| 1950 | 1951 | 1952 |
| Champion | Second Place | Third place | Fourth place |
| Kentucky | Kansas State | Illinois | Oklahoma A&M |
| Adolph Rupp | Jack Gardner | Harry Combes | Hank Iba |
Active coaches (10+ games)
| Rank | Coach, Current school | Yrs | W-L | Pct. | Latest | Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Trn | 1951 | All | 4 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 1 | Adolph Rupp, Kentucky | 21 | 5 | 4-0 | 12-2 | .857 | 1951 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Hank Iba, Oklahoma A&M | 22 | 4 | 2-2 | 10-3 | .769 | 1951 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Harold Olsen, Northwestern | 29 | 4 | 6-4 | .600 | 1946 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | Everett Shelton, Wyoming | 14 | 5 | 3-8 | .273 | 1949 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
|
|
Adolph Rupp becomes the first three time tournament champion and tops the list of coaches with ten appearances at a lofty .857. |
|
|
Hank Iba takes Oklahoma A&M to the Final Four for the fourth time and reaches ten games with a 10-3 record, good for second place. |
|
|
Harold Olsen returns to the active coach list by becoming the head coach at Northwestern. He brings with him the 6-4 tournament record with four Final Four appearances he earned as head coach of Ohio State through 1946. |
|