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College Basketball: Ranking the Top 10 coaching hires for 2017-18

By Daniel Benjamin

Mar 22, 2017; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers athletic director Joe Alleva introduces new basketball head coach Will Wade during a press conference at the LSU Student Union. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2017; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers athletic director Joe Alleva introduces new basketball head coach Will Wade during a press conference at the LSU Student Union. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 22, 2017; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers athletic director Joe Alleva introduces new basketball head coach Will Wade during a press conference at the LSU Student Union. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2017; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers athletic director Joe Alleva introduces new basketball head coach Will Wade during a press conference at the LSU Student Union. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

Several college basketball programs will have new head coaches for the 2017-18 season. Which programs made the best coaching hires?

At least 46 men’s college basketball programs will have changed head coaches for the upcoming season. While the number of new coaches for the upcoming season is astounding, it is short of the number of new coaches in 2016. Last year, there were 52 new coaching hires.

Thad Matta was the last coach to leave the profession this offseason. Matta, who had three years left on his contract, was released from his duties by Ohio State on June 5. The 49-year old won 20 games or more in 12 of his 13 years with the Buckeyes, the lone exception being in 2016-17. He went 337-123 at OSU and has a 439-154 overall record as a head coach.

Ohio State hired Butler’s Chris Holtmann to replace Matta on June 8. Butler found their man to replace Holtmann in Milwaukee’s LaVall Jordan on June 13. Now, Milwaukee is the program looking for a new coach.

This year there will be eight new head coaches in the Power Five Conferences, which is the same number as in 2016. Furthermore, 21 of the new head coaches have never been a D-I head coach before, and 15 of the coaches have no previous head coaching experience at the collegiate level.

Additionally, Furman’s Bob Richey has one game of head coaching experience as he served as the Paladins’ interim coach last season. Richey, who replaced Niko Medved, coached the Paladins in their loss to Saint Peter’s in the semifinals of the College Basketball Insider’s Tournament. Medved is now the head coach at Drake.

There is currently one coach who will likely start the season as an interim coach. Morris Scott has the interim tag designation at Southern University. Scott replaced Roman Banks, who stepped down to become the school’s full-time athletic director. Banks served as the Jaguars interim AD the last two years.

Here are the top coaching hires of the 2017-18 college basketball season.

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