“The athletic director called and said he’d be in town and wanted to have dinner with me and (wife) Jamie,” Nagy said.
“I thought he’d hired someone already. I didn’t know. This was before the Internet and cell phones. Jamie and I drove to meet him, and I thought he was going to tell me why he couldn’t hire me. But he offered us the job right there.”
The stunned Nagy accepted. But he was right to have had low expectations.
“I wasn’t even their first choice. They offered it to someone else, and he didn’t take it. They weren’t crazy about the other (candidates), so they came around to me,” he said.
Nagy proved to be a home-run hire for SDSU — and for Wright State eight years ago.
The 57-year-old Abilene, Texas, native enters the season with a 559-318 record and is 18th among all active Division-I coaches in victories.
Coastal Carolina’s Cliff Ellis is first with an 828-560 record in 45 years at four schools.
Nagy is 93rd on the all-time NCAA win list. And he could make a big jump this season since he’s put together perhaps his best team yet.
Mike Krzyewski is first after retiring in 2022 with a 1,202-368 record.
Nagy’s .637 winning percentage is 44th among current D-I coaches.
“I don’t feel like I have a win. I didn’t make one basket in any of those games,” he said.
He may not have contributed on the floor, but he’s found success over 28 years by emphasizing defense, rebounding and free-flowing offense.
That last facet worked exceedingly well when he was just getting started.
The Jackrabbits were 19-12, 19-8 and 17-10 in the three years before he took over.
They went 24-5, 25-5 and 26-3 in his first three years.
“When I went back there, the players I’d recruited were juniors and seniors. I had a good relationship with those guys. It was a good situation,” he said.
“The older kids knew me and were glad I was back and trusted me. The guy before me was a Dick Bennett disciple — (wanting) a very slow game in the 50s. I did just the opposite.”
South Dakota State averaged 88.6, 87.4 and 87.8 points in those three years.
“I had a point guard who was one of the best players I’ve ever had — Division II or Division I. He was tremendous,” Nagy said of Jermaine Showers.
“I turned him loose. I just said, ‘Go.’ He was a racehorse that they turned into a mudder. I turned him back into a racehorse.”
He added with a chuckle: “We played fast. We were called the Jackrabbits. You’ve got to play fast, don’t you?”
Nagy went 410-240 over 21 years at SDSU, helping the program in its transition from D-II to D-I. He reached the postseason each of his last five years, including three NCAA tourney trips.
Wright State wanted to make more of an investment in basketball and lured him away with a $500,000 annual contract. And he’s delivered.
But if he’d listen to his father and mentor, the late Dick Nagy, he wouldn’t have waited so long to leave South Dakota State.
“My dad said, ‘You have to get out of there,’” Nagy recalled, meaning he needed to parlay that 75-13 start into a plush job.
“He goes, ‘You’re not going to make any more friends. You have to get out of there.’”
Nagy laughed when he recalled those words.
He may have stayed longer than his dad would have wanted, but his career has worked out just fine.
All-time winningest coaches
Name Yrs Last School Last year Wins
1. Mike Krzyzewski 47 Duke 2022 1,202
2. Jim Boeheim 47 Syracuse 2023 1,014
3. Bob Huggins 41 West Virginia 2023 935
4. Jim Calhoun 44 St. Joseph’s (Conn.) 2022 920
5. Roy Williams 33 North Carolina 2021 903
6. Bob Knight 42 Texas Tech 2008 902
7. Dean Smith 36 North Carolina 1997 879
8. Adolph Rupp 41 Kentucky 1972 876
9. Jim Phelan 49 Mount St. Mary’s 2003 830
10. Cliff Ellis 45 Coastal Carolina 2023* 828
*Active
All-time winningest active coaches
Name Yrs Current school Wins
1. Cliff Ellis 45 Coastal Carolina 828
2. John Calipari 31 Kentucky 790
3. Bill Self 30 Kansas 787
4. Rick Barnes 36 Tennessee 779
5. Kelvin Sampson 31 Houston 732
6. Dana Altman 34 Oregon 731
7. Jim Larranaga 39 Miami 725
8. Rick Pitino 35 St. John’s 711
9. Mark Few 24 Gonzaga 688
10. Greg Kampe 39 Oakland 675
18. Scott Nagy 28 Wright State 559
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