NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 353 D-I head coaches for 2019-20 season
By Joey Loose
100. Darrin Horn (Northern Kentucky) (Last year: N/A)
- Overall record: 171-111
After spending the last four years on the staff at Texas, Horn returned to head coaching at Northern Kentucky, inheriting one of the best programs in the Horizon League. He led Western Kentucky to the Sweet Sixteen in 2008 but faltered at South Carolina in four seasons. Still, his success at Kentucky mid-majors promotes that this could be the perfect marriage for NKU and Horn. Don’t be shocked to see the Norse remain the top program for as long as they stay in the Horizon.
99. Pat Chambers (Penn State) (Last year: 98)
- Overall record: 169-168
Chambers will enter his ninth season at Penn State needing to produce some results pretty quickly. In his previous experience, he led Boston University to the NCAA Tournament and also spent time on the Villanova staff. His Nittany Lions won the NIT in 2018 but that was his only season finishing higher than 10th place in the Big Ten. Chambers is probably nearing the end of his run unless he can manufacture an incredible turn on very soon.
98. Travis Ford (Saint Louis) (Last year: 106)
- Overall record: 330-276
Ford’s length head coaching career takes him into his fourth season at Saint Louis, though he’s coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He’s already turned around this Billikens program for the better. The former Eastern Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma State head coach has some success on his resume, though has won just one game in the Tournament back with the Cowboys. Ford can certainly put this team in a position for success but can he lead this team to postseason success?
97. Travis Steele (Xavier) (Last year: 160)
- Overall record: 19-16
Steele began his head coach career last season after ten years on the Xavier bench beforehand. He was left with a roster that needed some reloading and still led them to a 3rd place finish in the Big East and an NIT bid. The Musketeers look ready to bounce back in a big next season and Steele should quickly have them back in contention.
96. Steve Forbes (East Tennessee State) (Last year: 97)
- Overall record: 100-39
Forbes had great success as a junior college head coach but the progress he’s made at ETSU has been almost unparalleled. The former Wichita State assistant is averaging 25 wins a game and led the Buccaneers to the NCAA Tournament back in 2017, while coming close every season. He has quickly built a premier program for the SoCon and is another one of those rising coaches who may be poached soon by a bigger program if he keeps this up.
95. Tim Jankovich (SMU) (Last year: 87)
- Overall record: 228-159
Jankovich has seriously bounced around in his coaching career and will begin his fourth year as SMU’s head coach. He’s been an assistant at more than half a dozen power conference schools and led both North Texas and Illinois State as head coach. He was Larry Brown’s number one assistant before taking over at SMU, though he doesn’t have this program trending in the right direction, winning just 32 games these last two years after a 30-5 run in 2017. Ninth place finishes in the AAC is not what the Mustangs were hoping to achieve.
94. LaVall Jordan (Butler) (Last year: 80)
- Overall record: 48-55
Jordan is just three years deep into his head coaching career and has completed just two seasons at Butler, his alma mater. He gained coaching experienced at Iowa and Michigan and has a bright future despite a less than stellar record. Jordan was just 11-24 in his only season at Milwaukee and struggled last year with Butler. He does already have an NCAA Tournament win with the Bulldogs and the young coach should bounce back moving forward.
93. Jeff Jones (Old Dominion) (Last year: 104)
- Overall record: 497-354
Jones just led Old Dominion to the NCAA Tournament and will begin his seventh season with the program. Way back when, he spent two decades with Virginia as player, assistant, and coach, leading them to the Elite Eight way back in 1995. After parting ways, he spent 13 years leading American before Old Dominion hired him away. Last year was clearly his best season with the Monarchs, though he’s had them consistently near the top of Conference USA since his arrival.
92. Chris Collins (Northwestern) (Last year: 83)
- Overall record: 101-96
Even if the last couple of seasons haven’t gone as expected, Collins has already done the impossible in leading the Wildcats to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The long time Duke assistant and former player got his head coaching shot with Northwestern in 2013 and led them to the promised land in 2017. The former Illinois Mr. Basketball unfortunately finished in last place in the Big Ten last year. Whether or not his job is in serious jeopardy, Collins has plenty of work on his hands if he wants this team to reach a second NCAA Tournament.
91. Keith Dambrot (Duquesne) (Last year: 95)
- Overall record: 360-202
The former Akron head coach is not just an Akron native but also coached LeBron James in high school. Also a former head coach at Central Michigan, Dambrot departed Akron in 2017 and will begin his third season with Duquesne. His Dukes took a step forward last year, finishing in sixth place in the A-10, though he’s still got work to do to match the three NCAA Tournaments he made while with the Zips.