Fascinating and Obscure Basketball Trivia Quiz

Answer: Xavier

Xavier had 28 Tournament wins without a Final Four appearance. NYU, Bradley, and Stanford have each made it to two NCAA Final Fours. The Alabama Crimson Tide had 23 Tournament wins without a Final Four appearance, and the same goes for Tennessee Volunteers.

Missouri and Boston College had each won 22 games in the NCAA Tournament, without ever having made it to the Final Four. Oklahoma University has the most Tournament wins with 41, without ever winning a Championship. Texas has the most wins at 34, without ever making it to the Championship game. BYU holds the dubious distinction of the most Tournament appearances without a Final Four (30).

Answer: Joe Bryant and Kobe Bryant

Joe Bryant was the father of Kobe Bryant and played 4 seasons (1975-1979) with the Philadelphia 76ers, 3 seasons after that with the San Diego Clippers and then ending his playing career with the Houston Rockets in 1983. Joe came close to playing on a championship team in 1977 when the 76ers played the Portland Trailblazers, but lost 4 games to 2. Kobe of course won 5 championships playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Guokases were the first father-son players to both have championships. Matt Guokas Sr. won a championship in 1947 with the Philadelphia Warriors, and Matt Guokas Jt. won in 1967 with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Rick and Brent Barry are the second father/son duo to win an NBA championship as players. Rick won in 1975 with the San Francisco Warriors while Brent won in 2005 with the San Antonio Spurs. Rick also had sons Drew and Jon who played in the NBA but never for a championship team.

Bill Walton won twice with two different teams, the 1977 Portland Trailblazers (the team that prevented Joe Bryant from winning!), and the 1986 Boston Celtics. Luke won with the 2009 L.A. Lakers.

Answer: UConn

The year was 2004 when UConn made history as their men's and women's basketball teams both won the NCAA Championship. The men's team had begun that season as the top-ranked team in the country, and when the tournament arrived, they were the #2 seed. Coach Jim Calhoun led them to the Championship along with star players Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon.

The UConn women that year were also the #2 seed going into the tournament as coach Geno Auriemma and 3-time All-American Diana Taurasi saw that they prevailed.

Answer: They have all also had NCAA football championship teams

The University of California and Stanford might also be awarded this distinction. However, they won their football championships prior to 1950 when there was no real consensus as to the ranking because there were as many as fifteen organizations doing their own rankings. Ohio State has won or shared several football titles and also won the NCAA basketball tournament in 1960. UCLA shared the football title in 1954 with Ohio State and of course won a plethora of basketball championships under the leadership of legendary coach John Wooden.

Michigan State won the 1952 football title and famously won the 1979 basketball title in the Larry Bird/Magic Johnson game. Arkansas shared the 1964 football title with Alabama and Notre Dame and won the 1994 basketball championship outright. Florida became the first school to win both sports championships in the same year: 2006. Maryland and Syracuse of the ACC have each one a football and basketball championship Michigan shared or won outright several football championships as well as a1989 basketball championship.

Answer: Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Elvin Hayes, Kevin Garnett

Oscar Robertson was a 12-time All-Star from 1961-1972, but didn't win an NBA Championship until 1971. So he spent those first 10 All-Star appearances without an NBA crown. Over the course of years very similar to Robertson's, Jerry West was an All-Star from 1961 to 1974, but didn't win the NBA championship until 1972. Elvin Hayes was a 12 time All-Star from 1969 to 1980, but his championship ring didn't come until 1978, 10 NBA seasons after his first All-Star appearance. And Kevin Garnett was a 15 time All-Star (1997, 1998, 2000-2011), but didn't win his championship until 2008.

Answer: Allen Iverson and Shaquille O'Neal

Prior to the NBA/ABA merger that record of Lin's would have been much less compared to the rookie seasons of NBA greats like Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elvin Hayes, etc. but, in terms of the post 1976 timeline, those players mighty feats don't count in this question's perspective. Lin scored 109 points in his first four games as a starter and 136 points in his first five games as a starter.

He averaged 27.3 points per game in his first four games as a starter. Iverson had scored 25.3 points per game in his first four games as a starter, scoring a total 109 points.

In Shaquille's first five games as a started he scored 129 points.

Answer: Dolph Schayes

Dolph Schayes was head coach of the Buffalo Braves back in 1971. He was promptly fired after the opening game of the 1971-72 season. Team owner Paul Snyder replaced him with Johnny McCarthy, the team's head scout. Westphal, Brown, and Shue are among the other NBA coaches who were fired after seven or fewer games.

Answer: Tom Izzo and Fred Taylor

Tom Izzo has been Michigan State's head coach since 1995 and he took those Wolverines to the Final Four in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2019. Fred Taylor became Ohio State's head basketball coach in 1959, wining the NCAA championship a year later. The following two years they were upset in the Final by Cincinnati. His fourth Final Four appearance was in 1968.

John Wooden started coaching in 1946 and didn't reach a Final Four until 1962. Bobby Knight reached the Final Four eight years into his start as a coach. Dean Smith had three Final Fours within his first ten years, but didn't get the fourth one til his 11th year. Adolph Rupp didn't make a Final Four coaching appearance until 12 years into his career, and Mike Krzyzewski didn't make the Final Four until 11 years into coaching. Roy Williams "only" made 3 Final Four appearances in his first 10 years as a head coach.

Answer: Bob Cousy and Dolph Schayes

Bob Cousy and Dolph Schayes played together on the same East All-Stars team 11 times back in the 1950s and 1960s. Cousy was a guard for the Boston Celtics, and Dolph Schayes played forward for the Philadelphia 76ers. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan would actually continue onward to be teammates in 15 NBA All-Star games, representing the Western Conference.

They played together in 1998, and in 2000 through 2011, and then again in 2013 and 2015.

Answer: Bobby Knight, Joe B. Hall, Dean Smith, Billy Donovan, Don Haskins

Bobby Knight == played on the 1960 Ohio State Championship, and then famously coached Indiana to three National Championships.
Joe B. Hall == played in the 1948 Final Four for Kentucky and then coached that school to the Championship in 1978.
Dean Smith == played in the 1952 Final Four for Kansas and coached North Carolina to the Championship in 1982 and 1993.
Billy Donovan == played in the 1987 Final Four for Providence and coached Florida in back-to-back Championships in 2006 and 2007.
Don Haskins == played in the 1951 Final Four for Oklahoma A&M, and in 1966 coached Texas Western to an upset win over Kentucky for the Championship.

It should also mentioned that Steve Fisher played for Illinois State in the Division II Final Four and then coached Michigan to a Division I Championship in 1989. And Roy Williams was a player at North Carolina in 1968 and 1969 but was on the J.V. squad when the Tar Heels went to the Final Four those years.
None of the other coaches mentioned made it to the Final Four as a college player.
JV = junior varsity.