Top 5 college basketball coaches to win back-to-back national championships ft. Dan Hurley

When the final buzzer of the 2024 college basketball NCAA championship sounded, UConn Huskies' Dan Hurley joined an elite group of coaches to win back-to-back national titles. This was the second national title win for Hurley and the sixth for UConn.

College hoops features many historic coaches and iconic names who have brought their program the most prestigious award in the sport. But very few coaches have been able to do it in consecutive years.

Here, we look at the top five college basketball coaches who have won back-to-back national championships in their careers.

---

Top five college basketball coaches to win back-to-back national championships

#5 Adolph Rupp

Rupp coached college basketball at Kentucky from 1930 until 1972 and went 876-190. He won four total championships in his career and won back-to-back titles in 1948 and 1949.

Rupp had 20 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and led the Wildcats to six Final Fours. He won the SEC Coach of the Year Award seven times and has Kentucky's home arena named after him.

---

#4 Dan Hurley

UConn Huskies coach Dan Hurley is the most recent addition to the list of college basketball coaches with back-to-back title wins after UConn beat Purdue to win the 2024 NCAA national championship.

Hurley began his college head coaching career in 2010 at Wagner before taking a job at Rhode Island in 2012. After turning around the basketball program at Rhode Island, Hurley took over for Kevin Ollie at UConn.

Hurley brought the Huskies back to the NCAA Tournament in 2020, but both appearances ended in first round exits. The Huskies then made a championship run in 2023 followed by a second title in 2024.

---

#3 Billy Donovan

Before Dan Hurley's second title win in 2024, Florida's Billy Donovan was the most recent college basketball coach to win back-to-back titles. Donovan won consecutive national titles in 2006 and 2007 with the Florida Gators.

Donovan coached for 21 years of college basketball, beginning in 1994 at Marshall. After two seasons with Marshall, he took the head coaching job at Florida. He led the Gators to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and four trips to the Final Four.

Donovan left Florida in 2015 to take the head coaching job with the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. He's now coaching in the NBA as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls.

---

#2 Mike Krzyzewski

Longtime Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski ranks second on the list of college basketball coaches with the most NCAA championship wins, with five. The first two title wins of Krzyzewski's career came consecutively. His first title came in 1991, followed by his second in 1992.

Krzyzewski was a five-time ACC Coach of the Year Award winner and a three-time Naismith Coach of the Year. He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 before retiring from coaching in 2022 after 47 years at Army and Duke.

Krzyzewski spent time coaching the USA men's national basketball team and led them to three Olympic gold medals, along with two gold medals and two bronze medals in the FIBA World Championship.

---

#1 John Wooden

Legendary coach John Wooden owns the most NCAA titles in college basketball history, with 10 championship wins. Wooden won his first national title in 1964 with UCLA and followed with a second in 1965.

After those back-to-back titles, the UCLA Bruins missed out on the NCAA Tournament in 1966. Wooden rallied his team, and the Bruins stormed back to win a record seven consecutive NCAA championships.

After their run of seven straight titles, Wooden and UCLA made the Final Four in 1974 but lost to eventual champions NC State, 80-77. Wooden returned to UCLA in 1975 and went on to claim his 10th national championship.

---

Who do you think is the best men's college basketball coach to win back-to-back national championships? Let's know in the comments section below.

​