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San Diego State’s Dutcher took an extra-long route — starting at Illinois — to the Final Four

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher after winning the South Region of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Few, if any, coaches in Final Four history paid their dues longer than San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher.

As many NCAA Tournament watchers have heard over the last couple of weeks, Dutcher, 63, didn’t become a head coach until deep into his career; he was 57 when SDSU finally promoted him. Before that, he was an assistant to Steve Fisher for 27 years, nine of them at Michigan — where he recruited the heck out of the “Fab Five” — and 18 with the Aztecs.