Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies step onto the floor tonight against the Michigan Wolverines with a chance to cement a modern dynasty. Securing three national titles in four years is an unthinkable achievement in the transfer portal era. The Huskies dominated the 2023 and 2024 NCAA Tournaments before Florida snuck away with the crown in 2025.
Now, Hurley’s squad is right back in the mix. While he has a chance to become the only active men’s college basketball coach with three national titles, Hurley has a long way to go if he wants to win the most championships in men’s NCAA Tournament history.Â
Coach John Wooden’s Incredible Run of 10 National Championships
John Wooden won 10 national championships during his remarkable tenure at UCLA, a record that certainly seems unbreakable.Â
In 27 seasons as UCLA’s head coach, Wooden led the Bruins to 10 national championships. That makes him the reigning king of men’s college basketball titles. Wooden even led UCLA to seven straight NCAA titles between 1967-73. He coached the Bruins from 1948 to 1975.
What was his winning percentage at UCLA? An astonishing 80.8% with an overall record of 620-147. Wooden finished his coaching career with a 664-162 record, winning 80.4% of his games at Indiana State and UCLA combined.
In 1966, Wooden published “Practical Modern Basketball,” which is still used by college teams and players today. In 1960, Wooden was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player. Wooden was a three-time All-America selection at Purdue. Then, in 1973, Wooden was inducted into the same Hall of Fame as a coach. Wooden was the first person to be inducted as both a player and a coach.
In 1984, Wooden was a charter member of the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame.
Wooden started his college coaching career in 1946 and spent two seasons leading the Indiana State Sycamores. Then, in 1948, he took over the UCLA program. The Bruins played in the Pacific Coast Conference, Athletic Association of Western Universities, and the Pac-8 Conference throughout Wooden’s tenure.
In four separate seasons, Wooden’s teams finished with a perfect 30-0 record. Wooden finished his coaching career on a high note, leading the Bruins to a 28-3 overall record and his final national championship in the 1974-75 season.
Wooden coached Lew Alcindor (who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Bill Walton, Gail Goodrich, Walt Hazzard, Sidney Wicks, Henry Bibby, and Jamaal Wilkes among others.
Wooden died on June 4, 2010, at 99 years old. Even in his old age, Wooden found a way to attend some UCLA games. He remained committed to his college basketball program at UCLA and to his wife, Nellie. Wooden’s lessons are still being taught today, and his impact on the game of college basketball will last forever.
