Being on the bench and watching the clock tick down and experiencing that last few seconds was really a special time. 7 years after we got there we were winning the national championship. That was a lot of fun. Every coach is different. For me, it's probably eight to nine.
Some coaches are more comfortable with less, some with more.
I don't think there is an absolute answer. In 1995 at UCLA, we had seven and the eighth barely played. It depends on the coach and the team. Hello Coach Gottfried. Congrats on a wonderful season thus far.