NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 363 D-I head coaches for 2022-23 season

200. Chris Victor (Seattle) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 23-9

Previously a junior college head coach, Victor really jumped into gear this past season. He had spent the last six years on Jim Hayford’s staffs, both at Eastern Washington and Seattle, but became the program’s interim head coach when Hayford stepped aside right before the season began. In that first season as head coach, Victor led the Redhawks to an impressive 23-win season, tying for the WAC regular season title. Certainly, we’ll still have to see how Victor does recruiting and coaching his own players in the years to come, but it’s hard to ask for a much better start in an unfortunate situation.

199. Jim Whitesell (Buffalo) (Last year: 212)

• Overall record: 164-139

A coaching veteran of more than 40 years, Whitesell originally picked up heading coaching experience at D3 Elmhurst and D2 Lewis before an unmemorable stint leading Loyola-Chicago back when the program wasn’t impressive. He spent much of the next decade as an assistant, eventually helping Nate Oats build Buffalo into a potent mid-major. Whitesell has been head coach of the Bulls since 2019 and has contributed three more decent seasons, with a 55-32 mark and an NIT appearance in 2021.

198. Jared Grasso (Bryant) (Last year: 249)

• Overall record: 63-76

It certainly seems like Grasso has found success at Bryant, especially after a breakthrough this past year. He’s spent a number of years coaching at various schools, including an interim head coaching stint at Fordham that unfairly weighs down his career record. After a long stint under Tim Cluess at Iona, he took over at Bryant in 2018 and just led the Bulldogs to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in this past March. Next season he’ll lead his program into the America East which will no doubt brings new challenges for Grasso and these Bulldogs.

197. Bashir Mason (Saint Peter’s) (Last year: 218)

• Overall record: 165-130

This year marks a new beginning for Mason, who takes over as head coach at Saint Peter’s, last year’s surprise Cinderella story. He had previously spent ten years as head coach at Wagner after assisting Dan Hurley initially for the Seahawks. While he didn’t take Wagner to the NCAA Tournament in that decade, he won three NEC regular season titles, finishing top 3 in the league in all but three seasons. His record is solid for that type of program and he inherits a Peacocks program resetting things but hoping to compete for MAAC crowns and glory again in the coming years.

196. Rob Jeter (Western Illinois) (Last year: 210)

• Overall record: 207-201

Year three at Western Illinois begins for Jeter with optimism after a solid start to his tenure. He’s a former player and assistant under Bo Ryan and spent 11 years as the head coach at Milwaukee, winning an NCAA Tournament game his debut nearly two decades ago. Jeter was an assistant at a couple of schools before Western Illinois gave him another head coaching job in 2010. After a rough first season, he led the Leathernecks to a 16-16 mark and a trip to the TPC, a definite and solid step forward for the program.

195. Dustin Kerns (Appalachian State) (Last year: 203)

• Overall record: 85-79

Kerns has gotten his head coaching career off to a pretty solid start. After working at a number of schools, including seven years under Mike Young at Wofford, he got his head coaching career going at Presbyterian in 2017. After winning 20 games in his second season, he moved to Appalachian State and has been a great add for the Mountaineers. Kerns led the program to the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and has won 54 games across his first three seasons in Boone.

194. Pat Skerry (Towson) (Last year: 219)

• Overall record: 172-173

Though he was briefly a D3 head coach, it was mostly a bunch of assistant coaching jobs early for Skerry, who was on staff at Rhode Island, Providence, and Pittsburgh. In 2011, Towson brought him aboard for a long rebuild. After an abysmal 1-win season in his debut, Skerry has built consistency for the Tigers, with four 20-win seasons. This past season, his Tigers finished 25-9, winning his first CAA regular season crown but settling for a bid in the NIT. It represented a major step forward after a terrible performance the season before.

193. Speedy Claxton (Hofstra) (Last year: 315)

• Overall record: 21-11

A star point guard at Hofstra before the turn of the century, Claxton spent a decade playing in the NBA, winning a title with the San Antonio Spurs. He returned to his alma mater in 2013 as an assistant and was promoted to head coach this past offseason. He’s done a great job as a player, assistant, and head coach with the Pride, winning 21 games in his debut as head coach. The former star under Jay Wright is only just getting started with his coaching career but Hofstra hopes to continue being a contender in the CAA.

192. Martin Ingelsby (Delaware) (Last year: 222)

• Overall record: 95-87

After spending most of his collegiate career playing and coaching at Notre Dame, Ingelsby finally had his own breakthrough this season. After more than a decade on Mike Brey’s coaching staff, he took over as head coach at Delaware back in 2016. His Fightin’ Blue Hens have progressed nicely over the course of his tenure, culminating in this year’s success. Ingelsby took Delaware to the NCAA Tournament, winning 22 games across a fantastic season for the Hens.

191. Kevin Kruger (UNLV) (Last year: 313)

• Overall record: 18-14

Kruger played briefly under his father Lon at UNLV just over 15 years ago and now enters his second season as head coach of the Runnin’ Rebels. After his playing career, Kruger spent time on the staffs of a few colleges, including under his father with Oklahoma. He returned to UNLV as an assistant in 2019 and was promoted to head coach two years later. The MWC was deep and impressive this season and Kruger was a first-year head coach who led the Rebels to a 5th place finish, a more than decent start for his career.

190. Andrew Toole (Robert Morris) (Last year: 174)

• Overall record: 200-193

A former guard and New York native, Toole has been entrenched at Robert Morris for the last fifteen years and has been head coach of the Colonials since 2010. Initially, he led Robert Morris to a tremendous level of success, with five postseason appearances and a pair of NEC Tournament titles in his first decade in charge. The program moved to the Horizon League in 2020 and the last two seasons have been really tough, finishing just 12-39 combined these last two seasons. Can Toole help this program transition into a Horizon League contender this season?

189. Scott Davenport (Bellarmine) (Last year: 230)

• Overall record: 34-21

All but one season of Davenport’s career has been spent in his hometown of Louisville. He spent a decade coaching high school ball in the city and a decade on the Louisville staff under Denny Crum and Rick Pitino. Davenport was hired by Bellarmine in 2005, coaching the Knights to a D2 national title in 2011 and a ton of postseason success. The program jumped to D1 two seasons ago and the success has not stopped, as the Knights won the A-Sun Tournament this past March, though they were ineligible to play in the Big Dance due to their reclassification.

188. Nathan Davis (Bucknell) (Last year: 146)

• Overall record: 117-95

Davis got his head coaching career off to a fantastic start. A former assistant at Navy, Bucknell, and Colgate, he led his alma mater Randolph-Macon to six straight D3 Tournaments before returning to Bucknell as head coach in 2015. Davis led the Bison to four straight Patriot League regular seasons crowns and a pair of NCAA Tournament bids, but the last three years have been rough. The Bison finished just 9-23 last season and have fallen a long way from a few years ago.

187. King Rice (Monmouth) (Last year: 194)

• Overall record: 182-167

It’s been a successful run for Rice at Monmouth, but he’s been involved in basketball for a long time. He was a point guard under Dean Smith at North Carolina more than three decades ago and was a staffer at Oregon, Providence, and Vanderbilt. He’s led the Hawks since 2011, leading the program to three MAAC regular season titles, but hasn’t gotten them into the Big Dance just yet. A 21-win campaign last season was another good year, though the play of Saint Peter’s clearly overshadowed them in the end.

186. Griff Aldrich (Longwood) (Last year: 254)

• Overall record: 68-60

A longtime AAU coach, Aldrich really broke through this past season and now enters his fifth season as head coach at Longwood. He was previously recruiting director for UMBC when they upset Virginia, taking over the Lancers program a few weeks later. He led the Lancers to a pair of postseason appearances early, but this year was by far his best effort, taking Longwood to their first ever NCAA Tournament and a 26-7 mark.

185. Joe Gallo (Merrimack) (Last year: 171)

• Overall record: 43-36

Gallo played guard at Merrimack just about two decades ago and began his head coaching career at his alma mater back in 2016. Also an assistant at Dartmouth and Robert Morris, he’s had success with the Warriors, leading them to three D2 Tournaments in his first three seasons. Merrimack jumped to D1 back in 2019 and he immediately led the program to an NEC regular season title in their first season. Last year’s Warriors finished just 14-16 and are trending in a different direction after that initial burst of success.

184. Jon Coffman (Purdue Fort Wayne) (Last year: 206)

• Overall record: 139-114

Coffman had a number of years as a collegiate assistant, including a long stint at Stetson, before landing in Fort Wayne way back in 2011. After three years on staff, he was promoted to head coach in 2014 and has had a great impact on the Mastodons program. He led the program to a Summit League regular season title in his second season as well as four straight postseason bids. This past year, Purdue Fort Wayne tied for the Horizon League regular season title in just their second year in the conference, boasting a 21-12 record and a great step forward in their new league.

183. Ed DeChellis (Navy) (Last year: 192)

• Overall record: 369-411

DeChellis now has nearly three decades as a head coach under his belt. He was a player and assistant at Penn State before taking over the program at East Tennessee State. He led the Buccaneers to the NCAA Tournament and later did the same for the Nittany Lions, spending eight years as head coach at his alma mater. DeChellis has led Navy since 2011 and is having some of his best success recently, with last year’s 21 wins being the program’s most since the turn of the century.

182. Stan Heath (Eastern Michigan) (Last year: 180)

• Overall record: 219-228

It’s been quite the career for Heath, who more than two decades ago won a national title as part of Tom Izzo’s coaching staff at Michigan State. His first head coaching job came at Kent State, where he led the Golden Flashes on a surprise Elite Eight run. Heath then took Arkansas to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and had middling success at South Florida. He’s gotten back into the head coaching chair recently, taking over at his alma mater last season, though a 10-21 mark is just the beginning for Eastern Michigan.

181. Kyle Neptune (Villanova) (Last year: 329)

• Overall record: 16-16

Many were surprised when Jay Wright announced his retirement, but few were surprised to see Neptune named as his successor. Neptune had spent a decade on Wright’s coaching staff at Villanova and was part of both of their recent national titles. Neptune actually left the school last year, spending the previous season as head coach at Fordham. That year with the Rams might not look impressive, but he certainly laid the groundwork for that program and now gets his chance to shine with the Wildcats. If that happens, Neptune will shoot up these rankings very soon.