300. Mark Montgomery (Northern Illinois)
- Overall record 92-136
Having spent nine years as an assistant under Tom Izzo, Montgomery was hired by Northern Illinois in 2011 and has definitely struggled. Expectations aren’t super high in the MAC, but things have gone better after winning just 10 games in first two years. Unfortunately, they’ve never been higher than 3rd in the MAC West and that trend might not change this year either.
299. Anthony Latina (Sacred Heart)
- Overall record 59-106
After 18 years as an assistant coach (the last 8 at Sacred Heart), Latina was promoted to head coach in 2013, but hasn’t done anything impressive in his first 5 years. He’s just 55-101 and has no postseason appearances, but he’s another head coach who can’t really do much in the NEC.
298. Jeremy Ballard (Florida International)
- Overall record 7-2
A former assistant at VCU and Pitt (among other places), Ballard begins the first year of his head coaching career, tasked to rebuild a Sun Belt team that has had considerable struggles. Under .500 each of the last five seasons, FIU is at least in better shape than when Isiah Thomas was running the program, and Ballard definitely has a chance to thrive in southern Florida.
297. Todd Simon (Southern Utah)
- Overall record 32-55
Simon took the Southern Utah job in 2016 after spending five nonconsecutive years at UNLV, including a brief stint as interim head coach. He followed a 6-27 debut season with a much healthier 13-19 mark and definitely has this program trending in the right direction.
296. Shaheen Holloway (Saint Peter’s)
- Overall record 2-6
After seven years playing internationally and 11 years as an assistant under Kevin Willard, Holloway begins year one with the Peacocks, hoping to build on a program that won the CIT in 2017. He’s definitely familiar with the area, having graduated from Seton Hall before working both there and at Iona, and he’s in a great position for future success.
295. Brian Kennedy (NJIT)
- Overall record 33-38
Nephew of former DePaul coach Pat Kennedy (under whom he worked as an assistant), Brian begins his third season as the head man at NJIT, having spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant. NJIT as a whole has come a long way this past decade and Kennedy is in a position to continue that growth, though he was under .500 in each of his first two seasons.
294. Horace Broadnax (Savannah State)
- Overall record 216-323
It’s now or never for Broadnax, Savannah State had coach since 2005, for a program departing D-I at the end of the year. He also has five years’ experience as head coach of Bethune-Cookman, but Broadnax is just 213-323 without any NCAA Tournament bids.
293. Brian Fish (Montana State)
- Overall record 52-81
Fish was hired by Montana State in 2014 after an extensive assistant coaching career, including 15 years under Dana Altman at four different schools. He’s 50-75 in his first four years without any postseason bids, though that probably won’t change in year five.
292. Joe Golding (Abilene Christian)
- Overall record 71-92
Golding has led Abilene Christian since 2011, overseeing their transition to D-I. Last season, they made their first postseason appearance with a .500 season and a CIT bid. It remains to be seen if Golding can lead his alma mater to the NCAA Tournament in a Stephen F. Austin dominated Southland, but he’s trending upwards.
291. Sam Scholl (San Diego)
- Overall record 6-2
Since graduating from San Diego in 2000, Scholl had spent 18 years as a WCC assistant (10 years at San Diego and 8 at Santa Clara) before getting promoted to the top job in February 2018. He’s only just getting started, though he did lead San Diego to the CIT quarterfinals at the end of last season.