250. Jack Owens (Miami OH)
- Overall record 21-22
Having spent ten years as an assistant to Matt Painter, Owens was hired to lead Miami in 2017. He led the Redhawks to the CBI in his first season, but he has his eyes on a bigger prize. Time will tell if he can return the Redhawks to their former glory.
249. Zach Spiker (Drexel)
- Overall record 129-159
After nine years as an assistant (a few of those years under Gregg Marshall and John Beilein), Spiker took the Army job in 2009 before moving onto Drexel after seven seasons. Turning around the Dragons will take time, and his win total did rise from 9 to 13, so bigger things could be on tap for year three in Philadelphia.
248. Matt Langel (Colgate)
- Overall record 97-134
After playing for and coaching under Fran Dunphy at Penn and Temple, Langel was given his first shot to run a program when hired by Colgate in 2011. His first six years were all under .500, but last year did end with a second place finish in the Patriot League, plus a CBI bid. We’ll see if he can take the next step and win the Patriot.
247. Ryan Ridder (Bethune-Cookman)
- Overall record 22-19
At just 34 years old, Ridder has already done good work in his short head coaching career. Before being hired at Bethune-Cookman in 2017, he found NJCAA success in four years with Daytona State. The jump from that to D-I is vast, but the Wildcats did tie for first place in the MEAC in his first season.
246. Kevin McGeehan (Campbell)
- Overall record 75-98
Before being hired by Campbell in 2013, McGeehan spent nine years as an assistant coach under Chris Mooney, with his brief head coaching experience coming before that at Beaver College. He’s 71-94 after five years with a couple of postseason bids, but he too has yet to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament.
245. Mark Pope (Utah Valley)
- Overall record 58-49
After several seasons in the NBA, Pope spent six years as an assistant at Georgia, Wake Forest, and BYU before his hiring in 2015. In his first three years at Utah Valley, he’s put together a couple of CBI appearances, but has yet to dethrone New Mexico State in the WAC.
244. Russ Pennell (Central Arkansas)
- Overall record 59-108
Sean Miller’s predecessor at Arizona (on an interim basis) and Dan Majerle’s predecessor at Grand Canyon (before they became D-I), Pennell has been at Central Arkansas since 2014. He has 14 years as a power conference assistant, but he’s only 56-103 as a D-I head coach, which includes his Sweet Sixteen run with Arizona, a team he didn’t recruit or build.
243. Sean Woods (Southern)
- Overall record 128-157
Woods, who played under Rick Pitino at Kentucky, has spent nearly a decade as a D-I head coach, though his time at Morehead State ended in his termination for player abuse allegations. Between there and Mississippi Valley State, he’s 127-150 with just one NCAA First Four appearance. I won’t pass judgement on his allegations, but it’s not impossible to see him doing good things back in the SWAC.
242. Tony Jasick (Jacksonville)
- Overall record 115-124
Still a relatively young coach, Jasick spent three years as head coach of IPFW before being hired to lead Jacksonville in 2014. He’s made definite improvement at both programs, but a single CIT bid is his most impressive feat at both schools.
241. Robert Jones (Norfolk State)
- Overall record 91-88
Jones, the head coach of Norfolk State since 2013, is an impressive 91-88 during his short tenure. He’s been with Norfolk State since 2007, but despite four CIT runs in five years, he hasn’t seen the NCAA Tournament yet. Regardless, he’s doing great things in Norfolk, having never been worse than 11-5 in MEAC play.