NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 358 D-I head coaches for 2021-22 season

120. Tim Jankovich (SMU) (Last year: 120)

• Overall record: 258-176

It’s been a wild ride for Jankovich, with his coaching career taking him all over. He’s been on staff under Bill Self, Larry Brown, and several other prominent coaches. He’s been head coach at North Texas and Illinois State, leading the Redbirds to four NIT bids in five seasons. He enters year six with SMU, fresh off a 4th place finish in the AAC that was a step back in the right direction as he looks to lead the Mustangs to another NCAA Tournament appearance.

119. Jeff Boals (Ohio) (Last year: 181)

• Overall record: 89-65

Nearly three decades earlier, Boals was a player and MAC champion with the Bobcats, and now he enters his third year as head coach, hoping to build on his success. His finest days came as an assistant at Ohio State under Thad Matta before his head coaching career started with three solid years at Stony Brook. Last season, he took Ohio to a MAC championship and upset Virginia in the NCAA Tournament, securing the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in nearly a decade.

118. Mark Gottfried (Cal State Northridge) (Last year: 112)

• Overall record: 438-292

Things have not gone as well at Cal State Northridge for Gottfried. He won a national title as an assistant at UCLA and had success as head coach at Murray State, Alabama, and NC State, leading the Crimson Tide to an Elite Eight and the Wolfpack to a few Sweet Sixteen’s. His first three seasons with the Matadors have been up and down, but Gottfried is still hunting for a finish above .500.

*Trent Johnson was named interim head coach for Cal State Northridge, with Gottfried still on leave from the program. Johnson, previously head coach at Nevada, Stanford, LSU, and TCU would land right around No. 160 on this ranking, though that would clearly affect the overall number for a number of other coaches.

117. Travis DeCuire (Montana) (Last year: 118)

• Overall record: 142-84

Life has been good for DeCuire at his alma mater, taking over at Montana back in 2014. He’s a former high school and junior college coach who spent six solid years on staff at California before getting back to Montana. He’s led the Grizzlies to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and kept them near the top of the Big Sky standings on a regular basis. Last year was actually Montana’s worst since DeCuire took over, but it was still a solid enough 15-13 mark.

116. Richard Pitino (New Mexico) (Last year: 98)

• Overall record: 159-137

Things didn’t exactly work out at Minnesota, but Pitino has bounced back nicely in landing the New Mexico job. After apprenticing under Billy Donovan and also father Rick, Pitino had a successful year as head coach at FIU before leaving for Minnesota in 2013. The last eight years had varying levels of success, with a few NCAA Tournaments and an NIT title but some rough play these last two seasons. New Mexico presents a new challenge for Pitino and perhaps one he can handle in the MWC.

115. Chris Mooney (Richmond) (Last year: 132)

• Overall record: 306-243

Mooney has been entrenched at Richmond as head coach since 2005. A former player at Princeton, he was head coach at Beaver College and Air Force before taking over the Spiders, leading them to ups and downs across sixteen years. The highlight was a Sweet Sixteen run way back in 2011, but he’s yet to lead Richmond back to the NCAA Tournament since, though last year was a step in the right direction once again.

114. Casey Alexander (Belmont) (Last year: 128)

• Overall record: 189-131

Year two at Belmont was solid for Alexander, who previously spent nearly two decades playing and working under predecessor Rick Byrd. Prior to returning to the Bruins, Alexander led Stetson for two seasons before a successful six-year stint at Lipscomb, taking the Bisons to an NCAA Tournament and a deep NIT run. Alexander is 50-11 at Belmont, winning a pair of regular-season titles, plus clinching an NCAA Tournament bid in 2020 before it was cancelled.

113. Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State) (Last year: 141)

• Overall record: 72-58

It’s no surprise that Boynton broke through last season, what with top NBA Draft pick Carson Cunningham leading his Cowboys. A former South Carolina guard and assistant, Boynton succeeded Brad Underwood as head coach in 2017 and struggled initially. Last season marked his first NCAA Tournament appearance and victory, plus his first season above .500 in Big 12 play. We’ll see if he can maintain this momentum going forward, but things look much better for Boynton these days.

112. Grant McCasland (North Texas) (Last year: 160)

• Overall record: 99-63

McCasland stroke gold last season with North Texas, the latest hit in a successful coaching career. He’s been head coach at four different colleges, leading Midwestern State to a pair of D2 Elite Eight’s before joining Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor. After a 20-win season at Arkansas State, he joined North Texas in 2017, leading the Mean Green to a CBI title in 2018 and a C-USA regular-season title in 2020. This season, he led North Texas to the NCAA Tournament and a first-round upset win over Purdue, a massive step forward for this program that continues to get better.

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

• Overall record: 383-294
• Final Four in 2002

Davis is three years into his tenure with Detroit, hoping to make this stint as successful as his last three head coaching stops. In six-year stints at all schools, he led Indiana to the national title game, led UAB to a slew of postseason appearances, and took Texas Southern to four NCAA Tournaments in becoming a dominant force in the SWAC. He’s just 31-53 with the Titans and still has plenty of work to build a Horizon League contender, even with his talented son making waves already on the team.

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

• Overall record: 227-148

Under Turner’s watch, UC Irvine has become the best program in the Big West. He gained experience on staff at Wake Forest, Stanford, and with the Golden State Warriors, before taking the UC Irvine job in 2010, giving him his head coaching debut. Turner has led the Anteaters to five Big West regular-season titles (all in the last eight years), a pair of NCAA Tournaments, and that opening-round win over Kansas State in 2019. Last year’s 18-9 campaign was another good one.

109. Randy Rahe (Weber State) (Last year: 122)

• Overall record: 295-179

After bouncing around as an assistant at several schools, Rahe has really found a home with Weber State, taking his first collegiate head coaching job back in 2006. The past fifteen years have seen plenty of success for the Wildcats, with Rahe leading the program to three NCAA Tournaments and a bunch of other postseason bids. Last year, Weber State was 17-6 and finished 2nd place in the Big Sky, which was a big rebound after a rough 2020 season.

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

• Overall record: 162-127

Haase enters his sixth year at Stanford, hoping this is the moment the Cardinal breaks through in the Pac-12. He spent nearly two decades playing and coaching under Roy Williams before taking the UAB job in 2012. He led the Blazers to an NCAA Tournament upset win before taking the Stanford job and still looks to replicate that success. What he has to show for this so far are a mediocre 82-74 record and just a single NIT appearance.

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

• Overall record: 208-131

Horn is back in his element, entering his third season coaching at Northern Kentucky. Across the state, he previously spent five very solid years as head coach at Western Kentucky, leading the Hilltoppers to a Sweet Sixteen run in 2008. After flaming out at South Carolina, he got his chance when the Norse hired him two years ago. He won the Horizon League Tournament before the postseason was cancelled in 2020, though this past year’s 4th place finish is a slight step back for the Norse.

106. Ryan Odom (Utah State) (Last year: 124)

• Overall record: 105-71

After a successful start to his coaching career, Odom heads for the west, taking over a successful Utah State program this season. He’s been on staff at Virginia Tech and Charlotte and spent a year leading Leonir-Rhyne, but everyone knows Odom for leading UMBC to the first-ever opening-round upset for a 16-seed back in 2018. He led the Retrievers to an America East regular-season title this past season and looks to continue the success for the Aggies in the MWC.

105. Patrick Ewing (Georgetown) (Last year: 117)

• Overall record: 62-59

Delivering Georgetown’s title as their star in the 80’s, Ewing returned to campus as head coach back in 2017. He has spent most of the past three decades, becoming an NBA Hall of Famer while also spending time on several coaching staffs. The former No. 1 pick has struggled to make Georgetown competitive in the Big East but really thrived this past season with a surprise Big East Tournament win and long-awaited return to the NCAA Tournament.

104. Leon Rice (Boise State) (Last year: 113)

• Overall record: 217-137

Overall, Rice has done a very solid job in his coaching career, landing at Boise State back in 2010. He picked up most of his experience at Gonzaga, spending over a decade on staff as the Bulldogs became the country’s best mid-major. He led the Broncos to a pair of NCAA Tournaments very quickly and has had added a slew of NIT bids ever since. Boise State went 19-9 and finished 4th in the MWC this season, just missing out on a return trip to the Tourney.

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

• Overall record: 489-367

Time sure flies, as Sendek begins his sixth season at Santa Clara, the fourth D1 head coaching stop in his successful career. After aiding Rick Pitino at Providence and Kentucky, he had success at Miami OH as head coach, before leading NC State to five straight NCAA Tournaments. After a decent run at Arizona State, he’s arrived at Santa Clara, where his Broncos have been a middle-of-the-pack team in a tough WCC, though still looking for postseason glory.

102. Pat Kelsey (College of Charleston) (Last year: 108)

• Overall record: 186-95

Kelsey takes over this season in Charleston following a very successful run at Winthrop. A former player and assistant Xavier, Kelsey took over at Winthrop way back in 2012 and made them the most successful Big South program again. Winthrop won four Big South regular-season titles and a pair of NCAA Tournaments under Kelsey’s leadership, and he looks to make an immediate impact in the CAA with the Cougars.

101. Scott Nagy (Wright State) (Last year: 100)

• Overall record: 276-147

Nagy has been a quite successful head coach to this point in his career. He spent 21 seasons at South Dakota State, leading them to a slew of NCAA Tournaments at both the D1 and D2 level. He departed for the Wright State job in 2016, leading them to their own NCAA Tournament in his second season with the Raiders. Each of the last three seasons has ended with Wright State atop the Horizon League standings, though they’ve yet to return to the Big Dance.