NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 358 D-I head coaches for 2021-22 season
By Joey Loose
220. Preston Spradlin (Morehead State) (Last year: 279)
- Overall record: 69-77
A former operations director at Kentucky, Spradlin’s entire coaching career has come at Morehead State and it’s starting to pay off. He was named interim head coach in 2016 when Sean Woods was forced out of the program, though his first few full seasons were not that great. This past year, he led the Eagles to a 23-8 record and their first NCAA Tournament trip in a decade by winning the OVC Tournament.
219. Pat Skerry (Towson) (Last year: 198)
- Overall record: 147-164
Skerry enters his eleventh season leading Towson and has done remarkably solid work rebuilding this Tigers program. Himself a former assistant at Rhode Island, Providence, Pittsburgh (and other schools), he won just a single game in his first season with the Tigers but has had a winning season nearly every year since. Last year’s 4-14 mark is clearly a step backward, but forgivable in a pandemic-altered season.
218. Bashir Mason (Wagner) (Last year: 242)
- Overall record: 144-124
Mason played point guard at Drexel before beginning his coaching career on the Marist staff. He’s spent the rest of his career at Wagner, with two years under Dan Hurley before becoming head coach in 2012. He’s led the Seahawks to three NEC regular-season titles but has yet to push this program into the NCAA Tournament. After a few struggling years, Wagner was back atop the conference last year.
217. Edward Joyner (Hampton) (Last year: 218)
- Overall record: 196-190
Hampton basketball has been all about Joyner for over a decade and he’s done great things for the Pirates. A former player and assistant at D2 Johnson C. Smith, Joyner joined the Hampton staff in 2006, becoming head coach three seasons later. Joyner has led the Pirates to three NCAA Tournaments and a slew of other postseason bids. Hampton joined the Big South three years ago and is still scrapping for their first taste of success in their new league.
216. Todd Simon (Southern Utah) (Last year: 250)
- Overall record: 82-90
Simon is a Michigan native who has done some great things on the West Coast, starting as a player at UNLV before his coaching career. He’s been a high school coach and had a few stints at UNLV, including serving briefly as interim head coach. Simon’s been entrenched as head coach at Southern Utah since 2016 and this past season was his best, with a 20-4 record and Big Sky regular-season title.
215. Joe Jones (Boston University) (Last year: 212)
- Overall record: 251-252
Jones has put together quite a career coaching basketball in the northeastern United States, starting as an assistant to Jay Wright at Hofstra. He’s been an assistant at Boston College and Villanova and spent seven years as head coach at Columbia. Taking over the Terriers in 2011, he led Boston University to a Patriot League championship in 2020, though the NCAA Tournament was canceled. Last year’s program went just 7-11 with a limited schedule.
214. Dusty May (Florida Atlantic) (Last year: 244)
- Overall record: 47-41
After serving as a student manager in Bobby Knight’s final years at Indiana, May’s coaching career has taken him to many schools, with stints at Murray State, UAB, and Louisiana Tech. He’d spend seven years under current Florida coach Mike White before his first head coaching stint at Florida Atlantic in 2018. After a CIT bid in 2019, this year was the Owls’ first over .500 in C-USA play, a good sign for a team trending up in a tough mid-major league.
213. Todd Lee (South Dakota) (Last year: 253)
- Overall record: 47-40
Lee led Kentucky Wesleyan to a ton of D2 NCAA Tournaments during eight years as head coach but is entering his fourth season with South Dakota, his first head coaching job at the D1 level. A former assistant at schools like UC Irvine and Grand Canyon, Lee is leading progress with the Coyotes, who finished in 2nd place in the Summit League last season and look like a potential contender in the future.
212. Jim Whitesell (Buffalo) (Last year: 237)
- Overall record: 145-128
Having previously led teams to the D2 and D3 NCAA Tournaments, Whitesell enters year three as head man at Buffalo, hoping this goes better than his last foray. Whitesell struggled in seven years as head coach at Loyola-Chicago but helped build Buffalo into the best MAC program as an assistant. He’s 36-21 so far with the Bulls, leading them into the NIT last season.
211. Dane Fischer (William & Mary) (Last year: 200)
- Overall record: 28-21
Fischer began his head coaching career two seasons when he took the job at William & Mary. He had garnered much of his early coaching experience on the staffs of Dave Paulsen, the former head coach at Bucknell and George Mason. He led the Tribe to a 2nd place finish in the CAA in his debut season, but last year finished just 7-10 in a season altered by the pandemic.
210. Rob Jeter (Western Illinois) (Last year: 209)
- Overall record: 191-185
Jeter’s had quite the intriguing coaching career and is looking for renewed success, beginning his second year at Western Illinois. He’s a former player and assistant under Bo Ryan at three different schools, including Wisconsin. Jeter succeeded Bruce Pearl as head coach at Milwaukee, winning an NCAA Tournament game and spending eleven years leading the Panthers. He was just 7-15 in his first year at Western Illinois, but he’s only just getting started.
209. Kevin Baggett (Rider) (Last year: 197)
- Overall record: 147-133
After bouncing around at quite a few schools as an assistant, Baggett’s head coaching career began in 2012, when Rider promoted him to head coach. He spent six years with the Broncs as an assistant beforehand and has done decent work in a near-decade leading the program. After competing near the top of the MAAC on a regular basis, the Broncs finished in last place this past season.
208. Bill Herrion (New Hampshire) (Last year: 213)
- Overall record: 434-444
Though largely unheralded, Herrion has been a D1 head coach for more than thirty years. A former assistant to the great Mike Jarvis, Herrion spent eight years as head coach at Drexel and six with East Carolina, landing at New Hampshire back in 2005. He led the Dragons to three NCAA Tournaments back in the 90’s, his best success. New Hampshire has been solid in recent years, finishing in 3rd place in the America East this past year
207. Matthew Driscoll (North Florida) (Last year: 201)
- Overall record: 192-194
For Driscoll, North Florida has been home for some time, becoming head coach back in 2009. A former junior college head coach, Driscoll’s gained collegiate experience on the staffs of Larry Shyatt and Scott Drew, helping Drew repair a broken Baylor program for six years before taking over the Ospreys. He led North Florida to an NCAA Tournament in 2015 and has a few other regular-season titles, but struggled to an 8-15 mark this past season.
206. Jon Coffman (Purdue Fort Wayne) (Last year: 190)
- Overall record: 118-102
After success in the Summit League, Coffman is looking to replicate that same success with his Mastodons now in the Horizon League. He was formerly an assistant for IPFW, becoming head coach back in 2014. In his second year, his program won the Summit’s regular-season title and he led the Mastodons to four postseason bids in his first four years. However, year one in the Horizon League ended near the very bottom of the league, with an 8-15 mark on the season.
205. John Pelphrey (Tennessee Tech) (Last year: 193)
- Overall record: 163-170
It’s been quite a career already for Pelphrey, who enters year three on his third head coaching job. He’s a former assistant to Billy Donovan, helping him build the Florida program before taking the head job at South Alabama. As a head coach, he’s led both South Alabama and Arkansas to the Big Dance, though struggled with the Razorbacks. Rebuilding Tennessee Tech has become more of a project, as Pelphrey is just 14-44 after two seasons.
204. Matt Lottich (Valparaiso) (Last year: 185)
- Overall record: 83-78
After playing at Stanford and professionally overseas, Lottich fell into a pretty good program, joining Bryce Drew’s staff at Valparaiso. He ascended to the top job in 2016 and led Valpo to the NIT in his first campaign. The program then shifted to the MVC and the transition has been rough, though Valparaiso has steadily increased their standing in their first four years in the Valley. However, last year’s 10-18 record won’t cut it.
203. Dustin Kerns (Appalachian State) (Last year: 220)
- Overall record: 66-64
Kerns has gotten his coaching career off to a pretty solid start. He’s a former assistant at Santa Clara and Wofford who began his head coaching career with a two-year stint at Presbyterian. After a 20-win season with the Blue Hose, he was hired to lead Appalachian State in 2019. This past season was the clear breakthrough, leading the Mountaineers to an NCAA Tournament after a surprise run through the Sun Belt Tournament.
202. Fran O’Hanlon (Lafayette) (Last year: 204)
- Overall record: 351-413
It’s been quite the career for O’Hanlon, who’s been in coaching for nearly four decades at this point. A former international and high school coach, he joined Fran Dunphy’s first staff at Penn and stayed there until becoming Lafayette’s head coach in 1995. He’s led the Leopards to three NCAA Tournaments and a host of success over the years, even this past year was solid, with a 9-6 mark in limited action.
201. Derek Kellogg (Long Island) (Last year: 202)
- Overall record: 213-197
Kellogg played for John Calipari at UMass and was soon beginning his own coaching career, including a long stint on the Memphis staff. His first head coach stint was back at UMass, leading the Minutemen to an NCAA Tournament a few NIT bids in nine seasons. He’s been in charge at Long Island since 2017, leading the now Sharks to a surprise NCAA Tournament bid in his debut season. There was nothing wrong with another 9-9 mark last season in NEC play.