The UPI College Basketball Coach of the Year was an annual basketball award given to the best men's basketball head coach in NCAA Division I competition. The award was first given following the 1951–52 season and was discontinued following the 1995–96 season. It voted upon by over 230 sportswriters and broadcasters across the country and was presented by United Press International (UPI), a news agency in the United States that rivaled the Associated Press. UPI began to shrink in the 1990s primarily due to its ongoing financial decline, bankruptcy, and restructuring.
UCLA claimed the most all-time winners with six (all of whom were John Wooden), followed by San Francisco with three. Five additional schools claimed two winners apiece. Wooden garnered the most UPI Coach of the Year awards. Seven other coaches received the award twice: Bob Knight, Ray Meyer, Adolph Rupp, Norm Stewart, Fred Taylor, Phil Woolpert, and Ken Loeffler.
Key Coach (X) Denotes the number of times the coach has been awarded the UPI Coach of the Year Award at that point W, L, W % Total wins, total losses, win percentage Finish National postseason tournament result * Denotes national championship season
Winners
Season Coach School W L W % Finish Reference 1951–52 La Salle 25 7 1952–53 Indiana 23 3 * 1953–54 (2) La Salle 26 4 * 1954–55 San Francisco 28 1 * 1955–56 (2) San Francisco 29 0 * 1956–57 North Carolina 32 0 * 1957–58 Kansas State 22 5 1958–59 24 3 1959–60 California 28 2 1960–61 Ohio State 27 1 1961–62 (2) Ohio State 26 2 1962–63 Cincinnati 26 2 1963–64 UCLA 30 0 * 1964–65 Michigan 24 4 1965–66 (2) Kentucky 27 2 1966–67 (2) UCLA 30 0 * 1967–68 Houston 31 2 1968–69 (3) UCLA 29 1 * 1969–70 (4) UCLA 28 2 * 1970–71 Marquette 28 1 1971–72 (5) UCLA 30 0 * 1972–73 (6) UCLA 30 0 * 1973–74 Notre Dame 26 3 1974–75 Indiana 31 1 1975–76 Rutgers 31 2 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 Missouri 27 4 1982–83 UNLV 28 3 1983–84 (2) DePaul 27 3 1984–85 St. John's 31 4 1985–86 Duke 37 3 1986–87 Georgetown 29 5 1987–88 Temple 32 2 1988–89 (2) Indiana 27 8 1989–90 UConn 31 6 1990–91 Utah 30 4 1991–92 Tulane 22 9 1992–93 Vanderbilt 28 6 1993–94 (2) Missouri 28 4 1994–95 Miami (Florida) 15 13 1995–96 Purdue 26 6 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.
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