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 (AP). 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.

Key Coach (X) Denotes the number of times the coach has been awarded the AP Coach of the Year Award at that point † Co-Coaches of the Year W, L, W % Total wins, total losses, win percentage Finish National postseason tournament result * Denotes national championship season

Winners

+ Men Season Coach School W L W % Finish Reference 1966–67 UCLA 30 0 * 1967–68 Houston 31 2 1968–69 (2) UCLA 29 1 * 1969–70 (3) UCLA 28 2 * 1970–71 Marquette 28 1 1971–72 (4) UCLA 30 0 * 1972–73 (5) UCLA 30 0 * 1973–74 NC State 30 1 * 1974–75 Indiana 31 1 1975–76 (2) Indiana 32 0 * 1976–77 29 2 1977–78 Arkansas 32 4 1978–79 Indiana State 33 1 1979–80 DePaul 26 2 1980–81 Oregon State 26 2 1981–82 (2) Oregon State 25 5 1982–83 (2) Houston 31 3 1983–84 (2) DePaul 27 3 1984–85 Michigan 26 4 1985–86 (2) Kentucky 32 4 1986–87 Iowa 30 5 1987–88 Temple 32 2 1988–89 (3) Indiana 27 8 1989–90 UConn 31 6 1990–91 Ohio State 27 4 1991–92 Kansas 27 5 1992–93 Vanderbilt 28 6 1993–94 Missouri 28 4 1994–95 Oklahoma 23 9 1995–96 Purdue 26 6 1996–97 Minnesota 31 4 1997–98 Michigan State 22 8 1998–99 Auburn 29 4 1999–00 Iowa State 32 5 2000–01 North Carolina 26 7 2001–02 Pittsburgh 29 6 2002–03 Kentucky 32 4 2003–04 Saint Joseph’s 30 2 2004–05 Illinois 37 2 2005–06 (2) North Carolina 23 8 2006–07 Washington State 26 8 2007–08 Drake 28 5 2008–09 Kansas 27 8 2009–10 Syracuse 30 5 2010–11 Notre Dame 27 7 2011–12 Missouri 30 5 2012–13 Miami (Florida) 29 7 2013–14 Wichita State 35 1 2014–15 Kentucky 38 1 2015–16 (2) Kansas 33 5 2016–17 Gonzaga 37 2 2017–18 (2) Virginia 31 3 2018–19 Texas Tech 31 7 2019–20 Dayton 29 2 2020–21 Michigan 23 5 2021–22 Arizona 33 4 2022–23 Marquette 29 7 2023–24 (2) Houston 32 5 2024–25† Auburn 32 6 St. John's 31 5 2025–26 Nebraska 28 7 + Women Season Coach School W L W % Finish Reference 1966–67 No award 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 UConn 35 0 * 1995–96 Iowa 27 4 1996–97 (2) 33 1 1997–98 Tennessee 39 0 * 1998–99 Purdue 34 1 * 1999–00 (3) UConn 36 1 * 2000–01 Notre Dame 34 2 * 2001–02 22 8 2002–03 (4) UConn 37 1 * 2003–04 28 4 2004–05 Michigan State 33 4 2005–06 North Carolina 34 4 2006–07 32 2 2007–08 (5) UConn 36 2 2008–09 (6) UConn 39 0 * 2009–10 Nebraska 32 2 2010–11† (7) UConn 36 2 28 5 Stanford 33 3 2011–12 Baylor 40 0 * 2012–13 (2) Notre Dame 35 2 2013–14 (3) Notre Dame 37 1 2014–15 Florida State 32 5 2015–16 (8) UConn 38 0 * 2016–17 (9) UConn 36 1 2017–18 (4) Notre Dame 35 3 * 2018–19 (2) Baylor 37 1 * 2019–20 South Carolina 32 1 2020–21 (2) Maryland 26 3 2021–22 (3) LSU 26 6 2022–23 Indiana 28 4 2023–24 (2) South Carolina 38 0 * 2024–25 UCLA 34 3 2025–26 Vanderbilt 29 5 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 (when there were still 32 participating teams) 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 (15–3 conference) retroactively forfeited 18 wins and vacated 2 games for using an ineligible player. Clem Haskins' selection was later vacated (along with that season's win total and all other accolades) 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.

See also AP College Basketball Player of the Year

References