Coaches Survey | A Seattle Times exclusive

College basketball coaches say they'd like to see a bigger NCAA tournament. They most envy their colleague coaching at Chapel Hill, N.C. But they think the most powerful figure in the game resides just a few minutes from there.

And to a surprising degree, a good percentage would take a chance on talent over chemistry if they had a choice.

Those are some of the findings in a Seattle Times survey of 82 Division I coaches conducted recently. Participants included Tom Crean of Marquette, Mike Brey of Notre Dame, Bob Huggins of West Virginia, Lute Olson of Arizona, Tim Floyd of USC, Lorenzo Romar of Washington and Tony Bennett of Washington State.

There have been recent advocates of increasing the size of the 65-team NCAA tournament. What's your feeling on the size of the tournament?

Keep it as is: 36

Increase it to, say, 68-70 teams: 9

Increase it to 70-80 teams: 11

Double the field and add a weekend of tournament play: 25

Do you think we'll see a woman as a head coach of a Division I men's program in the next 15 years?

Yes: 22

No: 57

Among the comments from the affirmative responses: "The game is evolving, and it will happen;" "An AD will want to make a splash;" and "Who would tell Pat Summitt no?"

The dissenting opinions included: "It's a different game [men's and women's];" and "Too much at stake for an AD or president to take a chance."

On an average day of text-messaging (now banned by the NCAA), how many times might you have done it, including multiple responses to the same recruit?

Less than 5: 26

5-20: 27

20-40: 16

40-75: 10

Whom do you consider the most powerful man in the college game today?

Mike Krzyzewski: 33

Myles Brand: 20

Phil Knight: 4

Dick Vitale: 4

Sonny Vaccaro: 2

Jim Delany: 2

Rick Pitino: 2

Clearly, Coach K of Duke holds the most sway, followed by NCAA president Brand. Shoe moguls Knight and Vaccaro were recognized, as were verbose analyst Vitale; Louisville coach Pitino; and Delany, the influential Big Ten commissioner.

Rewind the clock for a moment. If you could have attended one particular game as a fan in your lifetime, which game would it have been?

Michigan State-Indiana State, 1979: 25

Duke-Kentucky, 1992: 13

Kentucky-Texas Western, 1966: 9

UCLA-Houston, 1969: 5

Georgetown-North Carolina, 1982: 5

Houston-North Carolina State, 1983: 4

Villanova-Georgetown, 1985: 3

North Carolina St.-Maryland, 1974: 3

North Carolina State-UCLA, 1974: 2

The Magic Johnson-Larry Bird matchup of 1979, the highest-rated game on television in college-hoops history, was the clear favorite. Second was the Christian Laettner buzzer-beater in the East Regional final of '92, allowing Duke to advance toward a national championship. Third was the historic meeting of victorious Texas Western's all-black starting five against Adolph Rupp's all-white Kentucky team.

Who is the best college basketball player in your lifetime? (Based only on college achievements.)

Lew Alcindor, UCLA: 20

Pete Maravich, LSU: 10

Larry Bird, Indiana State: 10

Magic Johnson, Michigan State: 7

Patrick Ewing, Georgetown: 6

Bill Walton, UCLA: 5

Michael Jordan, North Carolina: 3

David Thompson, N. Carolina State: 3

Danny Manning, Kansas: 2

Ralph Sampson, Virginia: 2

Christian Laettner, Duke: 2

If you could make one rule change related to the recruiting process, what would it be?

Allow text-messaging: 8

Allow a prospect to sign a letter of intent within a short period of time after committing to a school: 4

Allow tryouts by visiting recruits: 3

Permit unlimited evaluation days: 3

Curb summer recruiting: 3

Limit recruiting to high schools, not AAU competition: 3

This drew a vast array of answers. One coach advocated allowing schools 100 days to recruit, to use as they see fit. Some would like alterations to the heavy July recruiting period, moving some of it to months like May. One seeks an end to verbal commitments before the prospect's junior year. Two coaches want to see spring visits allowed to high-school juniors. And one backs a five-year ban on coaches committing major violations.

What do you consider the best job in the country?

North Carolina: 37

UCLA: 13

Duke: 7

Kentucky: 7

Gonzaga: 3

Texas: 2

No other destination drew more than one vote. Surprisingly, Gonzaga attracted more mention than places like Arizona, Ohio State or Florida. And Indiana got no votes.

Say you have a chance to sign a player whom you know you will have for only one season, and who can take you to a higher level than your program is now. But you know he's a selfish player who will create some internal problems on your team. Do you sign the player or pass on him?

Sign him: 32

Pass: 44

The number of coaches willing to take a chance seemed surprising. Wrote one coach, "Sign him and kick his butt!" Another said, "No — been there and done that." A third answered, "Depends on how many years are left on my contract."

In the last quarter-century — roughly since the early 1980s — whom do you consider the best collegian at these positions?

Guard

Michael Jordan: 27

Magic Johnson: 17

Chris Jackson: 6

Isiah Thomas: 4

Bobby Hurley: 3

Steve Alford: 3

Jason Kidd: 2

Mark Price: 2

Forward

Larry Bird: 17

Christian Laettner: 14

Danny Manning: 10

Kevin Durant: 5

Grant Hill: 3

Len Bias: 3

Tim Duncan: 3

Michael Jordan: 3

Pulling two votes each were Glenn Rice, Glenn Robinson and James Worthy.

Center

Patrick Ewing: 29

Tim Duncan: 8

Shaquille O'Neal: 8

Hakeem Olajuwon: 7

Ralph Sampson: 5

David Robinson: 5

Bill Walton: 3

A few of our coaches reached back into the '70s to name Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Bill Walton.

Which college coach is the best at formulating strategy?

John Beilein, Michigan: 9

Bob Knight, Texas Tech: 8

Tom Izzo, Michigan State: 6

Rick Majerus, Saint Louis: 6

Billy Donovan, Florida: 5

Ben Howland, UCLA: 4

Mike Krzyzewski, Duke: 3

Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt: 3

Bo Ryan, Wisconsin: 3

Tom Crean, Marquette: 2

Rick Pitino, Louisville: 2

Roy Williams, North Carolina: 2

Bob McKillop, Davidson: 2

Which college coach — not necessarily at a high-major school — consistently wins the most with the least talent?

John Beilein, Michigan: 9

Bob McKillop, Davidson: 7

Bob Knight, Texas Tech: 6

Dana Altman, Creighton: 5

Mark Few, Gonzaga: 5

Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois: 3

Jeff Bzdelik, Colorado: 3

Bo Ryan, Wisconsin: 3

Rick Majerus, Saint Louis: 2

Al Skinner, Boston College: 2

Stew Morrill, Utah State: 2

Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's: 2

Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt: 2

What's your take on next season's move of the three-point line a foot back to 20 feet, nine inches?

Favor: 45

Oppose: 19

Indifferent: 16

If you could have lunch, or a beer, with a living figure associated with the game, whom would it be?

John Wooden: 28

Bob Knight: 12

Dean Smith: 7

Jud Heathcote: 3

John Thompson: 3

Two votes each for Jerry Tarkanian, Pat Riley, Larry Bird and Myles Brand.