Top 10 active NCAA men’s basketball coaches with the most wins: Gonzaga’s Mark Few is No. 6

Few continues to climb the ranks of the winningest Division I college basketball coaches of all-time

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season, Gonzaga men’s basketball coach Mark Few has the most wins with a single school among all active coaches.

Few’s 716 career victories at the helm of the Bulldogs for the last quarter century is just ahead of his good friend, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, who sits at 707 wins going into his 30th season as the coach of the Spartans. No other active head coach can say they’ve been to the NCAA Tournament every year this millennia like Few and Izzo can, and only one man — Oakland’s Greg Kampe — can say he’s been with the same school longer than both men (Kampe’s been in Oakland since 1984-85).

Some of that has to do with some of the sport’s greatest coaches calling it quits over the past few years, as Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Jay Wright and Roy Williams have all retired in recent years. As such, here’s an updated look at the 10 active head coaches with the most wins heading into the 2024-25 season:

*Note: Oakland was Division II during Kempe's first 15 seasons as the head coach and didn't move up to Division I until the 1999-00 season. He would rank ninth on this list with 699 wins if Division II victories were being counted.

1. JOHN CALIPARI (ARKANSAS) - 855 WINS

Calipari tops the list for most wins by an active coach with 855 across 32 seasons with UMass (193-71), Memphis (252-69) and Kentucky (410-123). The future hall-of-famer is also 57-22 in the NCAA Tournament and has been to six Final Fours, including in 2012 when the Wildcats won it all in Calipari’s third year at the helm.

Calipari’s next victories will come as the head coach of Arkansas, which is ranked No. 36 in Bart Torvik’s 2024-25 season projections. If the Razorbacks win at least 25 games, Calipari will enter the list of top five coaches with the most all-time wins. He needs 25 to pass Dean Smith (879) for No. 5 all-time.

2. RICK PITINO (ST. JOHN’S) - 854 WINS

The former Kentucky coaches could spend much of the 2024-25 season trading places on the leaderboard for most wins by an active coach. Pitino, entering his 37th year as a head coach, came up just short of the NCAA Tournament with St. John’s in his first season. The Red Storm could make a strong postseason push in year two after Seton Hall transfer Kadary Richmond, the No. 1 ranked transfer on EvanMiya.com, and Utah transfer Deivon Smith (No. 17) committed to Pitino for their senior seasons.

Like Calipari, Pitino can move his way up the leaderboard with another 20-win season. Currently, he’s 10th all-time in career wins.

3. BILL SELF (KANSAS) - 810 WINS

The two-time national champion is going into his 22nd season with Kansas and his 32nd overall as a head coach. Self crossed the 800-win threshold amid an up-and-down season for the Jayhawks, who finished outside the top five in the Big 12 standings for the first time in his tenure and got bounced in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by Few and the Zags. With Hunter Dickinson, DeJuan Harris and K.J. Adams back, in addition to AJ Storr (Wisconsin), Self and company should contend for the No. 1 spot in the first AP Top 25 poll of the season.

4. RICK BARNES (TENNESSE) - 806 WINS

Barnes guided Tennessee to its highest finish in the final AP Top 25 poll of the season (No. 5) after going 27-9 and 14-4 in SEC play behind the efforts of All-American wing Dalton Knecht. Heading into 2024-25, the Volunteers rank No. 5 on Torvik’s projections with Jonas Aidoo (Arkansas), Tobe Awaka (Arizona) and Felix Okpara (Ohio State) all having major contributions as newcomers. Barnes, still looking for his first Final Four since 2003, should climb up the all-time wins leaderboard behind another talented roster.

5. DANA ALTMAN (OREGON) - 755 WINS

Altman got the Ducks back to the NCAA Tournament as the last champion of men’s basketball in the Pac-12 before the conference’s demise. Competition will be stiffer in the Big Ten, though having four seniors in the rotation should help the transition from an experience standpoint.

Altman, who’s won 20 or more games in every season as the Ducks head coach, is 20th all-time in career wins and can move closer to the No. 15 spot (Lefty Driesell, 786) with another 20-win campaign.

6. MARK FEW (GONZAGA) - 716 WINS

Few has quickly climbed the leaderboards over his 25 years at Gonzaga. He became the second-fastest head coach in Division-I men’s basketball history to reach 700 career wins, which he did in his 840th game on Jan. 18 this past season. Already the winningest head coach by percentage (716-143, .834), Few is also an Olympic champion after he helped guide Team USA to the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Paris Games as an assistant coach.

With another loaded roster at Gonzaga, Few has a chance to pass a handful of coaches on the all-time wins list in 2024-25. If the Bulldogs win 25 games — which they have every season since 2006-07 — he would have the 22nd-most wins all-time and pass legendary Kansas coach Phog Allen in the process.

7. JIM LARRANAGA (MIAMI) - 712 WINS

Larranga, heading into his 39th season as a head coach, is coming off a 15-17 campaign following Miami’s first Final Four appearance in 2023. Nijel Pack headlines a veteran squad that could feature up to seven seniors in the rotation for 2024-25. Time will tell if that experience leads to a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance for Larranga and company.

8. TOM IZZO (MICHIGAN STATE) - 707 WINS

Along with Few, Izzo has been a staple of consistency in college basketball. Michigan State has been to 27 straight NCAA Tournaments, the longest active streak of its kind, and appeared in eight Final Fours under Izzo, who’s entering his 30th year as the Spartans head coach. The three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year looks to extend his postseason streak with another impressive squad that ranks No. 17 in Torvik’s 2024-25 projections and is headlined by senior Jaden Akins and junior Tre Holloman.

Izzo has won three of the five head-to-head meetings against Few, though the Bulldogs got the last laugh when the two met on an aircraft carrier in San Diego, California, during the 2022-23 season. Gonzaga won 64-63.

9. KELVIN SAMPSON (HOUSTON) - 689 WINS

The reigning AP Coach of the Year has turned Houston into a college hoops powerhouse since its Final Four appearance in 2021. The Cougars have finished second in the final KenPom rankings for the last three seasons and just went 15-3 in their first season in the almighty Big 12. With most of the 2023-24 squad back, Sampson and company sit No. 1 in Torvik’s 2024-25 projections.

Sampson will likely cross the 700-win threshold at some point in his 32nd year as a head coach. Currently, he sits at 28th all-time in wins with the opportunity to move into a tie for the No. 23 spot if the Cougars win 30 games this season.

10. LEONARD HAMILTON (FLORIDA STATE) - 643 WINS

Hamilton has taken the Seminoles to the NCAA Tournament eight times in his 22 years at the helm, with the most recent appearance coming in 2021. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2019-20 after guiding Florida State to a 26-5 record. That roster featured five future NBA players and could’ve done damage in the postseason if the tournament hadn’t been canceled.

Heading into his 37th year as a head coach, Hamilton’s squad ranks 94th on Torvik and is projected to finish in the bottom half of the ACC standings.