Mark Among Few Good Men: Zags Coach Dominates Conference Opposition

A principal reason Jerry Tarkanian became a Hall of Famer was the fact he was the only retired coach in NCAA Division I history to win more than 90% of his assignments for a school in a single conference including both regular season and postseason league tourney (229-19 mark in PCAA/Big West with UNLV in a 10-year span from 1982-83 through 1991-92).

Among active coaches, Gonzaga's Mark Few likely is en route to extending his stunning string of consecutive NCAA playoff appearances in as many seasons to 23 next campaign with the Zags after reaching the 90% win-plateau in 2017-18 and adding unique talent Chet Holmgren for next campaign. Few's domination of the West Coast Conference not only is in regular-season competition (310-31) but also in league tournament action (47-5). Few isn't expected to fall much, if any, from list of league rulers in the near future. Ditto winning percentage overall through 21 campaigns as Few (.836) ranks second at this juncture in his career behind legendary Clair Bee (.850) and ahead of Adolph Rupp (.824) and Tarkanian (.813).

John Calipari was the only coach to win 80% of his league assignments in two conferences with different schools until slipping to 79% in the SEC in 2017-18 and going significantly further south this season. If Few remains at his present success level, Calipari could go unbeaten next 17 consecutive campaigns in SEC regular season and league tourney competition with Kentucky freshman phenoms and still trail Few percentage-wise in conference domination.

Brad Stevens won 80.8% of Butler's Horizon League games in five seasons but fell just short of meeting the minimum of 100 decisions in a single conference on the following list before subsequently moving on to the Atlantic 10 and NBA's Boston Celtics. Stevens has had a significantly superior pro career than Tarkanian, who compiled a 9-11 record in a brief stint with the San Antonio Spurs at the start of the 1992-93 campaign. Few ranks runner-up, just ahead of North Carolina State's Everett Case, among the following coaches who have won more than 75% of their games in a single conference including participation in league tourney play:

NOTES: Huggins (West Virginia), Marshall (Wichita State) and Williams (North Carolina) are active coaches currently employed by other schools. . . . UCLA's John Wooden won 81% of his games in the PCC/AAWU/Pacific-8 from 1948-49 through 1974-75 but none of those contests included conference tournament competition.