Men's Final Four: Who makes the all-time starting 5 and coach for each team?

New York Times

05-04-2025

So much for 'March Madness.'
For the first time since 2008 and only the second time ever, the men's Final Four will consist of every No. 1 seed from each regional bracket. All eyes will be on Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston as the Final Four tips off Saturday. There's no room at the inn for a men's college basketball Cinderella in San Antonio.
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All four teams are capable of winning the national championship Monday night. All four teams also have respectable histories. Duke is a five-time national champion but hasn't won since 2015. Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. Auburn and Houston are looking for their first championships this weekend.
As we prepare for the action, representatives at The Athletic decided to have some fun and choose players from each Final Four program, past and present, who would make for an all-time starting five. Scott Dochterman, Jason Jones and Damon Sayles teamed up to choose their teams and add an all-time coach for each program.
Feel free to share your starting five in the comments section.
Dochterman's starting five: C Johni Broome, F Chuck Person, F Charles Barkley, G Eddie Johnson, G Bryce Brown
Dochterman's coach: Bruce Pearl
Auburn's men's basketball history was a mile wide and an inch deep before Pearl took over 11 years ago. Now, it's a flood of greatness.
The challenge with this assignment starts with picking the five best players from the program or its best lineup. Auburn's top five players are exclusively frontcourt guys, so with this lineup, we'll try to survive a few trips up the floor before subbing out.
From the 1980s, Person is the Tigers' all-time leading scorer, and Barkley led Auburn in rebounding. Both were second-team All-Americans. Fast forward to today, where the Tigers have Broome, a consensus first-team All-American this year. These three make up my frontcourt, but let's not forget Chris Porter, who earned All-America honors in 1999, or the duo of Jabari Smith Jr. and Walker Kessler, who were second-team All-Americans in 2022.
As far as guards go, Johnson scored 1,988 points and compiled 499 assists from 1973-77. Brown is the best guard recently with 1,673 points.
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Jones' starting five: G John Mengelt, G Wesley Person, F Chuck Person, F Charles Barkley, F Chris Porter
Jones' coach: Bruce Pearl
Mengelt averaged 24.8 points for his career and had a 60-point game against rival Alabama on Feb. 14, 1970. Wesley Person was a big-time scorer, averaging 22.2 points to lead the SEC in 1993-94. His older brother, Chuck, also was a prolific scorer, averaging better than 20 points during his junior and senior seasons. He 'only' averaged 19.1 points as a sophomore.
Barkley was the SEC Player of the Year in 1984. He also led the conference in rebounding in each of his three seasons with the Tigers.
Porter was the Auburn star of the late 1990s. His high-flying game was just as popular as his signature afro. He was an All-American as a junior, but the Tigers struggled with lofty expectations during his senior campaign. He missed the last eight games over NCAA violations for accepting money to reportedly keep his mother from being evicted.
Auburn has been a competitive team since Pearl took over, and he has them in the Final Four, hence he coaches this team.
Sayles' starting five: F Charles Barkley, F Chuck Person, G John Mengelt, G Eddie Johnson, F Chris Porter
Sayles' coach: Joel Eaves
Picking an Auburn coach is a little tougher than many would assume. Pearl may seem like the obvious choice to some, but the seasoned fans of Auburn basketball will remember Eaves coaching 14 seasons and owning the best win percentage by an Auburn coach (68.1 percent). He led the Tigers to their first SEC championship in 1960 and was named SEC Coach of the Year the same season. Auburn renamed its former basketball arena after him. Additionally, let's not forget Cliff Ellis, the AP Coach of the Year in 1999.
As for the players, Barkley is easy. He was a scoring and rebounding machine in the late 1980s. He's arguably the greatest to put on an Auburn uniform, and his Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction in 2006 supports whoever argues pro in that discussion. No Auburn player scored more points than Person, and few produced SportsCenter-esque highlights like Porter, who sported one of the best afros in sports in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
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Mengelt was the second Auburn basketball player inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. (Eaves technically was the first, but he also excelled at football and baseball before finding his lane as a coach.) Johnson might have been more well-known once he found his way into the NBA, but his résumé will always have 'four-time All-SEC player' on it, and that can't be denied.
Dochterman's starting five: F/C Christian Laettner, G Jay Williams, F Shane Battier, G JJ Redick, F Grant Hill
Dochterman's coach: Mike Krzyzewski
It's almost futile to pick five Duke players when there are eight Naismith Trophy winners (soon to be nine, most likely) from 1986 onward. But considering NCAA Tournament success and regular-season records, four undisputed national players of the year stand out: Laettner, Battier, Williams and Redick.
Laettner has every possible honor, including the label of most disliked player of all time, but he hit two NCAA tournament buzzer-beaters, and he was perfect from the floor in the best game in NCAA tournament history against Kentucky. That one came down to his shot from the top of the key.
March 28, 1992: The Christian Laettner Shot.
Elite 8, Philadelphia, Duke 104 Kentucky 103 OT. pic.twitter.com/erA13TrsZI
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) March 29, 2025
Redick was a consensus player of the year, a two-time first-team All-American and the ACC's all-time scoring leader. Williams scored 2,079 points and was a first-team All-American for two seasons. Battier won the 2001 Final Four's most outstanding player award and was named three-time national defensive player of the year.
All of them have their jerseys retired. But that final spot was exhausting.
Hill, for me, edges Bobby Hurley, Elton Brand, Danny Ferry, Johnny Dawkins, Zion Williamson and Cooper Flagg. Then there's Luol Deng, Jahlil Okafor, Kyle Singler, Tyus Jones, Brandon Ingram, Art Heyman … you get the idea. Duke's second and third teams are better than nearly every team's starting lineup.
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The coach is a no-brainer.
Jones' starting five: G Jay Williams, G JJ Redick, F Grant Hill, F Carlos Boozer, C Christian Laettner
Jones' coach: Mike Krzyzewski
Duke is one of the most polarizing programs in the country. Plenty of people haven't gotten over Laettner stepping on Kentucky's Aminu Timberlake's chest in the 1992 East Regional final. Still, Laettner's list of accolades is long, including Final Four most outstanding player in 1991 and national player of the year in 1992.
Redick also has a decorated college career, including a national player of the year award. Hill's arrival helped Duke bounce back from their embarrassing loss to UNLV in the 1990 national championship game to beat UNLV in the semifinal round the following year.
Going with Boozer over Battier is no knock on Battier. Rather, I prefer a more traditional power forward. Oddly enough, Battier was a stretch four at times for the Miami Heat.
There are about 10 versions of a Duke starting five that would still be great. It's also skewed against the one-and-done era, as my starting five all spent multiple seasons on campus. Kyrie Irving has had a Hall of Fame career, but he only played in 11 games before declaring for the 2011 NBA Draft. Williamson, Ingram and Jayson Tatum were stars in their one season on campus, but it's hard to put them ahead of the legacy of those who spent more time there. It was hard to leave off Brand, who was among the stars who played multiple seasons.
As for the coach, was there any question? Maybe Jon Scheyer can earn his name into the conversation after this weekend.
Sayles' starting five: F/C Christian Laettner, G JJ Redick, F Grant Hill, G Johnny Dawkins, F Shane Battier
Sayles' coach: Mike Krzyzewski
The easy part: Coach K is the coach. End of story.
The hard part: Duke has enough talent to make three separate starting fives — maybe even four — that you can be comfortable with. I think Laettner, Reddick and Hill are the easier choices. It's the other two that I'm debating over.
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One of my earliest memories of Duke is watching Dawkins lead an offense that ran like a well-oiled machine. Before he was the head coach at Stanford and UCF, he was a Naismith player of the year and Duke's No. 2 all-time scorer with 2,556 points.
So many players who could be my fifth starter: Williams, Boozer, Hurley, Okafor, Brand, Tatum, Irving, Williamson, Flagg, Shelden Williams, Danny Ferry … I can go on. With this team, give me Battier and his versatility. He was a consensus college player of the year in 2001, but I'm a fan of his being a three-time NABC Defensive Player of the Year.
Dochterman's starting five: G Walter Clayton Jr., F Al Horford, C Joakim Noah, F Corey Brewer, G Kenny Boynton
Dochterman's coach: Billy Donovan
It's unreal that a program qualifying for its sixth Final Four and boasting consecutive NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007 did not have a first-team All-American until this year. Clayton became Florida's first and certainly deserves a spot on this list, averaging 18.1 points per game. But plenty of players who didn't receive first-team honors are just as worthy.
Noah set the NCAA Tournament single-season record with 29 blocked shots in 2006, when he was voted the Final Four's most outstanding player. The next year, Brewer collected the same award in the Gators' second NCAA championship run. Horford had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the 2007 title game. Horford, Brewer and Noah were three of the first 10 picks of the 2007 NBA Draft.
(2007) Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer at Florida. 🐊 pic.twitter.com/q2dR7A4KUX
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) November 27, 2018
The Gators have a mix of other high-level performers over the years, like SEC player of the year Scottie Wilbekin, all-time leading scorer Ronnie Williams and Neal Walk, the only Gator whose jersey is retired. But the last spot goes to guard Boynton, who scored 2,083 points and directed Florida to three Elite Eights and two SEC titles.
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Jones' starting five: G Vernon Maxwell, G Walter Clayton Jr., F Corey Brewer, F Al Horford, C Joakim Noah
Jones' coach: Billy Donovan
There wasn't an easier frontcourt to pick than the trio of Brewer, Horford and Noah, who won back-to-back championships and were all selected in the top 10 of the 2007 draft. Suddenly, Florida wasn't just a football school, as the Gators ruled college basketball for two seasons.
Maxwell left school as Florida's all-time leader in points (2,450) and steals (206) and led the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1987. Clayton's standout season leading the Gators to this year's Final Four puts him in the starting five. A championship would put him in the same company as the famed frontcourt and Donovan, my pick for all-time coach.
Sayles' starting five: F Corey Brewer, C Joaquin Noah, F Al Horford, G Walter Clayton Jr., C Neal Walk
Sayles' coach: Billy Donovan
Consider this my big lineup. I couldn't leave Walk off this list. Of all the great players to put on a Florida uniform, he's the only one to have his jersey retired. Walk wore No. 41 from 1967-69.
It was an easy decision to include the three 2007 draft picks. Horford (No. 3 pick), Brewer (No. 7) and Noah (No. 9) were so much fun to watch during their back-to-back national title run. Clayton would love to trade championship stories with them starting next week. As the only consensus first-team All-American from Florida, Clayton has established himself as a Mount Rushmore-type player for the program. A championship can put him in a new stratosphere.
Udonis Haslem, Maxwell, Williams, Boynton, among others, deserve recognition, but I'm comfortable with this starting five. As for the coach, it's hard to argue against what Donovan did. He won 72 percent of his games in 19 years in Gainesville, Fla., including 16 consecutive 20-win seasons. In addition to 68 combined wins during the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Donovan also led the Gators to a 36-3 record and a trip to the Final Four in 2014.
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Dochterman's starting five: F Elvin Hayes, C Hakeem Olajuwon, G Clyde Drexler, G Otis Birdsong, G Jamal Shead
Dochterman's coach: Guy V. Lewis
Houston might have the best history of any program without a national championship. It all started with Hayes, who still holds program records for scoring and rebounding for a single game, season and career. His 358 points in 13 NCAA Tournament games rank second to Duke's Christian Laettner, who played in 10 more NCAA games. Hayes joined Don Chaney as the first two African-American players in Cougars history, and they combined to lead Houston to an 81-12 record and two Final Fours.
Birdsong, a consensus All-American, was the Southwest Conference's player of the year in 1977. In the early 1980s, All-Americans Drexler, Olajuwon and Michael Young paced the high-flying Phi Slama Jama. That Houston crew (sans Drexler in 1984) went to three straight Final Fours and nearly won the 1983 title.
In recent years, Kelvin Sampson's teams have included All-Americans Marcus Sasser and L.J. Cryer this year, and in 2024, Shead was named the Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year. Perhaps the toughest debate is at coach, between Lewis and Sampson. But that's for another day.
Jones' starting five: G Clyde Drexler, G Otis Birdsong, G/F Louis Dunbar, F Elvin Hayes, C Hakeem Olajuwon
Jones' coach: Guy V. Lewis
Houston doesn't have a national championship, but the program has several memorable teams. The Phi Slama Jama teams lost in the NCAA Tournament finals in 1983 and 1984. The program was also part of the 'Game of the Century' that ended UCLA's winning streak at 47 games in 1968. That game featured Hayes as Houston's best player against UCLA's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Putting more than 52,000 in the Astrodome for the first college game aired in primetime wasn't just a testament to UCLA's dominance; it also showed the elite status of Hayes and the Cougars.
Drexler and Olajuwon were members of 'Texas' tallest fraternity,' as Phi Slama Jama put on a show every time it stepped on the court. The two All-Americans finally brought Houston a championship as teammates in 1995 — an NBA title with the Rockets.
The Phi Slama Jama era of @UHCougarMBK saw the Cougars advance to three straight Final Fours in 1982, 1983 and 1984 with future Naismith Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler leading the way. 🐾#MFinalFour pic.twitter.com/tBdzzbxKJ3
— NCAA Men's Final Four (@MFinalFour) April 2, 2025
Birdsong was a dominant scorer in the 1970s. Many know Dunbar as 'Sweet Lou' of the Harlem Globetrotters, but in college, he was a 6-foot-9 playmaker before someone like Magic Johnson became a household name. Dunbar averaged 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists for his career with the Cougars.
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The coach was an easy choice. Lewis coached all five players.
Sayles' starting five: F Elvin Hayes, C Hakeem Olajuwon, G Clyde Drexler, G Otis Birdsong, G Rob Williams
Sayles' coach: Guy V. Lewis
'Phi Slama Jama' still brings fear to college programs. Those Houston teams of the past had power, speed and athleticism. Olajuwon and Drexler were All-Americans.
They were a dynamic duo of the 1980s. The Cougars had another dominant duo in the '60s in Hayes and Chaney, two players who broke the color barrier for the university's basketball team and starred in the 1968 'Game of the Century' against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the UCLA Bruins. Hayes was a phenomenal player, arguably the best to put on a Houston uniform.
Birdsong was a consensus All-American in 1977 and a walking bucket. He averaged 30.3 points as a senior. Birdsong, Hayes, Olajuwon and Drexler all have their jerseys retired. But as good as Chaney was, I had to go with Williams. Williams was the Southwest Conference Player of the Year in 1981.
Choosing Lewis as the coach makes sense — but Kelvin Sampson is building his résumé. A national championship would be a major boost.