120. Mike Rhoades (VCU) (Last year: 130)
- Overall record: 149-105
A former longtime head coach at D2 Randolph-Macon, Rhoades is enjoying success in recent years at the top level of college basketball. He took Randolph-Macon on a few tournament runs before joining Shaka Smart’s VCU staff in 2009. A few years after coaching on that Final Four run, Rhoades took the head coaching job at Rice, producing a 23-win season in impressive fashion. Rhoades has been back with the Rams the last five seasons as head coach, producing 102 wins, two NCAA Tournaments and an A-10 regular season title in the process.
119. Ryan Odom (Utah State) (Last year: 106)
- Overall record: 123-87
The son of a college head coach, Odom has certainly made his own legacy in recent years. He was a longtime assistant at a number of schools, including a 7-year stint at Virginia Tech, before becoming head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne, a D2 school. Odom then led UMBC for five seasons, accomplishing the unthinkable with that 2018 upset over 1-seed Virginia. After an impressive run with the Retrievers, he took the Utah State job last offseason, leading the Aggies to an 18-16 mark in his first season, a decent enough start after a great run of success for the program.
118. Jerome Tang (Kansas State) (Last year: N/A)
- Overall record: 0-0
It’s a new era for Tang and for Kansas State as he begins his collegiate head coaching career with the Wildcats this season. Formerly a high school head coach, he joined Scott Drew’s Baylor staff way back in 2003 and spent nearly two decades rebuilding the Bears program from Drew’s bench. After spending all that time in Waco, including the national championship a year and a half ago, Tang gets his own chance to call the shots, taking over a Kansas State program that has struggled in the Big 12 these last few seasons.
117. Travis Steele (Miami –Ohio) (Last year: 86)
- Overall record: 70-50
It was a wild ride for Steele these past few years, but he now takes over at Miami. He was an aide at Ohio State and Indiana before a long run at Xavier, spending a decade on staff before the last four years were spent as head coach. Unfortunately, his time with the Musketeers was largely underwhelming, failing to lead the program to the NCAA Tournament. He’ll bounce back immediately with the Redhawks, hoping to rejuvenate a MAC program that hasn’t sniffed the Big Dance since 2007.
116. Drew Valentine (Loyola-Chicago) (Last year: 196)
- Overall record: 25-8
The youngest head coach in the nation had himself a solid debut at Loyola-Chicago. A former forward and assistant at Oakland, he joined Porter Moser’s Loyola staff and was part of that surprise run to the Final Four just four years ago. When Moser departed for Oklahoma, Valentine was promoted to the top job at just 29 years old. He did as was expected in his first season, leading the Ramblers back to the NCAA Tournament with another MVC Tournament crown. New challenges wait, as Loyola transitions to the A-10 for this upcoming season.
115. Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State) (Last year: 113)
- Overall record: 87-73
A former point guard at South Carolina, Boynton bounced around at a number of schools early in his coaching career. He was an assistant for Mike Young at Wofford and Frank Martin at his alma mater before joining Brad Underwood’s coaching staff. Boynton’s head coaching career began in 2017 when he succeeded Underwood at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were in the NCAA Tournament in 2021 but have been up and down under Boynton’s leadership, though they were barred from postseason play last season.
114. Russ Turner (UC Irvine) (Last year: 110)
- Overall record: 242-158
Before becoming a head coach, Turner had some successful assistant coaching stints, spending time at Wake Forest, Stanford, and with the Golden State Warriors. He spent a number of years under the great Mike Montgomery and was hired by UC Irvine back in 2010. His tenure with the Anteaters has been very successful, leading the program to a pair of NCAA Tournaments, including an upset of 4-seed Kansas State in 2019. Turner has won nearly 69% of conference games and taken home five Big West regular season titles, though last year’s 15-10 season can be considered a disappointment in comparison.
113. Jeff Boals (Ohio) (Last year: 119)
- Overall record: 114-75
It’s still early, but it’s been a very successful head coaching career for Boals to this point. He bounced around on a number of staffs, including a long stint under Thad Matta as an Ohio State assistant. Boals began his head coaching career at Stony Brook back in 2016, leading the Seawolves to solid success over the next three years. He then returned to his alma mater, taking over as head coach of Ohio. It only took him two seasons to get the Bobcats back in the NCAA Tournament, where they also pulled out an upset win over 4-seed Virginia. Last year saw a 25-win campaign for a program that Boals has on the right track.
112. Keith Dambrot (Duquesne) (Last year: 93)
- Overall record: 396-244
It’s been quite the journey for Dambrot during quite the coaching career. He’s led five different collegiate programs and was briefly LeBron James’ high school coach in Akron. His most successful collegiate coaching stint came during a 13-year stint at Akron, taking the Zips to three NCAA Tournaments. Dambrot has been the head coach at Duquesne for the last five years, but the Dukes have been struggling recently, finishing just 6-24 this past year, last place finishers in a tough A-10.
111. Jerod Haase (Stanford) (Last year: 108)
- Overall record: 178-143
What really jumpstarted Haase’s basketball career was his time under Roy Williams, spending time as a player at Kansas before joining his coaching staffs. He spent more than a dozen years with Williams as a coach, including a long stint at North Carolina. Haase began his head coaching career at UAB, upsetting 3-seed Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament back in 2015. He took the lead job at Stanford in 2016, though the last six years haven’t been the smoothest ride. He has yet to lead the Cardinal to the Big Dance, finishing a mediocre 16-16 this past season.
110. Jerry Stackhouse (Vanderbilt) (Last year: 126)
- Overall record: 39-54
After starring at North Carolina in the mid-90’s, Stackhouse spent nearly two decades playing in the NBA and is certainly far better known as a player than a coach. He spent a few seasons each as a G-League head coach and NBA assistant before Vanderbilt came calling back in 2019. Stackhouse’s first two seasons were pretty dreadful, but last year’s 19-17 finish was a step forward for the Commodores. However, he’s won just 24% of conference games and has yet to finish higher than 11th in the SEC; but are the tides changing at Vanderbilt?
109. Eric Konkol (Tulsa) (Last year: 122)
- Overall record: 153-75
Konkol just completed a pretty successful head coaching tenure at Louisiana Tech, even if he never led the Bulldogs to the Big Dance. He spent a number of years on various coaching staffs, including a decade under Jim Larranaga at George Mason and Miami. In these last seven years, he won at least 20 games at Louisiana Tech in all but one season; he just couldn’t get the Bulldogs quite over the C-USA hump. This year, he begins his first season trying to revive a Tulsa program hoping to succeed in the AAC and make postseason splashes again.
108. Casey Alexander (Belmont) (Last year: 114)
- Overall record: 214-139
Alexander is a former player and longtime assistant at Belmont and it seems only appropriate that he enters year four as head coach of the Bruins. Before returning as head coach, he began his head coaching career with stints at Stetson and Lipscomb, leading the Bisons to their first-ever NCAA Tournament and an appearance in the NIT title game. He’s 77-19 in these last three years at Belmont, leading the Bruins to a pair of OVC regular season titles. However, the conference transitions to the MVC this season and will face heavier challenges ahead.
107. Pat Chambers (Florida Gulf Coast) (Last year: N/A)
- Overall record: 190-178
It’s a return to the head coaching chair for Chambers this year, having recently had a disappointing end to a long stretch at Penn State. A former Villanova assistant under Jay Wright, he led Boston University to the NCAA Tournament during his first head coaching stint. Chambers then landed at Penn State in 2011, leading the Nittany Lions to an NIT title and a pretty impressive 21-win campaign in his final season. Now, Chambers takes over a Florida Gulf Coast program that has been successful over the past decade but struggled the last few seasons.
106. Niko Medved (Colorado State) (Last year: 160)
- Overall record: 156-134
Medved is a relatively young head coach whose name is on the rise, having success at a third different D1 school. He was an assistant at Furman, Minnesota, and Colorado State before returning to two of those schools as head coach. He won a SoCon regular season crown at Furman and had a nice singular season leading Drake before becoming the Rams’ head coach in 2018. He’s won at least 20 games in his last three seasons, leading Colorado State back to the NCAA Tournament this past season with an impressive campaign.
105. Mike Hopkins (Washington) (Last year: 87)
- Overall record: 89-80
Half a decade ago, Hopkins looked like he would succeed Jim Boeheim as Syracuse’s head coach in the very near future. He played and coached with the Orange for nearly three decades, including a stint as interim head coach back in 2015. However, he didn’t stay put in west New York, becoming Washington’s head coach back in 2017. He led the Huskies to the Pac-12 regular season title and NCAA Tournament in his second season but the program has mightily struggled ever since that season, though last year’s 17-15 season was actually a big step forward.
104. Wayne Tinkle (Oregon State) (Last year: 62)
- Overall record: 274-228
A talented center at Montana and internationally for over a decade, Tinkle has had himself quite the head coaching career, especially in recent years. He spent eight years leading his alma mater, taking the Grizzlies to three NCAA Tournaments. At Oregon State since 2014, he broke a long Tournament drought in his second season and led the Beavers on a surprise Elite Eight run back in 2021. However, last year’s team was abysmal, finishing just 3-28 and looked nothing like the success of the season before.
103. Darrin Horn (Northern Kentucky) (Last year: 107)
- Overall record: 228-143
Horn enters his fourth season at Northern Kentucky, the third different D1 school that he’s served as head coach. Previously a successful assistant at Marquette and Texas, he led Western Kentucky to a surprise Sweet Sixteen way back in 2008. Horn followed that success with a disappointing four-year stretch at South Carolina in the SEC. However, he’s bounced back with the Norse, leading Northern Kentucky to the Horizon League Tournament title in his first season, and is 57-32 through three seasons.
102. Kyle Smith (Washington State) (Last year: 123)
- Overall record: 216-166
Smith is truly one of the brilliant minds in the game and is certainly an underrated coach. He spent long stints on the staffs of San Diego and Saint Mary’s before beginning his head coaching career with some success at Columbia, winning a CIT championship. He then won 20 games in each of three seasons leading San Francisco, producing a big turnaround for the Dons. Smith has led Washington State since 2019 and has had a productive start. Last year’s Cougars won 22 games and made it to the semifinals of the NIT; their best season in over a decade.
101. Grant McCasland (North Texas) (Last year: 112)
- Overall record: 124-70
There’s a bright future ahead for McCasland, but he’s already been a really successful coach. He did great as a junior college coach at Midland, and led Midwestern State to a pair of D2 Elite Eights. After being one of Scott Drew’s aides at Baylor, he won 20 games in his lone season at Arkansas State before taking over at North Texas in 2017. Under his guidance, the Mean Green have a pair of C-USA regular season crowns, won an NCAA Tournament game in 2021, and boast 104 wins across five seasons.