AP College Basketball Coach of the Year


The AP College Basketball Coach of the Year award was established in 1967 to recognize the best men's college basketball coach of the year, as voted upon by the Associated Press. A parallel award for women's coaches was added in 1995. The 2011 women's award, shared by three coaches, was notable as the first shared AP award in any college sport. The men's award saw its first tie in 2025.
John Wooden of UCLA and Bob Knight of Indiana have won the most awards on the men's side with five and three, respectively. As of 2025, two active men's coaches have won the award twice each: Bill Self at Kansas, and Kelvin Sampson, first at Oklahoma and then at Houston. Geno Auriemma of UConn has by far the most awards, with nine on the women's side, followed by Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame with four. Tom and Keno Davis are the only father-and-son duo to win the award.

Winners


  • The NCAA men's tournament expanded beyond 32 teams starting with the 1979 tournament. For purposes of sorting the "Finish" column, San Francisco's 1976–77 exit in the First Round will be 32, not 64.
  • In 1999, the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions ruled that Purdue had violated laws involving recruiting, extra benefits, and ethical conduct, as well as several secondary violations in the women's basketball program. Their 26–6 overall record retroactively forfeited 18 wins and vacated 2 games for using an ineligible player.
  • Clem Haskins' selection was later vacated due to an academic fraud scandal that ruled the entire team ineligible.
  • The NCAA men's tournament expanded to 68 teams starting in 2011, with the last four teams earning bids into the tournament set in competition with one another via "First Four" play-in games. The 'Second Round' then became more commonly referred to as 'Round of 32' for specificity. On the women's side, 2022 was the first NCAA tournament in which 68 teams earned bids.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2019–20 men's and women's seasons to be canceled prior to any national postseason tournaments occurring.