Sometimes You Forget: The Coaches of the 1990 NCAA Tournament

It was 20 years ago today Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play, but also the 1990 NCAA tournament was in its 3rd day of competition. Sports greatness when viewed in hindsight is always given more credit than in its current state. There are dozens of coaching greats in this year's tournament. However, looking at the coaching list from the '90 affair, it is most impressive.

First, let's look back at some memorable moments from that tournament.

Rick Fox, before he married Vanessa Williams or co-starred on Oz, hit this game-winner over number 1 seed Oklahoma in the 2nd round of the tourney. Things to note in this video: Hubert Davis rockin' the box and a very happy Pete Chilcutt.



Next we have Dennis Scott, 3-D himself putting eventual Final Four team Georgia Tech ahead of LSU in the 2nd round.



Then, we have the 1st round buzzer beater by Maurice Newby to put Northern Iowa past Mizzou. Could the Panthers experience similar magic this year? Well they were a 14 seed in 1990 and are a 9 seed this year but they will face Kansas if they get past UNLV. Things to note in this video: the cheerleader hair, my lord look at hose bangs.



Of course the most memorable shots from this tournament featured UConn on both sides of the buzzer. The Tate George turn around with 1 second left with the heave by Scott Burrell (Elden Campbell gaurding the inbound pass!). Forward to 2:00 on the vid for the shot.



In the next game, Christian Laettner would squash the Huskies run. The only video I could find of the shot was here, and it is sped up for some reason. UConn did not guard the inbounds passer, who was Laettner.

UNLV ended up winning the whole thing, trouncing Duke by 30 in the title game.

Now to the coaches.

In the East Region: I broke the coaches into legends and memorable names. Team and seed unmber follow in parantheses. Bolded coach and team won the region.

Legendary: Jim Calhoun(UConn - 1), Roy Williams(Kansas - 2), Mike Krzyzewski(Duke - 3), Lou Carnesecca(St. John's - 6), Bob Knight(Indiana - 8), John Chaney(Temple - 11)

Memorable: Cliff Ellis(Clemson - 5), Jim Harrick(UCLA - 7), Mike Jarvis(Boston University- 16)

It's amusing that all 3 coaches in the memorable category left schools under suspicious practices under NCAA investigation. The legendary group is damn legendary but outside of Lou and perhaps Roy seem a awfully crusty bunch.


Midwest Region:

Legendary: Billy Tubbs(Oklahoma - 1), Gene Keady(Purdue -2), John Thompson(Georgetown - 3), Nolan Richardson(Arkansas - 4), Lou Henson(Illinois - 5), Hugh Durham(Georgia - 7), Dean Smith(North Carolina - 8), Pete Caril(Princeton - 13)

Memorable: Pete Gillen(Xavier - 6), Charlie Spoonhour(SW Missouri St - 9), Tom Penders(Texas - 10), Lon Kruger(Kansas State - 11), Jim O'Brien(Dayton - 12)

So pretty much all but 3 coaches are legends in their own right or recognizable names. Just look at that basketball brainpower in the first category.


Southeast Region:

Legendary: Jud Heathcoat(Michigan State - 1), Jim Boeheim(Syracuse - 2), Norm Stewart(Missouri - 3), Bobby Cremins(Georgia Tech - 4), Dale Brown(LSU - 5), Digger Phelps(Notre Dame - 10), Don Haskins(UTEP - 11), Rollie Massimino(Villanova - 12)

Memorable: Clem Haskins(Minnesota - 6), Terry Holland(Virgina - 7), Les Robinson(East Tenn. St - 13)

Come to think of it, more often than not these coaches ran into NCAA problems.


West Region:

Legendary: Jerry Tarkanian(UNLV - 1), Lute Olson(Arizona - 2), Denny Crum(Lousiville - 4)

Memorable: Steve Fisher(Michigan - 3), Randy Ayers(Ohio State - 8), Rick Barnes(Providence - 9), Paul Westhead(Loyola Marymount - 10)

I decided to not put Fisher in the legends category. He doesn't have 400 wins yet and although he reached the Final Four 3 times(once according to the NCAA) I don't think he is there yet.