Top 50 Active High School Basketball Coaches with the Most Wins:Freddy Johnson(Greensboro Day School) at #3 on the list, with 1,155 wins
from Kevin Askeland, at MaxPreps.com:
High school basketball: Gary McKnight of Mater Dei heads list of top 50 active coaches with most wins
Monarchs’ leader jumps into the top spot following the retirement of Oak Hill Academy’s Steve Smith at end of last season.
Gary McKnight begins his 41st year at Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and he begins it as the winningest active high school boys basketball coach in the country.
With the retirement of Steve Smith of Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) at the conclusion of the 2022 season, McKnight takes over as the coach with the most wins, coming in at 1,214 wins. He ranks No. 4 all-time behind Robert Hughes of Dunbar (Fort Worth, Texas) with 1,333 wins, Morgan Wooten of DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) with 1,274 and Smith with 1,229.
McKnight is nearly 40 wins ahead of No. 2 Richard Duease of Madison-Ridgeland Academy (Madison, Miss.), who has 1,176 wins. However, it should be noted that Duease also has 592 girls basketball wins, giving him a combined total of 1,768 wins.
Freddy Johnson of Greensboro Day School (Greensboro, N.C.) comes in at No. 3 with 1,155 wins while Charles Smith of Peabody (Alexandria, La.) comes in at No. 4 with 1,121 and Tony Harper of Cathedral (El Paso, Texas) is No. 5 with 1,103 wins.
Paul Rodio of St. Augustine Prep (Richland, N.J.) is the next in line to surpass the 1,000-win milestone. He enters the 2022-23 season with 991 wins.
MaxPreps compiled the list using a variety of sources, including coaching association websites, the NFHS record book and simply contacting the coach himself to get the totals. MaxPreps was not able to contact every coach on the list, but the ones we did contact are listed as the source. Loss totals for some coaches were not available. Totals are as of the completion of the 2021-22 season and do not include the current season. Missing anyone? Email kevinaskeland65@gmail.com.
Top 50 winningest active basketball coaches
(We have updated the overall record for Coach Freddy Johnson, from the Greensboro Day School.)
1. Gary McKnight
Current School: Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
Won-Loss: 1,214-127
Year Started: 1983
Source: school website
2. Richard Duease
Current School: Madison-Ridgeland Academy (Madison, Miss.)
Won-Loss: 1,176
Year Started: 1976
Source: coach
**********3. Freddy Johnson
Current School: Greensboro Day School (Greensboro, N.C.)
Won-Loss: 1,155-313
Year Started: 1977
Source: school**********
4. Charles Smith
Current School: Peabody (Alexandria, La.)
Won-Loss: 1,121-198
Year Started: 1985
Source: NFHS record book
5. Tony Harper
Current School: Cathedral (El Paso, Texas)
Won-Loss: 1,103-486
Year Started: 1970
Source: NFHS record book
6. Danny Broussard
Current School: St. Thomas More (Lafayette, La.)
Won-Loss: 1,074-340
Year Started: 1983
Source: NFHS record book
7. Mike LeDuc
Current School: Damien (La Verne, Calif.)
Won-Loss: 1,018-261
Year Started: 1980
Source: coach
8. Ron Insinger
Current School: Loyalsock Township (Williamsport, Pa.)
Won-Loss: 1,010-281
Year Started: 1974
Source: coach
9. Jerry Petitgoue
Current School: Cuba City (Wis.)
Won-Loss: 1,009-233
Year Started: 1963
Source: coach
10. Paul Rodio
Current School: St. Augustine Prep (Richland, N.J.)
Won-Loss: 991-254
Year Started: 1977
Source: coach
CLICK HERE to see the full/complete Top 5O List
