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

320. Nate James (Austin Peay) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Like several others before him, James departs the cozy comforts of the Duke bench to take over his own program, becoming one of the final branches of Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching tree. The former Duke guard, assistant, and associate head coach played internationally for five seasons before returning to his alma mater in 2008. After thirteen years with the Blue Devils, he’s going to attempt to make Austin Peay a yearly contender in the OVC.

319. Landon Bussie (Alcorn State) (Last year: 355)

• Overall record: 6-13

Bussie remains one of the youngest head coaches in the nation, with just a decade’s worth of coaching experience before Alcorn State hired him last season. He spent time on staff at Prairie View A&M and wants to replicate their success in the SWAC with these Braves. A sixth-place finish in his first season is a good start; let’s see how he fares with a full season ahead and a year of recruits in the system.

318. Takayo Siddle (UNC Wilmington) (Last year: 325)

• Overall record: 7-10

Siddle’s head coaching career began last season with UNC Wilmington, which means it’s only just getting started. He gained his coaching experience serving on the staffs of coaches Kevin Keatts and Chris Holtmann, spending the previous three seasons at NC State with Keatts. It’s actually a return for Siddle, spending three years on staff previously with the Seahawks, but It’ll take some time to get this program back to those glory days.

317. Jon Judkins (Dixie State) (Last year: 339)

• Overall record: 8-13

It’s hard to rank experienced head coaches when their programs transition to the D1 level, like Dixie State did last season. Judkins enters his seventeenth season leading the Trailblazers, having spent 12 years prior at Snow College as head coach. He led Dixie State to a ton of success at the D2 level, including eight D2 NCAA Tournaments, but it remains to be seen how this program transitions to the higher level.

316. Brette Tanner (Abilene Christian) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Tanner’s spent nearly two decades building some successful low major programs in Texas so it’s no surprise that Abilene Christian is now his program to run. He spent seven years at Stephen F. Austin before joining Joe Golding’s staff with the Wildcats eight years ago. After last season’s NCAA Tournament upset win over Texas, these are high times in Abilene; will Tanner continue that success in the coming future?

315. Speedy Claxton (Hofstra) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Claxton takes over his alma mater this season to begin his head coaching career. The former point guard played for nearly a decade in the NBA, winning a championship with the San Antonio Spurs along the way. He got into coaching by spending the last eight years on Joe Mihalich’s staff at Hofstra and now replaces him as head coach. The Pride has been great in the CAA and that bodes well for Claxton to continue that success in the near future.

314. Ron Cottrell (Houston Baptist) (Last year: 313)

• Overall record: 109-222

Cottrell has been head coach at Houston Baptist for more than three decades, leading the Huskies to a whole host of success before transitioning to Division 1 just over a decade ago. Houston Baptist has yet to have their real breakthrough, though they did make a couple postseason appearances a few seasons ago. Cottrell has coached this program well, even if the last few seasons have seen the Huskies more towards the bottom of the Southland standings.

313. Kevin Kruger (UNLV) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

It seems only fitting for Kruger to take over this season at UNLV, his first head coaching post. He played one season for the Runnin’ Rebels under father Lon, helping lead them to a Sweet Sixteen in 2007. He spent time as an assistant under his father at Oklahoma, and for the last two seasons with the Runnin’ Rebels. Now that Lon is retired, it’s Kevin’s turn to take the Kruger mantle; perhaps he can finally turn UNLV back into a winning program as his dad did.

312. Josh Schertz (Indiana State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Success at the D2 level led to Indiana State hiring Schertz this past offseason, hoping to make this team a contender in the MVC in the near future. A former assistant at High Point, his only previous D1 coaching experience, Schertz spent the last 13 years leading Lincoln Memorial. He led the talented Railsplitters to three D2 Final Fours, all of them since 2016, and is certain ready for the challenges that Indiana State will bring.

311. David McLaughlin (Dartmouth) (Last year: 311)

• Overall record: 37-76

McLaughlin landed at Dartmouth in 2016 and is still trying to dig the Big Green out of the Ivy League’s basement. He previously led Stonehill to a pair of D2 Final Fours and also spent a few seasons on staff at Northeastern. McLaughlin, like the other Ivy League coaches, won’t see much of a change to their rankings this year as the Ivy League didn’t play any basketball last season. Still, there’s clearly room for growth for Dartmouth moving forward.

310. Brian Collins (Tennessee State) (Last year: 290)

• Overall record: 31-55

Collins may be just 37, but he’s picked up a ton of relevant experience outside of his three years leading Tennessee State. He played for Rick Byrd at Belmont, spent time as a junior college head coach, and work with solid staffs at East Tennessee State and Illinois State. Unfortunately, last year was a big step backwards for the Tigers at just 4-19.

309. Dave Dickerson (South Carolina Upstate) (Last year: 310)

• Overall record: 92-148

Since USC Upstate brought him aboard in 2018, this is the second head coaching stint for Dickerson. He previously spent five less than remarkable years leading Tulane. Dickerson was on staff when Maryland won the national championship in 2002 and also helped Thad Matta build a solid program at Ohio State. However, his Spartans won just five games last season and have yet to finish higher than 7th in the Big South.

308. Greg Paulus (Niagara) (Last year: 337)

• Overall record: 21-31

It’s been a strange career for Paulus, but it’s led him to his third year leading a pretty decent Niagara program. A former Duke point guard and Syracuse quarterback, Paulus spent six years under Thad Matta at Ohio State and also had brief stints on staff at Louisville and George Washington before being promoted to head coach of the Purple Eagles in 2019. Last year’s team finished fifth in the MAAC, a definite step in the right direction.

307. Desmond Oliver (East Tennessee State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

After nearly three decades bouncing around as an assistant, it’s Oliver’s chance to run his own program, taking over this season at East Tennessee State. Among the stops, Oliver spent time at Texas A&M, Rhode Island, and Georgia for five years. His last six years were on Rick Barnes’ staff at Tennessee, building the Volunteers back into an SEC contender. Oliver takes over a program coming off a controversial coaching change, but one that can also win the SoCon again very soon.

306. Brian Katz (Sacramento State) (Last year: 294)

• Overall record: 150-232

Katz is back for another season leading Sacramento State, having taken the Hornets’ job back in 2008. He formerly had success as a junior college head coach for nearly two decades but has yet to lead the Hornets to the NCAA Tournament. Sacramento State finished 8-12 last season and hasn’t finished above 7th in the Big Sky for five years. Time might be running out for Katz to have his breakthrough with his alma mater.

305. Brian Earl (Cornell) (Last year: 303)

• Overall record: 42-73

Earl is very familiar with the Ivy League and is surely excited to get back to work this upcoming season. He played his college ball at Princeton and joined the coaching staff several years later. Princeton had been his only previous coaching stop before Cornell hired him in 2016. He led the Big Red to a few 4th place finishes in the Ivy League, though there was a bit of a step back in their most recent campaign.

304. Kim English (George Mason) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

George Mason brought English aboard this offseason, hoping to become a winning program again very soon. English was a winner at Missouri as a player, and helped big some winning programs in his coaching career. He served two-year stints as an assistant at Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee, and now undertakes his first head coaching gig. The A-10 is no easy task but English is a talented recruiter and could turn things around for the Patriots sooner than imagined.

303. Alvin Brooks (Lamar) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 54-84

A long winding coaching career has led Brooks back to Lamar, where he starred at guard more than four decades ago. Brooks was formerly head coach at Houston back in the 90’s and was on the Cougars staff for the last eleven years, including this past season’s Final Four run. In fact, Brooks has gained valuable coaching experience on staffs all over the state of Texas and should be a fantastic addition as Lamar transitions into the WAC.

302. Mike Balado (Arkansas State) (Last year: 316)

• Overall record: 51-69

Balado bounced around quite a bit as an assistant coach, with much of that experience coming in his native Florida. He’s been a high school, junior college, and collegiate assistant, serving at schools like Miami and High Point. He spent time under both Pitino’s, first at FIU and then under Rick at Louisville before Arkansas State hired him in 2017. His first four years have been okay; nothing spectacular to this point for the Red Wolves.

301. Brad Korn (Southeast Missouri State) (Last year: 348)

• Overall record: 11-16

Korn learned under coaches like Bruce Weber and Matt Painter early in life and now enters his second year as head coach at Southeast Missouri State. He played for both of those coaches at Southern Illinois before embarking on a coaching career spent partially under Weber. Korn was a Kansas State assistant for four seasons before leading the Redhawks to a 7th place finish in his first year as a head coach, a more than solid start at a struggling program.