Ex-Cal Star Shantay Legans Ranks Among Top Players of NCAA Tournament Coaches

Eastern Washington head coach Shantay Legans might not yet rank as high as Kansas' Bill Self on a poll of top college coaches, but the former Cal standout ranks higher than Self when it comes to his playing days.

ESPN undertook the task of ranking all 68 head coaches in the NCAA tournament in terms of their ability in their playing days. And although Self ranks pretty high on the list as a player, he is not quite as high as the coach of the team Kansas will play in the first round -- Legans.

Self, who played at Oklahoma State, ranks No. 22 on ESPN's list, while Legans is way up there at No. 12, ahead on some big names, including Jim Boeheim, who was a backcourt mate of Dave Bing at Syracuse.

Legans is one of three members of Cal's 2002 team that are ranked on this ESPN list.

(In case you are wondering, Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing, a terror as the Hoyas' center in the early 1980's, ranks No. 1 on this list, and Michigan's Juwan Howard, a member of the Fab Five in 1991, ranks No. 2.)

Here is what ESPN said about Legans as a player:

12. Shantay Legans, Eastern Washington Eagles -- Legans started four years at the Division I level for Cal (1999-2002) and Fresno State (2003-04), putting up career totals of 1,294 points, 548 assists and 172 steals as a collegiate point guard. Legans played in a pair of NCAA tournaments with the Golden Bears, where he was a teammate of Dennis Gates (see above), but his finest statistical season came as a senior with the Bulldogs. Legans averaged 15 points and 5.6 assists during the 2003-04 season with FSU. Legans played professionally in the Netherlands before beginning his career in coaching.

Yes, Legans played his final season of college ball at Fresno State, which is where he graduated, but we still consider him a Golden Bear. Legans was a three-year starter at Cal, and in 2002, he averaged 8.1 points and 3.8 assists on a 23-9 team that finished second in the Pac-10 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Also on that same Cal team was current Cleveland State coach Dennis Gates, who is ranked in the top 30 on this subjective ESPN player list. On the Cal coaching staff in that 2002 season was Joe Pasternack, a Cal assistant coach under Ben Braun from 2001 to 2007 and now the head coach at UC Santa Barbara, which is in the NCAA tournament field. Pasternack did not get a very high ESPN ranking as a player, though.

27. Dennis Gates, Cleveland State Vikings

-- Gates played four seasons at Cal (1998-2002) under Ben Braun, appearing in 114 games (34 starts) at guard including a pair of NCAA tournaments. Gates averaged 3.8 points per game for his collegiate career and was a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic choice.

64. Joe Pasternack, UC Santa Barbara Gauchos

-- Pasternack played varsity basketball for four years at Metairie Park Country Day School in New Orleans but did not play college basketball. Pasternack was a student manager at Indiana in the latter stages of the Bob Knight era, graduating from IU in 1999.

Oregon State may be the least likely of the five Pac-12 teams to win a first-round game, but Beavers' coach Wayne Tinkle ranks the highest of the five in terms of his playing skills and is among the top 10 in this august group of NCAA coaches/players.

60. Mick Cronin, UCLA Bruins

-- Despite his diminutive stature (5-foot-7), Cronin was a good high school point guard under his father, Hep, at Cincinnati's La Salle High. A knee injury was a factor in Cronin's career ending before he reached college at Cincinnati.

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49. Dana Altman, Oregon Ducks --

Altman was a guard and captain at Fairbury Junior College in Nebraska (now known as Southeast Community College) from 1976 to 1978 before transferring to Division II Eastern New Mexico University. Altman has described himself as a "poor player" for the Greyhounds, but he did graduate magna cum laude from the school in 1980.

Check out the photo of Altman as a player on the ESPN.com site.

37. Andy Enfield, USC Trojans

-- Enfield was a Division III All-American at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, where he still holds the school's career scoring record (2,025 points) and also played in a pair of NCAA tournaments. Enfield was particularly legendary at the line -- he graduated holding the NCAA's all-divisions career free throw percentage record (92.5, hitting 431 of 466 shots).

32. Tad Boyle, Colorado Buffaloes

-- Boyle was primarily a reserve guard for four years at Kansas under Ted Owens then Larry Brown, playing on NCAA tournament teams in 1984 and 1985 and serving as a captain during his senior year. Two of Boyle's teammates on the 1985 KU team -- Mark Turgeon (currently at Maryland) and Danny Manning (formerly at Wake Forest) -- would join him in the Division I head-coaching ranks.

8. Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State Beavers

-- Tinkle starred at Montana from 1986-89, earning All-Big Sky honors as a forward over his final three seasons in Missoula. He continues to rank in the Griz top 10 in points (1,500) and rebounds (836). Tinkle played professionally for 12 years, including time in the CBA and Europe, and went to training camp with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Cover photo of Shantay Legans courtesy of Cal Athletics

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