Top 5 Mondays

Our first Top 5 Monday takes us to West Point and the Army mens basketball team. The Black Knights haven't had much of a history on the hardwood - no NCAA Tournament appearances and 20+ wins in just four of their 115+ seasons - but the school has produced some great coach names.

That's the subject of this week's top 5.

5. Dino Gaudio. Gaudio started his three-school coaching career at Army and won just half of his 72 games from 1993-97, including a pair of 20-loss seasons. 

* Went 3-0 against Division III Hobart

4. Valentine Lentz. Coached from 1939-44 with two winning seasons (11-4 and 10-6) and two losing ones (5-11 and 5-10). Forward Dale Hall was a second-team All-American under Lentz in 1944.

George

Went 2-6 against Georges (Georgetown, George Washington) and named George Rebh one of the captains for the '43 season.

3. Orvis Sigler. Spent four seasons (1954-58) on the sidelines, compiling a 39-47 record. Sigler's best year - 13-12 in 1957-58 - was his last before moving on to coach nine seasons at Centenary. Only coach Orvis in Division 1 history, though not the only Orvis: guard Heath Orvis played in 17 games and averaged 1.6 points for St. John's in 1999-00.

George

Went 0-2 against George Washington

2. Elmer Ripley. Elmer coached six schools from 1927-1953, finishing up with a two-year stint at West Point where he compiled a 19-17 record. Looking over Ripley's career, which concluded with a Hall of Fame nod, I'm not sure any coach, and certainly not any other Elmers, could provide a resume such as this: Army, the Harlem Globetrotters, Georgetown, Notre Dame, the Israeli Olympic Team & the Canadian Olympic Team.

Other coaching Elmers, Division 1 history

Elmer Gross, 1949-54, Penn State. Was 80-40 in five years with the Nittany Lions, making the Final Four and losing to eventual NCAA champion LaSalle in the national semifinals in his final season. 

Elmer Capshaw, 1921-22, Colorado School of Mines. Went 8-2 in his only season.

Elmer Mitchell, 1917-19, Michigan. Second coach in the program's history (and first to coach a varsity team), went 18-6 in his two seasons.

Elmer Hoefer, 1909, Wyoming. The Cowboys went 3-3 under Hoefer.

Elmer Holm, 1933-36, Washburn. The Washburn Ichabods (!) won seven games in each of Holm's three seasons.

Elmer Lampe, 1938-46, 46-47, Georgia; Dartmouth 1946-47, 47-50. According to College Basketball Reference, Lampe somehow coached at both Georgia and Dartmouth during the 1946-47 season, which makes him by far the most talented Elmer in college basketball history.

1. Ernest Blood. A Naismith Hall of Famer for his legendary teams at Passaic (NJ) High School and his overall high school career, Blood coached just one season at West Point, going 11-6 during the 1925-26 season. Also, his nickname was "Pop". Ernest Pop Blood! That's our No. 1.

George

Went 1-0 against Georgetown