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

300. Jay Ladner (Southern Miss) (Last year: 283)

• Overall record: 100-153

A longtime former high school coach and a successful junior college coach, Ladner has struggled a bit in recent years leading his alma mater. He had decent success during five years leading Southeastern Louisiana, but his first three seasons at Southern Miss haven’t been great, including last year’s 7-26 mark. The Golden Eagles finished last in the C-USA and aren’t trending in a good direction in recent years under Ladner’s leadership. Is some short of a turnaround coming in the near future?

299. Ryan Looney (Idaho State) (Last year: 289)

• Overall record: 28-56

It’s a fourth school that Looney has led as head coach, but this one’s been a bit trickier. He achieved great success at Eastern Oregon, Seattle Pacific, and Point Loma, even taking the Sea Lions to the D2 title game just before taking the Idaho State job. The Bengals were above .500 and tied for 4th in the Big Sky in Looney’s second year but won just seven games last season. Obviously, it’s more difficult to win big at the D1 level, but we’ll have to see what strides Looney can make in year four.

298. David Kiefer (Southeastern Louisiana) (Last year: 336)

• Overall record: 35-56

Kiefer is a former student manager under Bob Huggins who picked up valuable assistant coaching experience at various schools at multiple levels. He worked under predecessor Jay Ladner, succeeding him as head coach of the Lions back in 2019. After two mediocre seasons, Kiefer and the Lions broke through last season with 19 victories and a trip to the TBC while tying for 2nd in the Southland. Perhaps this is the beginning of another run of success at Southeastern Louisiana.

297. Tony Pujol (North Alabama) (Last year: 296)

• Overall record: 45-71

After three decent seasons, North Alabama bottomed out a bit in Pujol’s fourth year as head coach, finishing in last place in the A-Sun by three games. He’s a former high school coach who gained coaching experience under Anthony Grant at VCU and Alabama among other schools. Last season’s 9-21 was certainly a step backwards after the program’s first season above .500 at the D1 level. We’ll just have to see how the Lions contend, especially as the A-Sun continues to change on a near-yearly basis.

296. G. G. Smith (High Point) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 59-101

After taking over as head coach for the final six games last season, Smith begins his first full season at the helm at High Point, having succeeded his father Tubby, the Hall of Famer. He previously spent five uninteresting years leading Loyola MD, with a decent CBI run in one of those seasons. Smith has picked up coaching experience around the country and played under his father briefly at Georgia, but you have to wonder if he’ll be able to win in the Big South when even his father couldn’t the last four years.

295. Jase Coburn (Portland State) (Last year: 346)

• Overall record: 14-17

After eight years on staff under two different head coaches, Coburn finally got his chance and became Portland State’s head coach last season. It’s been his first experience leading a collegiate program, though he was a high school coach in Texas over a decade ago. Last year’s 14-win campaign is actually a step forward for the Vikings program, but it’s only the beginning for Coburn, hoping to lead this team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.

294. Chris Gerlufsen (San Francisco) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

After helping lead San Francisco to one of their finest seasons in recent memory as associate head coach, Gerlufsen ascends to the head coaching position with Todd Golden off to Florida. This is Gerlufsen’s first head coaching job, though he was briefly interim head coach of Hawaii a few seasons ago. In addition to those two schools, he also picked up experience as an assistant at The Citadel, Hartford, and San Diego, and looks like a great choice to maintain the recent momentum for this Dons program.

293. Leonard Perry (Pacific) (Last year: 286)

• Overall record: 56-119

In the early 2000’s, Perry had a bumpy tenure as head coach at Idaho but is bouncing back, beginning his second season leading Pacific. He spent five seasons working for the Indiana Pacers and also coached under Larry Eustachy at four different colleges, most recently at Colorado State. Perry’s ascension to the head coaching job at Pacific came last year after five years as associate head coach, with a less than satisfying 8-22 mark in his first campaign.

292. Juan Dixon (Coppin State) (Last year: 281)

• Overall record: 42-108

Dixon starred at Maryland right around the turn of the century and spent nearly a decade playing in the NBA. He’s already been the head coach at Coppin State for five seasons and the results have been mixed at best. He led the Eagles to a regular season title in the MEAC last season, but the program finished just 9-23 this past year. That overall record isn’t exactly impressive, even at a low major, but Dixon remains a star in the state of Maryland, and we’ll have to see what this next season will bring.

291. Dane Fischer (William & Mary) (Last year: 211)

• Overall record: 33-48

William & Mary surprised many folks when they made that coaching change and brought Fischer aboard back in 2019. The former longtime aide of Dave Paulsen had success as an assistant at Bucknell and George Mason and had a phenomenal first season, winning 21 games and the CAA Coach of the Year award. Since then, the Tribe has gone in the complete opposite direction, finishing just 5-27 last season in a dismal disappointment. Surely Fischer is going to need to fare quite a bit better than that to keep this job for the long term.

290. Jon Judkins (Utah Tech) (Last year: 317)

• Overall record: 21-31

While just two of those seasons have come at the D1 level, Judkins is beginning his 30th year as a collegiate head coach, having had the top job at Utah Tech since 2005. Previously known as Dixie State, he’s led the Trailblazers to a ton of success at the D2 level and has handled their transitioning to D1 athletics that took place two seasons ago. After an 8-win campaign in their first D1 season, Judkins led the program to 13 wins last season, a solid step in the right direction. He took the program to eight D2 Tournaments, but can he break through and lead them to their first D1 appearance?

289. Jim Engles (Columbia) (Last year: 284)

• Overall record: 149-208

Engles’ record may look bad, but when you consider he’s spent his head coaching career at NJIT and Columbia then it doesn’t seem as bad. He had a ton of relative success at NJIT, leading the Highlanders to a pair of CIT runs before returning to Columbia as head coach in 2016. Unfortunately, the Lions have finished last place in the Ivy League each of the last two seasons, with a paltry 4-22 mark last season. We’ll have to see if the Lions can climb out of the Ivy League basement in the near future.

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

• Overall record: 107-165

As an assistant, Dickerson has had fantastic success, winning a national championship on the Maryland staff in 2002 and helping lead Ohio State to a Final Four a decade later. His head coaching career has been a bit less successful, starting with a rocky 5-year run at Tulane. Dickerson has been entrenched at USC Upstate since 2018, but he just had his best season with the Spartans. Last season, Upstate finished 15-17 and advanced to the second round of the TBC, a definite step forward after a few rough seasons.

287. Robert McCullum (Florida A&M) (Last year: 290)

• Overall record: 138-209

It’s truly been quite the career for McCullum, who has really bounced around the college game over the years. He had previous head coaching experience at Western Michigan and South Florida and has been an assistant at nearly a dozen schools, including a long stint under Lon Kruger at Kansas State, Florida, and Illinois. He’s been at Florida A&M since 2017 and won 13 games last season, his most with the Rattlers and a solid start to life in the SWAC.

286. Nate James (Austin Peay) (Last year: 320)

• Overall record: 12-17

Last year was a new beginning for James, taking over as head coach at Austin Peay after spending his entire collegiate career with Duke. He played for the Blue Devils around the turn of the century and had spent over a decade on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff. A three-time national champion as player and assistant, James has the more challenging task of building success at Austin Peay. The Governors won 12 games in a bit of a rebuilding season last year, but transition to a much different A-Sun this upcoming season.

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

• Overall record: 35-47

A former Duke point guard and Syracuse quarterback, Paulus begins his fourth season as the head coach at Niagara. He’s had an interesting coaching career, including a long stint under Thad Matta at Ohio State. He was originally just on staff at Niagara but was promoted to head coach when Patrick Beilein suddenly left the program before the season. This past season was his best so far with the Purple Eagles, with a 14-16 mark and another 5th place finish in the middle of the MAAC.

284. Barclay Radebaugh (Charleston Southern) (Last year: 279)

• Overall record: 216-299

Aside from a season at Queens, one of this season’s new D1 schools, Radebaugh has spent his entire head coaching career at Charleston Southern and is about to begin his 18th season at the school. A former assistant at South Carolina and Miami, Radebaugh has had some good years with the Buccaneers but hasn’t led them to the Big Dance. Unfortunately, he’s also had his two worst campaigns these last two years, finishing just 6-25 this past season.

283. Pat Duquette (UMass Lowell) (Last year: 295)

• Overall record: 110-155

Duquette has spent much of his coaching career in Massachusetts at the collegiate level. A longtime aide and assistant at Boston College, he became UMass Lowell’s head coach in 2013, the same year the program jumped to the D1 level. His first nine seasons with the River Hawks have been pretty consistent, including a 15-win campaign this past season. They haven’t really competed for an America East title, but it’s hard to say the River Hawks have been bad at all in the last decade either.

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

• Overall record: 25-34

After playing under Bruce Weber and Matt Painter at Southern Illinois, Korn has set off on his own coaching career. He was a longtime assistant at his alma mater, and also spent a number of years under Weber at Kansas State. His head coaching career began two years at Southeast Missouri State and it’s been a solid enough start. The RedHawks finished 14-18 in Korn’s second season which was good enough for 4th place in a top-heavy OVC. Southeast Missouri State’s only NCAA Tournament appearance came way back in 2000 but in an easier OVC could Korn breakthrough?

281. Mike Martin (Brown) (Last year: 282)

• Overall record: 121-140

Martin has spent his entire collegiate career in the Ivy League, starring at Brown back in the early 2000’s. After briefly playing overseas, he rejoined his alma mater on the coaching staff before a long stint as an assistant at Penn. Martin would return to the Bears ten years ago and is about to begin his eleventh year as head coach. The program was trending in a good direction before the pandemic before a 13-16 finish last season. While the Bears haven’t been in the NCAA Tournament in nearly four decades, Martin is doing a solid enough job keeping this program somewhat competitive in the league.