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Clearing The Way For Jimmy B

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As you've surely heard by now, Bob Knight has resigned as coach at Texas Tech and and in all likelihood retired from coaching. After 42 years, Knight leaves as the winningest coach in Division 1 history. For a brief reminder of the standings, see below:

1. Bob Knight, Texas Tech 902

2.
Dean Smith, North Carolina 879
3.
Adolph Rupp, Kentucky 876
4.
Jim Phelan, Mt. St. Mary's, Md. 830
5. x-Eddie Sutton, San Francisco 800
6.
x-Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 794
7.
Lefty Driesell, Georgia State 786
8.
x-Lute Olson, Arizona 780
9.
Lou Henson, New Mexico State 779
10.
x-Jim Boeheim, Syracuse 766
10.
x-Jim Calhoun, Connecticut 766
x-active


There really isn't any
one close-behind to challenge these guys so for all intents and purposes this list will not change for a while. The question on the mind of Syracuse fans has to be...how high can Jimmy climb?


I did an "analysis" back in 2006 when Knight broke the record and came to the conclusion that Boeheim would pass Knight sometime around 2020 for the record. NOW, tongue was planted firmly in cheek on that one as a lot of things would have to happen for this to occur. However some of those things are legitimate possibilities.

Lute is
currently taking a leave of absence and he's already 73 so surely he doesn't have much left in the tank. Lute will fall into a three-coach miasma with Boeheim and Calhoun if he returns next year. They'll keep trading spots on this list until two of them retire. The safe money is on the Jimmys outlasting Lute.

Eddie Sutton is probably going to get no higher than 810 before he finally goes away, so Boeheim and Calhoun should pass him within three years.

Then, it's all about Krzyzewski. The safe money is that he'll still be the head coach at Duke long after Boeheim and Calhoun retire and only he and cockroaches roam the Earth. BUT, he did flirt with the NBA a few seasons ago. Let's sat Duke wins one more title in the next five years...hasn't he done it all truly? Isn't there a possibility that he'll want one last challenge before he hangs them up? Possible. Not likely...


So where will Jimmy B end up? I'm gonna say he retires #3 in all-time wins just behind Knight. I think he outlasts Calhoun (just look at the guy) but probably not by too many years. At some point Krzyzewski takes the lead, Knight is #2 and once you pass Rupp you might as well pass Smith, right?


Of course, Boeheim could retire in 2-3 years and make all of this moot. But from what we know about Jimmy, the Hopkins announcement withstanding, I think he's got a few more in him than that.