Court Jews

Three Jewish coaches lead hoopsters to NCAA tourney’s Final Four

Todd Golden, Bruce Pearl and Jon Scheyer secure championship bids for top March Madness seeds Florida, Auburn and Duke, along with Houston team featuring Israel-born Emanuel Sharp

By Ben Sales

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31 March 2025, 6:50 pm

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Ben Sales is a news editor at The Times of Israel

From top left clockwise: Florida head coach Todd Golden celebrates with his player after defeating Texas Tech on March 29, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP/Godofredo A. Vásquez); Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl celebrates after beating Michigan State, March 30, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP/George Walker IV); Duke head coach Jon Scheyer waves the net after Duke defeated Alabama on March 29, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP/Frank Franklin II); Emanuel Sharp shoots the ball against the Tennessee Volunteers on March 30, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images/AFP)

JTA — It’s official: The three Jewish coaches who entered the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in the US as top seeds have all made the Final Four.

The fourth men’s team has a player who was once part of Israel’s national youth squad.

And in the women’s tournament, Jewish coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s USC faces UConn Monday night, with the victor headed to the Final Four.

All three Jewish-coached men’s teams won their Elite Eight matchups over the weekend, sending them to the final stages of March Madness.

On Saturday, Todd Golden’s Florida beat Texas Tech, and Jon Scheyer’s Duke beat Alabama.

Then, on Sunday, Bruce Pearl’s Auburn beat Michigan State. That win came two days after Auburn beat the University of Michigan and its star Jewish player, Danny Wolf, in a Shabbat showdown.

Michigan center Danny Wolf shoots the ball past Auburn forward Johni Broome during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, March 28, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP/George Walker IV)

The last Final Four team, Houston, also has a Jewish connection: guard Emanuel Sharp is the son of Derrick Sharp, who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv for over a decade.

The younger Sharp was born in Israel and was part of its under-16 national basketball team.

Scheyer and Golden also played in Israel, and hold Israeli citizenship, while Pearl has taken his Auburn team on a trip there. Pearl spoke about Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander in a post-game press conference earlier in the tournament.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl during a game against the Israeli national under-20 basketball team, Malha Arena, Jerusalem, August 2, 2022 (Steven Leonard/Auburn University)

Auburn plays Florida on Saturday, April 5, guaranteeing that at least one Jewish coach will get to the championship game. Duke and Houston play on the same day.

The last Jewish coach to win the tournament was Larry Brown, who led Kansas to the title in 1988.