Hall of Fame coaches likely to play a huge role in Omaha

photo by: Matt Tait

Hall of Fame coaches Jim Boeheim, left, Bill Self, middle, and Mike Krzyzewski, right, are all in Omaha, Neb., this weekend, looking to lead their programs back to the Final Four. (Photos by Nick Krug/Lawrence Journal-World)

Omaha, Neb. — There are just six active coaches in all of Division I men’s college basketball who have been honored with an induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

And three of them are working in Omaha this weekend.

Kansas coach Bill Self, who went into the Hall of Fame last September, is being joined in southeast Nebraska this weekend by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and all three are hoping to lead their programs back to the Final Four.

(For what it’s worth, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Kentucky’s John Calipari and North Carolina’s Roy Williams are the other active Hall of Fame coaches in Div. I and all three of those teams have been eliminated from this year’s tournament.)

For Self, two wins in Omaha — 6:07 p.m. tonight vs. No. 5 seed Clemson and Sunday vs. the Duke-Syracuse winner — would put him into his third ever Final Four (2008, 2012) and give Self that elusive third Elite Eight victory and improve his record in regional finals to 3-7 all-time.

For Boeheim, who has been in charge of the Syracuse program for 42 years, a pair of wins at CenturyLink Center this weekend would deliver his sixth trip to the Final Four and third since 2013.

For Krzyzewski, who has led Duke’s program for 43 years and guided the Blue Devils to five national championships, wins Friday and Sunday would move Coach K into first place all-time, one trip ahead of UCLA’s John Wooden, for all-time Final Four appearances by a head coach. Krzyzewski and Wooden currently sit tied with 12 Final Four trips apiece.

And then there’s Clemson coach Brad Brownell, who took over the Tigers program eight years ago and has recorded 316 victories at three different schools in his 16-year head coaching career. Brownell joked earlier this week about being the guy that nobody would know at the Omaha regional, but a big reason for that is the fact that Brownell’s program has not, under any coach, had the kind of sustained success as Duke, Kansas and Syracuse.

The Tigers are making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2011, their first Sweet 16 in 21 years and are playing in just their 12th NCAA Tournament all-time.

Both Coach K and Boeheim have more career losses (337 and 367, respectively) than Brownell has victories (316). And Brownell’s 197 losses are just three fewer than Self’s 200 despite Self having coached nine more seasons.

It may be the players who take the shots, make the passes and grab the rebounds who will decide the outcome of this weekend’s games. But with three Hall of Famers stalking the sidelines and one coach trying to break into that elite fraternity, don’t be surprised for a second if a coaching decision or two along the way is responsible for which team gets out of Omaha with a ticket to San Antonio in hand.

Career records of the four coaches in Omaha

Mike Krzyzewski, Duke – 1,099-337 (.765 in 43 seasons)

Jim Boeheim, Syracuse – 925-367 (.716 in 42 seasons)

Bill Self, Kansas – 652-200 (.765 in 25 seasons)

Brad Brownell, Clemson – 316-197 (.610 in 16 seasons)