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NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 357 D-I head coaches for 2020-21 season

By Joey Loose

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - FEBRUARY 09: Head coach Tony Bennett of the Virginia Cavaliers greets head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils before the start of a game at John Paul Jones Arena on February 9, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - FEBRUARY 09: Head coach Tony Bennett of the Virginia Cavaliers greets head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils before the start of a game at John Paul Jones Arena on February 9, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /
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LEXINGTON, VA – JANUARY 10: Head coach Bob Richey of the Furman Paladins (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, VA – JANUARY 10: Head coach Bob Richey of the Furman Paladins (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

110. Russ Turner (UC Irvine) (Last year: 104)

  • Overall record: 209-139

After coaching under Mike Montgomery at Stanford and with the Golden State Warriors, Turner took over his own program in 2010 with the Anteaters. He has transformed UC Irvine into the top program in the Big West, finishing in the top 2 in seven straight seasons, with a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. Their upset win over Kansas State in 2019 stands out, and even with a weaker team still manage to win the Big West in 2020.

109. Jerod Haase (Stanford) (Last year: 107)

  • Overall record: 148-114

Haase got his start playing and coaching under Roy Williams and has done solid work running his own programs. He spent four seasons leading UAB, taking them to the NCAA Tournament and an upset win over 3-seed Iowa State back in 2015. Stanford came calling and his first four years with the Cardinal have been acceptable, though he’s still trying to lead the program back to postseason glory.

108. Pat Kelsey (Winthrop) (Last year: 127)

  • Overall record: 163-93

Kelsey is a brilliant young coach mind, who learned under great minds like Skip Prosser and Sean Miller early on in his career. He’s made Winthrop the premier team in the Big South, winning 67% of conference games and winning a pair of conference titles. This past season, his Eagles won 24 games and could’ve done more damage had the NCAA Tournament not been canceled. Kelsey is trending upwards and could find his way to a more prominent program in the coming years.

107. Jerry Stackhouse (Vanderbilt) (Last year: 101)

  • Overall record: 11-21

Stackhouse began his collegiate coaching career last season with Vanderbilt after a long playing career in the NBA. Vanderbilt finished in last place in the SEC again, but at least made some progress and won a few games in conference play. If Stackhouse can recruit at a high level, he can start turning things around, albeit a tough task in today’s jam-packed SEC.

106. Mike Davis (Detroit) (Last year: 85)

  • Overall record: 371-284
  • Final Four in 2002

Davis has had quite the coaching career, succeeding Bob Knight at Indiana, coaching at UAB and Texas Southern before landing with the Titans in 2018. He transformed Texas Southern into the best program in the SWAC but is struggling with Detroit and is just 19-43 to this point. His son Antoine is starring for the Titans but the result has not been a winning program.

105. Herb Sendek (Santa Clara) (Last year: 103)

  • Overall record: 477-359

Sendek spent nearly a decade each at NC State and Arizona State but winning consistently at Santa Clara may be the toughest challenge of his career. This past season, his Broncos won 20 games despite finishing just 7th in a talented WCC. Sendek has led eight teams to the NCAA Tournament but it’s going to take quite an effort to accomplish that in this tough conference, although things are definitely trending in the right direction at Santa Clara.

104. Kyle Keller (Stephen F. Austin) (Last year: 137)

  • Overall record: 88-41

Keller took over Stephen F. Austin after long stints in the Big 12 and SEC, on the staffs of schools like Texas and Texas A&M. Brad Underwood left the program in solid shape and Keller has only built on that. While his success has been dampened by the Lumberjack’s recent allegations, but his team was 28-3 and upset #1 this season, about as good a season as any Southland program could imagine. It’s a shame he couldn’t lead them back to the NCAA Tournament.

103. Bob Richey (Furman) (Last year: 109)

  • Overall record: 73-25

Richey took over at Furman just three years ago and the results have been stellar. While he’s yet to get the Paladins into the NCAA Tournament, he did lead them a top 25 ranking for the first time and is a fantastic 41-13 in SoCon play. Furman’s time in the spotlight is coming and Richey’s hard work could lead him into the national spotlight one day soon.

102. John Groce (Akron) (Last year: 102)

  • Overall record: 235-172

Though Groce faltered in five years leading Illinois, he’s back in the MAC with Akron. He led Ohio to the Sweet Sixteen in 2012 and it took just three years for him to lead the Zips to a MAC regular-season title. Groce seems to excel at the mid-major level and it’ll be interesting to see if he can lead Akron to a similar level of success as his Bobcats earlier in the decade.

101. Darrin Horn (Northern Kentucky) (Last year: 100)

  • Overall record: 194-120

A former head coach at Western Kentucky and South Carolina, Horn finally returned as head coach with the Norse this season and the results were pretty good. He inherited a Northern Kentucky team in fantastic shape and led them to the Horizon League Tournament title in his first year, even while filling some major holes on the roster. He took Western Kentucky to the Sweet Sixteen in 2008; could he bring this talented Norse program to a similar summit?

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