. I’d bet on it that’s been shown to portal recruits.

Cal does not want to coach players for multiple years. He wants guys that will get drafted after a year. He has no interest in building a program for continuity. That would require managing a deep roster, he doesn't want that.

 

[JonathanW]

Pitino didn’t stick around long enough to fall off at Uk, he saved his fall off for UL, while losing to Cal in embarrassing fashion time and time again.

I’m still waiting.
What has Cal done at UK that was "far better than Pitino"? You've yet to cite one single thing.

Cal fell off so much he went 9-17 AND has the worst NCAA-T loss in UK history AND maybe the worst loss in UK history (certainly the worst Home loss). It doesn’t get any more “embarrassing” than that!!!! So you are ASSUMING Pitino would have done even worse than that? Oh my, you need help!

All you can do is compare UL Pitino to UK Calipari, IGNORING what every wildcat fan knows, that UK is the superior program. Therefore we should have an automatic advantage in being able to recruit better players than the 2nd tier UL program regardless who is coaching either team.

 

[Jont0805]

You can stand by whatever you please, doesn’t make it true. Cal has shown he’s a better coach than Pitino at every single stop he’s been, especially UK. There’s proof of that but you choose to ignore it.

You might not have been one of the ones calling Pitino the 🐐, idk, I don’t keep up with everyone’s usernames but all your buddies say he’s a mastermind.

Usually accomplishments determine your greatness unless your Pitino and then you get to live off of the “what could have beens.”

Accomplishments at UK

Cal has had 5 extra years, 7 if you count the two that Kentucky wasn’t even eligible because of probation and has one more final four.

-same amount of titles, worst winning percentage,

Not to mention you constantly ignore the fact that Pitino left the program better than any coach in the history of the program while Cal will leave them with zero scholarship players when he leaves.

In their time at UK which is what this is about there is no reason to put Cal ahead of Pitino. Not a single reason. Well other than being the only modern era coach to miss the tourney twice, also put together the worst season in UK history, those are quite an accomplishment.

But as the other poster keeps asking you. Maybe if you list at least one that justifies your belief other than Cal beat Pitino when they coached at UK/UL, which again is not what this thread is even about.

 

[Skyguyb27]

You do know there’s middle ground, right? I’m the rarity that can want Cal gone but still recognize what he’s done at UK. What he’s done at UK is far better than Pitino and nothing you or anyone else can say will change my mind.

If Pitino was the basketball mastermind y’all make him out to be, he wouldn’t have had to cheat in attempt to beat Cal and UK. He would have game planned differently because he’s a mastermind, right??? 😂

If you gonna compare achievements to rank coaches shouldn’t we also include the negative side of things? Cal has embarrassed this university with losses way more than RP.

 

[susan2361]

1. Rupp
2. Pitino
3. Hall
4. Calipari
5. Tubby
6. Sutton
7. BCG

Cal is the better recruiter and Tubby is better in game coach.

Joe B. is #3 because he was all about Kentucky and nothing else. I can’t say that about Cal.

I agree with your order.

 

[Random UK Fan]

Rupp
Pitino
Cal
Hall
Tubby
Sutton
BCG

 

[blueskidmark]

Rupp
Pitino
Hall
Tubby
Cal
BCG

 

[grevey35]

You do know there’s middle ground, right? I’m the rarity that can want Cal gone but still recognize what he’s done at UK. What he’s done at UK is far better than Pitino and nothing you or anyone else can say will change my mind.

If Pitino was the basketball mastermind y’all make him out to be, he wouldn’t have had to cheat in attempt to beat Cal and UK. He would have game planned differently because he’s a mastermind, right??? 😂

To suggest Cal's resume at UK is better than Pitino's is utterly ridiculous. Now if you want attack Pitino's character I have no argument there.

 

[UKAlum88]

To suggest Cal's resume at UK is better than Pitino's is utterly ridiculous. Now if you want attack Pitino's character I have no argument there.

Cal has coached here almost twice as long so of course he will have failures Pitino didn’t in his quick pit stop here. Accomplishment wise, it’s very close. Coaching wise, it’s Cal all day. He has coached circles around Pitino since he’s been at UK.

 

[JonathanW]

Cal has coached here almost twice as long so of course he will have failures Pitino didn’t in his quick pit stop here. Accomplishment wise, it’s very close. Coaching wise, it’s Cal all day. He has coached circles around Pitino since he’s been at UK.

I see that you can’t give an example, so just ignoring my question.

- only 2nd losing season in 90+ years
- 1st losing season unrelated to pending NCAA investigation penalties
- worst NCAA-T loss in school history
- worst loss in school history (& it was at home)
- 1 win in last 3 NCAA-T

Yet you crazily believe if Pitino would have stayed 6 more years he would have done worse than that!

 

[UKAlum88]

I see that you can’t give an example, so just ignoring my question.

- only 2nd losing season in 90+ years
- 1st losing season unrelated to pending NCAA investigation penalties
- worst NCAA-T loss in school history
- worst loss in school history (& it was at home)
- 1 win in last 3 NCAA-T

Yet you crazily believe if Pitino would have stayed 6 more years he would have done worse than that!

You mistaken me for someone else. I want Cal gone, today. But to act like Pitino’s tenure at UK was more successful is laughable. If Pitino was half the coach some of the people on here think he is, he would have more than 1 championship, 27 years ago. If you blame it on where he was coaching, why wasn’t high profile job offers falling in his lap?

I personally think if Pitino stayed, he would have had a similar downfall, if not worse. See UL for reference. 😎

 

[JonathanW]

You mistaken me for someone else. I want Cal gone, today. But to act like Pitino’s tenure at UK was more successful is laughable. If Pitino was half the coach some of the people on here think he is, he would have more than 1 championship, 27 years ago. If you blame it on where he was coaching, why wasn’t high profile job offers falling in his lap?

I personally think if Pitino stayed, he would have had a similar downfall, if not worse. See UL for reference. 😎

"laughable", really? I've given FACTS, EVIDENCE, DATA. All you have given is "well IF.....". IF's don't mean crap.

And I AM NOT one of those that was bellowing for the now-sleaze Pitino to replace Cal a couple months ago.
But you can't deny what he did, well no one but you can.
He took UK at it's lowest point since 1927, and the very next year had us competitive, the year after that (while on PROBATION) in a tie for 1st in SEC, and the year after that 3 seconds and a bad decision on guarding the in-bounds-guy from the F4.
Once eligible for the NCAA-T, he went:
E8 (OT loss)
F4 (OT loss)
2nd Rnd loss
E8
Championship
Runner-up

So just to compare their first 6 years (from best to worst) of eligible NCAA-T teams:
Pitino vs Cal
championship - championship (equal)
runner up - runner up (equal)
final 4 - final 4 (equal)
elite 8 - final 4 (advantage Cal)
elite 8 - elite 8 (equal)
2nd round - NIT 1st round (advantage Pitino)
Those 6 years are pretty equivalent.
Then you add in what Pitino had to overcome with PROBATION the first 2 years, and the utter FAILURE Cal has had the past 6-8 years. To say it should still be Cal is one thing (you're wrong, but ok I've seen worse claims), but to say it's "laughable" is utterly BEYOND STUPID.

And I don't like UL, not as much as I dislike UNCheat or Duke, but I don't like them. But I looked it up just now, and he did pretty well at UL. Again taking over a team with a losing record.
In 16 years there:
13 NCAA-T
2 NIT (including 1st year)
1 year ineligible (AT PITINO's FAULT)
The 13 NCAA-T included:
1 championship (vacated due to him CHEATING)
2 final 4
3 elite 8
1 sweet 16
Not as good as he was his 8 years at UK, not as good as Cal was his first 6-8 years at UK. But he did that with less (of a program) at his disposal, AND he certainly did MORE at UL than Cal has done in his last 8 years at UK (with more at his disposal):
2 E8's
1 S16
2 2nd rnd losses
1 1st rnd loss (worst in school history)
1 no tournament (so not applicable)
1 missed tournament (worst season at UK in 95 years)

But I get it, you are incapable of admitting you are wrong. Instead you just dig your heels in deeper.

 

[RunninRichie]

Rupp
Pitino
Hall
Cal
Tubby
Sutton
BCG

 

[grevey35]

Cal has coached here almost twice as long so of course he will have failures Pitino didn’t in his quick pit stop here. Accomplishment wise, it’s very close. Coaching wise, it’s Cal all day. He has coached circles around Pitino since he’s been at UK.

You must have completely forgotten what it was like when Pitino was here. Giving Cal credit for sticking around to have subpar seasons is just silly. It is certainly not reasonable to assume Pitino would have sunk to such a level.