2015 Final Four: It’s a crime these are not all Hall of Fame coaches

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Welcome to the 2015 Final Four. You can call this Final Four the “supreme coaches” edition as four of the best coaches in all of college basketball will square off. All of the coaches have been to the Final Four before and all of them have won the NCAA Championship in basketball in some level. As of right now, only Mike Krzyzewski is in the Hall of Fame. Now John Calipari and Bo Ryan could join him on Monday, but no word on when Tom Izzo could join the club. It’s really a crime that all four of these guys are not in the Hall of Fame right now.

Combined, the numbers are gaudy. 2,532 wins, 9 National Titles (counting this year) and 27 Final Four appearances. It gets downright obsene when you throw in Bo Ryan’s numbers at D-III Wisconsin – Platteville: 2885 wins, 13 National Titles and 32 Final Fours.

Coach K has led the pack into the Hall of Fame and this has been a big year for him with his 1000th win and a Final Four. Overall, K has 1016 wins and a 76.6% winning clip, 4 Titles and 12 Final Fours. It’s downright gaudy and Coach K has earned his way into the Hall of Fame, but every other coach here is deserving.

Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The much maligned John Calipari in his 4th Final Four and five seasons and he wins games at a 78.2% clip. He has 6 Finals Fours and is the heavy favorite for his second title. Calipari is the lightning rod of controversy in this group due to vacated Final Fours in Memphis and UMass, but John Calipari has zero NCAA violations against him. Even if you throw the two vacated titles out, his four Final Fours at Kentucky are Hall of Fame worthy. It will be a huge shock if he is not named to the Hall of Fame on Monday.

Bo Ryan won four NCAA Titles at NCAA D-III Wisconsin- Plattville and is in his second straight Final Four at Wisconsin. While at Wisconsin, he has 386 wins. On the surface, some pundits like to just look at what he has done at Wisconsin and day that is not enough for the Hall of Fame, but the HOF does not apply to just division one. All together, Ryan has 739 wins and seven Final Fours between the two teams. The Four D-III titles should not be discriminated against and if there is justice, Bo Ryan should be in the Hall of Fame on Monday.

Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Which brings us to Tom Izzo. Izzo has 495 wins, ine national title, and 7 Final Four appearances of his own. Other than the amount of wins, he has the same credentials as the others and it is a shame that he is not even in the conversation this year. Dick Vitale calls it a crime.

"“I’m gonna tell you this: My mission now is, I think it’s a crime that Tom Izzo’s not nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016,” Vitale said this morning. “This year, (Wisconsin’s) Bo Ryan and (Kentucky’s) John Calipari have been nominated, they find out this weekend. There is no way, with seven Final Fours, a national championship and Big Ten titles, and the way he handles himself as a person, Tom Izzo is a Hall of Famer.”And it doesn’t really matter, he said, whether Michigan State wins that elusive second NCAA title under Izzo."

"Two would absolutely be a knockout punch,” Vitale said. “Right now, he’s going to go in with a little TKO, maybe, but two would be a knockout.”"

For once, I agree with Dick Vitale. All four of these coaches should be in the Final Four and if now, soon. John Calipari and Bo Ryan deserve to go in on Monday and Tom Izzo must go in 2016.

This 2015 Final Four is the best collection of coaches in a Final Four since 2009 (Roy Williams, Izzo, Jim Calhoun, and Jay Wright) and could stack up as the best collection of coaches ever. Hopefully justice is done and these guys get that Hall of Fame honor they all deserve.

Next: Know Your Enemy: Wisconsin Badgers

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2015 Final Four: It’s a crime these are not all Hall of Fame coaches

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