NCAA Championship Represents Different Career Defining Coaching Moments

By DENNIS CHAMBERS

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The NCAA championship game on Monday night at University of Phoenix Stadium is the final game of the college basketball season and represents a very different set of opportunities for coaches Roy Williams and Mark Few.

For Williams, this chance at being crowned national champion will be his sixth, and a year ago was his fifth. The Hall of Fame coach owns two national titles to his name, and should he win Monday he’ll become the sixth coach in college basketball history to capture three championships. That group includes John Wooden (10), Mike Krzyzewski (5), Adolph Rupp (4), Jim Calhoun (3) and Bob Knight (3).

Few’s opportunity represents essentially the exact opposite of Williams’. The man who built Gonzaga into the NCAA Tournament mainstay that they are recognized as today will patrol the sidelines in Glendale Monday night as a national championship game neophyte. Despite making the Big Dance every season during his 18-year coaching tenure at Gonzaga, Few is entering unchartered waters.