John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games. He was named national coach of the year six times.

As a player, Wooden was the first to be named basketball All-American three times and he won a national championship at Purdue. Wooden was named a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (inducted in 1961) and as a coach (in 1973), the first person ever enshrined in both categories. Only Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman have since had the same honor.

He was one of the most revered coaches and was beloved by his former players, among them Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton. Wooden was renowned for his short, simple inspirational messages to his players, including his "Pyramid of Success." These often were directed at how to be a success in life as well as in basketball.

Robert Montgomery "Bob" or "Bobby" Knight (born October 25, 1940) is a retired American basketball coach. Nicknamed "The General", Knight has won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, more than any other head coach. On January 1, 2007, he achieved his 880th victory, breaking the record held by Dean Smith. His 900th victory came on January 16, 2008.

He was most recently the head men's basketball coach at Texas Tech before announcing his retirement on February 4, 2008. He was previously the head coach at Indiana University and at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

From 1971–2000, Knight coached the Indiana Hoosiers, where he led his teams to three NCAA championships, one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship, and eleven Big Ten Conference championships. He received the National Coach of the Year honor four times and the Big Ten Coach of the Year honor six times. In 1984, he coached the USA men's Olympic team to a gold medal, becoming one of only three basketball coaches to win an NCAA title, NIT title, and an Olympic gold medal.

Michael William "Mike" Krzyzewski ( born February 13, 1947) is the men's college basketball coach of the Duke Blue Devils. He is also the coach of the United States men's national basketball team, whom he led to a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Nicknamed "Coach K", Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to 4 NCAA Championships, 11 Final Fours (tied for second most in history), 12 ACC regular season titles, and 13 ACC championships over 30 seasons at Duke. Krzyzewski has amassed an NCAA-record 77 NCAA tournament victories, while averaging more than 25 wins per season. On March 1, 2008, Krzyzewski became the sixth men's basketball coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-win plateau. Krzyzewski has totalled 898 career victories (as of March 13, 2011), making him the most winning active coach, and putting him six wins away from being the most winning all time coach in NCAA Division I history. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame following the 2001 season.

Dean Edwards Smith (born February 28, 1931) is a retired American head coach of men's college basketball. Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Smith coached from 1961 to 1997 and retired as the NCAA Division I men's basketball record-holder for victories (879), a record which was surpassed by Bob Knight in 2007 and Mike Krzyzewski in 2010. Smith has the 9th highest winning percentage of any men’s college basketball coach (77.6%). During his tenure as head coach of North Carolina, the team won two national titles and appeared in 11 Final Fours.

Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is fourth (behind Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith) in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching. Rupp is also second among all coaches in all-time winning percentage (.822), trailing only Clair Bee. Adolph F. Rupp was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on April 13, 1969.

James Arthur "Jim" Boeheim (born November 17, 1944) is the head coach of the men's basketball team at Syracuse University. Boeheim has guided the Orange to eight Big East regular season championships, five Big East Tournament championships, and 27 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three appearances in the national title game. In those games, the Orange lost to Indiana in 1987 and Kentucky in 1996 before defeating Kansas in 2003. With 855 career wins, all at Syracuse, he currently stands in fifth place on the wins list of Men's NCAA Division I coaches, and is second among active coaches, behind only Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University. Boeheim has the third most career wins as head coach at any single school behind Dean Smith's 879 wins at North Carolina and Adolph Rupp's 876 wins at Kentucky. The career wins record of 902, held by Bob Knight, was achieved at 3 different schools: Army, Indiana, and Texas Tech.

James Camble Calhoun (born May 10, 1942, in Braintree, Massachusetts) is the head coach of the University of Connecticut's men's basketball team. His teams have won two national championships (1999 and 2004), played in three Final Fours (most recently in 2009), won the 1988 NIT championship, and have won seven Big East tournament championships (in 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2011). In 2005 he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. On Feb. 25, 2009, Jim Calhoun won his 800th game when Connecticut beat Marquette, 93-82.

Jim coached his entire career at Mount Saint Mary's University. He led the Mountaineers to the 1962 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship. When he retired in 2003, after coaching for 49 years, he amassed 830 wins (overall record of 830-524) in over 1,300 games in all divisions. In those 49 years, 19 of his teams amassed 20 or more wins in a season. Prior to the announcement of his induction in April 2008, Phelan was often noted for having the most victories of any coach not in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

He got his 800th win in the Northeast Conference Championship Game on March 1, 1999. He became just the 4th coach in NCAA history to get 800 career wins; currently he resides sixth on the all-time list behind Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski, and Jim Boeheim. On January 19, 1998, he became just the 2nd coach in NCAA history to coach in 1,200 career games (The other being Clarence Gaines); he holds the record in games coached with 1,354 across all NCAA divisions.

Eddie Sutton (born March 12, 1936) is an American former college head coach with 36 years of Division I basketball coaching experience at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State (his alma mater), and the University of San Francisco. Sutton became the first coach to take four schools to the NCAA tournament, and he reached the Final Four with Arkansas in 1978 and Oklahoma State in 1995 and 2004. He is one of only eight major college men's basketball coaches to have over 800 career wins.

Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell (born December 25, 1931) is a retired college basketball coach. Driesell grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, where he attended Granby High School. The famous left-hander attended Duke University from 1950 to 1954, playing basketball under coach Harold Bradley.

Driesell coached the University of Maryland Terrapins from 1969 to 1986. During his tenure, the basketball team had such star players as Tom McMillen, Len Elmore, John Lucas, Albert King, Buck Williams, and Len Bias. In 1974 he signed high school star Moses Malone, but lost him to professional basketball, the Utah Stars, just before classes began. Moses was one of the first basketball players to jump directly from high school into the professional leagues.

Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (born September 22, 1934) is a retired American men's basketball coach. He was most recently head coach at the University of Arizona for a period of 25 years. He was also head coach at the University of Iowa for 9 years and California State University, Long Beach for one season. Olson was known for player development, and many of his former players have gone on to impressive careers in the NBA after having played under him. On October 23, 2008 Olson announced his retirement from coaching.

Roy Allen Williams (born August 1, 1950) is head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina. After averaging nearly an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced Matt Doherty in 2003. He is second all-time for most wins at Kansas behind Phog Allen and at North Carolina behind his mentor Dean Smith. Additionally, he is third all-time in the NCAA for winning percentage. Williams has taken his teams to seven Final Fours in his careers at Kansas and North Carolina (fourth all-time in NCAA history). From 1990-2009, Williams led his teams at Kansas and North Carolina to 20 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (second all-time) and earned at least one victory in each appearance, achieving the all-time record for most consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with a win. These streaks both ended in the 2009–2010 season as UNC failed to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Williams is the second-winningest active coach by percentage among coaches with at least 10 years experience, amassing a career win percentage of .798 with a career record of 614–155. He earned his 400th win in January 2003, when Kansas beat the University of Wyoming. Coach Williams won his 500th career game against High Point University on December 9, 2006 in Chapel Hill. On November 29, 2009, Williams earned his 600th career victory by defeating the University of Nevada. Williams became only the 33rd coach in Division I Men's Basketball history, as well as the third-fastest, to achieve at least 600 career wins. On April 4, 2005, Williams shed his title as "the most successful coach to never have won an NCAA ring" as his Tar Heels defeated the University of Illinois in the 2005 NCAA Championship game. He would again lead them to victory 4 years later, defeating the Michigan State Spartans in the 2009 NCAA Championship game on April 6, 2009. Williams is the fourth active coach, and thirteenth overall, to win multiple National Championships. In 2007, Williams was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame .