Top men's basketball coaches in Nevada Wolf Pack history

On the basis of record alone (79-74) Trent Johnson doesn't belong on any list of great Pack coaches. His winning percentage of .516, after all, is just 10th among the 12 coaches in Pack history who have won more than 25 games. Johnson also won just one conference title (Western Athletic Conference in 2003-04) and had three winning seasons overall and just two in league play. But Trent Johnson is the coach that taught the Wolf Pack how to win on a national level and Trent Johnson is the man who showed Nevada how to build a NCAA Tournament-worthy program. His influence at Nevada is still felt to this day with David Carter, one of his assistants along with Mark Fox, at the top of the Pack program. Johnson became the first Pack coach in history to win a tournament game when he beat Michigan State on March 18, 2004. And then he did it again two days later against Gonzaga as the Pack reached the Sweet 16 for the first (and only) time in school history. It was the best three-day weekend in school history and one that will never be forgotten in northern Nevada. Johnson's greatest genius was leaving the program Fox and Carter who have continued his legacy for the past nine seasons and counting. Johnson built the Pack from scratch starting in a new conference (the WAC) in 1999-00 and turned it into a NCAA Cinderella team in just five seasons.   Sonny Allen (top row, far right) is the first head coach to lead the Nevada Wolf Pack to the NCAA Tournament. He is still just one of two Pack coaches (Mark Fox is the other) to go to the NCAA Tournament more than one season. Allen's Wolf Pack didn't win a game in the NCAA Tournament but they came close both times, losing to Washington and Detlef Schrempf in 1984 in Pullman, Wash., (64-54) and to North Carolina State and Nate McMillan, Spud Webb, Cozell McQueen and Lorenzo Charles in 1985 in Albuquerque, N.M. (64-56). Allen went 114-89 in his seven seasons (1980-87) at Nevada. For a period of four seasons, from 1981 through 1985, the Pack went 75-44 under Allen with the two NCAA appearances. The Wolf Pack won the Big Sky Conference regular season title twice under Allen and two Big Sky postseason tournaments. Allen's Pack teams also went 4-2 against California. Pack teams before Allen's went 6-18 over 70 years against the Bears. Allen's Pack teams beat UNLV twice for the Pack's only two victories over their intrastate rival for a span of 28 games and 17 seasons.Jake Lawlor (top row, far left) brought the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball team its first national recognition. Lawlor's 1945-46 Pack team won a school-record 28 games -- a record that lasted until 2006-07 -- and played in the school's first national postseason competition in the NAIA Tournament in Kansas City. Lawlor won a school-record 204 games in 15 years, which is still 75 wins ahead of No. 2 (Doc Martie) on the list. Only Lawlor and Martie have been head coach at Nevada for as many as 15 seasons. Lawlor's first two teams went 47-18 combined. His 1946-47 team won in New Yrk against St. John's for the biggest win in school history at the time. The 1951-52 Pack went 19-3 under Lawlor and the 1956-57 team went 16-8 and played in the NCAA College Division Tournament. Lawlor's Wolf Pack also won three Far Western Conference titles in just six seasons in the conference. His teams from 1956-58 were the first in Pack history to win three conference championships in a row. The Wolf Pack's basketball arena is now named after Lawlor. View the list »
Doc Martie (pictured top row, left) didn't bring the Nevada Wolf Pack any recognizable national attention. He didn't win any NCAA tournament games and the average Wolf Pack probably only knows his name from the award given to the Wolf Pack's top male athlete every year that bears his name. But it was Martie who set the foundation for success for the entire Wolf Pack basketball program for future generations. Martie coached the Wolf Pack for 15 seasons -- every season from 1923-24 through 1938-39 except 1929-30 when Chester Scranton stepped in -- and led the Pack to four Far Western Conference titles. The four conference championships is still a record that has only been tied once (Mark Fox won four in the Western Athletic Conference six decades later). Martie's teams set a school record (at the time) for victories in a season with 14 twice (1931-32 and 1937-38). Those 14 wins lasted as the Pack record until the 1945-46 team won 28, the first year the team played more than 22 games. Martie's teams weren't terribly successful -- he had just seven winning years in 15 seasons -- but those were the days when recruiting and scholarships were almost unheard of. Martie's 129 career victories are still second in Wolf Pack history behind Jake Lawlor's 204. Martie took over a program that went 5-13 the year before and promptly lost seven of his first eight games as Pack coach his first season in 1923-24. The Pack, though, then won 20 of its next 25 under Martie. His Pack teams beat BYU once, Cal twice and Stanford four times.

College Sports newsletter

The Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball program has had many accomplished head coaches.

Related topics

Advertisement

Ever since the 1945-46 season, no coach has stayed fewer than four seasons at Nevada or won fewer than 43 games. The Wolf Pack has played in six different conferences before joining the Mountain West this year and won regular season titles in five of them.

Eight of the last 10 Wolf Pack head coaches -- Jake Lawlor, Jack Spencer, Jim Carey, Sonny Allen, Pat Foster, Trent Johnson, Mark Fox and David Carter -- dating back to the end of World War II have all won 20 or more games in at least one season.

Three of the last six -- Sonny Allen, Trent Johnson and Mark Fox -- took the Wolf Pack to the NCAA Tournament. Two others during that stretch -- Pat Foster and David Carter -- took a team to the NIT. And another -- Len Stevens -- had winning seasons in five of his six Wolf Pack seasons.

The Wolf Pack basketball program hit the ground running. Thanks to coaches C.E. Holloway and Silas Ross, the Pack won 31 of the first 42 games of basketball it ever played from 1913-1918. It had just one losing season among its first nine seasons.

The Pack men's basketball program beat California and Stanford more times (four times, twice each) by 1917 than the football program has beaten those two schools (three times) to this day.

Who is the best Pack basketball coach ever?

These five stand out as the top five in school history . . .

View the list
  • Doc Martie (pictured top row, left) didn't bring the Nevada Wolf Pack any recognizable national attention. He didn't win any NCAA tournament games and the average Wolf Pack probably only knows his name from the award given to the Wolf Pack's top male athlete every year that bears his name. But it was Martie who set the foundation for success for the entire Wolf Pack basketball program for future generations. Martie coached the Wolf Pack for 15 seasons -- every season from 1923-24 through 1938-39 except 1929-30 when Chester Scranton stepped in -- and led the Pack to four Far Western Conference titles. The four conference championships is still a record that has only been tied once (Mark Fox won four in the Western Athletic Conference six decades later). Martie's teams set a school record (at the time) for victories in a season with 14 twice (1931-32 and 1937-38). Those 14 wins lasted as the Pack record until the 1945-46 team won 28, the first year the team played more than 22 games. Martie's teams weren't terribly successful -- he had just seven winning years in 15 seasons -- but those were the days when recruiting and scholarships were almost unheard of. Martie's 129 career victories are still second in Wolf Pack history behind Jake Lawlor's 204. Martie took over a program that went 5-13 the year before and promptly lost seven of his first eight games as Pack coach his first season in 1923-24. The Pack, though, then won 20 of its next 25 under Martie. His Pack teams beat BYU once, Cal twice and Stanford four times.
  • Jake Lawlor (top row, far left) brought the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball team its first national recognition. Lawlor's 1945-46 Pack team won a school-record 28 games -- a record that lasted until 2006-07 -- and played in the school's first national postseason competition in the NAIA Tournament in Kansas City. Lawlor won a school-record 204 games in 15 years, which is still 75 wins ahead of No. 2 (Doc Martie) on the list. Only Lawlor and Martie have been head coach at Nevada for as many as 15 seasons. Lawlor's first two teams went 47-18 combined. His 1946-47 team won in New Yrk against St. John's for the biggest win in school history at the time. The 1951-52 Pack went 19-3 under Lawlor and the 1956-57 team went 16-8 and played in the NCAA College Division Tournament. Lawlor's Wolf Pack also won three Far Western Conference titles in just six seasons in the conference. His teams from 1956-58 were the first in Pack history to win three conference championships in a row. The Wolf Pack's basketball arena is now named after Lawlor. 
  • Sonny Allen (top row, far right) is the first head coach to lead the Nevada Wolf Pack to the NCAA Tournament. He is still just one of two Pack coaches (Mark Fox is the other) to go to the NCAA Tournament more than one season. Allen's Wolf Pack didn't win a game in the NCAA Tournament but they came close both times, losing to Washington and Detlef Schrempf in 1984 in Pullman, Wash., (64-54) and to North Carolina State and Nate McMillan, Spud Webb, Cozell McQueen and Lorenzo Charles in 1985 in Albuquerque, N.M. (64-56). Allen went 114-89 in his seven seasons (1980-87) at Nevada. For a period of four seasons, from 1981 through 1985, the Pack went 75-44 under Allen with the two NCAA appearances. The Wolf Pack won the Big Sky Conference regular season title twice under Allen and two Big Sky postseason tournaments. Allen's Pack teams also went 4-2 against California. Pack teams before Allen's went 6-18 over 70 years against the Bears. Allen's Pack teams beat UNLV twice for the Pack's only two victories over their intrastate rival for a span of 28 games and 17 seasons.
  • On the basis of record alone (79-74) Trent Johnson doesn't belong on any list of great Pack coaches. His winning percentage of .516, after all, is just 10th among the 12 coaches in Pack history who have won more than 25 games. Johnson also won just one conference title (Western Athletic Conference in 2003-04) and had three winning seasons overall and just two in league play. But Trent Johnson is the coach that taught the Wolf Pack how to win on a national level and Trent Johnson is the man who showed Nevada how to build a NCAA Tournament-worthy program. His influence at Nevada is still felt to this day with David Carter, one of his assistants along with Mark Fox, at the top of the Pack program. Johnson became the first Pack coach in history to win a tournament game when he beat Michigan State on March 18, 2004. And then he did it again two days later against Gonzaga as the Pack reached the Sweet 16 for the first (and only) time in school history. It was the best three-day weekend in school history and one that will never be forgotten in northern Nevada. Johnson's greatest genius was leaving the program Fox and Carter who have continued his legacy for the past nine seasons and counting. Johnson built the Pack from scratch starting in a new conference (the WAC) in 1999-00 and turned it into a NCAA Cinderella team in just five seasons.   
  • Mark Fox took what Trent Johnson built and carried it to the next level. The Wolf Pack under Fox was truly one of the best basketball programs in the nation. Fox owns the Pack record for NCAA Tournament seasons (three), NCAA Tournament games (five) and is tied with Johnson for most tournament wins (two). Fox's 2006-07 team owns the school record of 29 victories. Fox's Pack teams were the first (and only ones) to earn a seed of lower than 10th in the NCAA Tournament, getting a No. 9 (2005), No. 5 (2006) and No. 7 (2007). Fox also owns some of the greatest regular-season wins in Pack history, including Gonzaga in 2006-07 and Kansas in 2005-06. Fox also owns the Pack school record of five 20-win seasons. Nobody else has more than two (David Carter). Fox's Wolf Pack teams were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 polls for 34 weeks combined over three seasons (2005-07). No other Pack coach has ever had his team in the AP Top 25. Johnson's 2003-04 Pack are the only other team in school history to get ranked in the Top 25. They finished 21st in the final Coach's Poll. Fox's .741 winning percentage is No. 1 in Pack history.
View the list

, Nevada Wolf Pack Examiner

Joe Santoro is an award-winning sportswriter with over three decades of experience. Joe is the dean of Northern Nevada sports reporters and has covered University of Nevada Wolf Pack sports as a beat reporter and columnist for more than two decades. His "Friday Fodder" column is the longest...

Advertisement

Today's top buzz...