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

240. Bucky McMillan (Samford) (Last year: 322)

• Overall record: 27-24

Two seasons ago, McMillan made quite the jump. He had previously spent his entire coaching career at Mountain Brook High School in Alabama, including twelve years as one of the state’s best head coaches. That jump saw him accept the Samford job in 2020 and he’s taken quite the jump there as well. After a mediocre first year, Samford finished 21-11 last season, tying for 3rd place in a competitive SoCon and showing that McMillan has things looking up for the Bulldogs.

239. Ron Sanchez (Charlotte) (Last year: 245)

• Overall record: 50-64

It’s been an up-and-down affair for Sanchez in his four seasons at Charlotte, but luckily this past season was another one of the up years. He previously spent a dozen years assisting Tony Bennett at both Washington State and Virginia, leaving the Cavaliers the year before they won the national title. His record doesn’t seem great, but Sanchez led the 49ers to a 17-14 mark this past year, nearly doubling their win total from the season before and putting them in place to contend in the C-USA in the future.

238. Reggie Witherspoon (Canisius) (Last year: 229)

• Overall record: 282-320

A native of Buffalo, it’s hard to find anyone who’s coached more in that city than Witherspoon. He was a high school and junior college coach before spending 14 years as head coach at Buffalo, leading the Bulls to varying levels of success in the MAC. After a few assistant coaching stints, including at Alabama, Witherspoon returned to his home city, taking over at Canisius back in 2016. He won the MAAC regular season title back in his second season with the Golden Griffins, but these last few seasons have been tough, with just an 11-21 mark this past year.

237. Stan Johnson (Loyola Marymount) (Last year: 197)

• Overall record: 24-27

Johnson took over the program at Loyola Marymount in 2020, his first head coaching venture. He had been a longtime assistant, bouncing between a number of schools, including Utah, Arizona State, and most recently Marquette. His Lions showed signs of promise right out of the gate before struggling to an 11-18 record this past season. Winning in the WCC certainly isn’t easy, leaving Johnson and his team hoping for better results in year three after settling for a 9th place finish last year.

236. Jeremy Ballard (Florida International) (Last year: 237)

• Overall record: 63-61

It’s been a decent enough start to Ballard’s head coaching career. He spent more than a decade as a D1 assistant, spending time at Tulsa, VCU, Pittsburgh, and a few other schools before landing at FIU back in 2018. Ballard orchestrated two very solid seasons right out the gate, including a CIT appearance, but has seen his Panthers struggle since the pandemic. The program finished just 15-17 and in 11th place in a jam-packed C-USA, a result that certainly isn’t what the Panthers are looking for.

235. Jonas Hayes (Georgia State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 4-0

A native of Atlanta, Hayes begins his head coaching career at Georgia State this upcoming season in a bit of a homecoming. A former player and assistant at Georgia, he mostly recently spent four years on the coaching staff at Xavier. After Travis Steele was fired, Hayes took over as head coach, leading the Musketeers to an NIT championship, explaining his perfect coaching record. He inherits a Georgia State program in great shape from recent coaches Ron Hunter and Rod Lanier, hopeful to win additional Sun Belt crowns in the near future.

234. Joe Scott (Air Force) (Last year: 235)

• Overall record: 251-278

Scott is now two years deep into his second stint as head coach at Air Force, having previously led the Falcons to the NCAA Tournament nearly two decades ago. He’s a former Princeton point guard, assistant, and head coach who also spent nearly a decade at Denver, winning the WAC regular season title in 2013. Air Force was just 11-18 last year, but more than just doubled their wins in Scott’s first season, though there’s still plenty of work ahead in a tough MWC.

233. Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois) (Last year: 244)

• Overall record: 44-45

A point guard at Southern Illinois just over a decade ago, Mullins returned to his alma mater to take over as head coach back in 2019. After a brief international playing career, Mullins gained his coaching experience on Porter Moser’s staff at Loyola-Chicago, playing a role as an assistant on their Final Four team. He’s had a decent run with the Salukis, finishing 16-15 last year in his third season, though he certainly has the MVC crown on his mind for this program.

232. Jim Ferry (UMBC) (Last year: 236)

• Overall record: 239-274

Ferry enters his second season on the sidelines at UMBC, the sixth different program he’s led across his career. He had success in the D2 and D3 levels before taking Long Island to a pair of NCAA Tournaments. Ferry struggled in five seasons at Duquesne and also spent a year as interim head coach at Penn State, guiding the Nittany Lions to an underwhelming mark. Last season, the Retrievers finished 18-14 in his debut on campus, a season that’s a decent start but just the beginning for a program that wants to be back in the NCAA Tournament making memorable moments.

231. Brette Tanner (Abilene Christian) (Last year: 316)

• Overall record: 25-11

It’s hard to be dissatisfied with any head coach who wins 25 games in their first season, and this is certainly true of Tanner. He was a junior college coach many years ago before spending long coaching stints at Stephen F. Austin and Abilene Christian. When predecessor Joe Golding moved on, Tanner took over the program last season and did his best to keep the momentum moving forward. The Wildcats finished just sixth in their first year in the WAC but advanced to the CBI semifinals.

230. Jerrod Calhoun (Youngstown State) (Last year: 255)

• Overall record: 72-86

There were some incredible influences early in Calhoun’s career, as he played under Rollie Massimino and coached under Bob Huggins, spending time with him most recently at West Virginia. Calhoun’s head coaching career got off to a great start, leading Fairmont State to a number of D2 Tournament appearances. He took the Youngstown State job in 2017 and has actually exceeded expectations, winning 19 games this past season and slowly building this program potentially into a Horizon League contender.

229. Geno Ford (Stony Brook) (Last year: 233)

• Overall record: 161-163

Ford’s head coaching career has been a mixed bag of results, and he’ll keep on, beginning his fourth year leading Stony Brook. He’s been head coach at five different schools, including time at three D1 schools. He won a pair of MAC regular season titles at Kent State before mightily struggling while at Bradley. After three years on Jeff Boals’ staff, he became Stony Brook’s head coach and is 47-40 across the last three years, with an 18-13 mark while tying for 3rd place in last year’s America East race.

228. Steve Masiello (Manhattan) (Last year: 223)

• Overall record: 162-177

A guard at Kentucky around the turn of the century, Masiello has fashioned himself quite the coaching career. He spent time on the benches at Manhattan and Louisville, aiding Rick Pitino for six years at the latter, before beginning his head coaching career with the Jaspers in 2011. He led Manhattan to a pair of NCAA Tournaments early on, but has struggled for consistency in recent years. Their 15-15 mark this past season was their first that wasn’t below .500 since winning the MAAC way back in 2015.

227. Zach Spiker (Drexel) (Last year: 228)

• Overall record: 178-215

Spiker continues on at Drexel, entering his seventh year leading the Dragons. He was formerly a staffer for Gregg Marshall and John Beilein, and an Ivy League assistant before landing his first head coaching job at Army. His decent tenure with the Black Knights led him to Drexel in 2016, and he led his program to the NCAA Tournament back in 2021. The program finished 15-14 this past season, but their 4th place finish in the CAA was Spiker’s best effort in his first six seasons.

226. Kim English (George Mason) (Last year: 304)

• Overall record: 14-16

A former guard at Missouri, English began his head coaching career this past season. After a few years of playing pro ball, he settled into his coaching career with stints on the benches at Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee. George Mason brought him aboard and he’s already changing the culture for the Patriots, winning 14 games and winning battles on the recruiting trail as well. We’ll just have to see if we can push this program up the standings in a tough and deep A-10 this season.

225. Kevin McGeehan (Campbell) (Last year: 227)

• Overall record: 139-146

Previously a junior college and high school head coach, McGeehan has spent nearly a decade as head coach at Campbell. He was an assistant under current Richmond coach Chris Mooney for nine seasons before taking over the Camels in 2013. After early struggles, he’s built a decent program, recruiting scoring star Chris Clemons in one of his first recruiting classes. This past season saw his Camels finish 16-13, good for fifth place in the Big South. However, McGeehan is still looking for his first NCAA Tournament, which he couldn’t even accomplish when Clemons was on campus.

224. Mark Madsen (Utah Valley) (Last year: 259)

• Overall record: 42-42

A former frontcourt presence both at Stanford and in the NBA, Madsen enters his fourth season as head coach at Utah Valley, his first real collegiate experience. He was briefly on staff at Stanford before spending six seasons as an assistant for the Los Angeles Lakers. The results have been satisfying through three years, as he tied for the WAC regular season crown in 2021 before leading the program to a 20-12 mark last year, continuing to build on the success predecessor Mark Pope built with the Wolverines.

223. Jordan Mincy (Jacksonville) (Last year: 339)

• Overall record: 21-10

Mincy finally got his shot to run a program last season after spending more than a decade on D1 coaching staffs. He had spent the previous seven years under Mike White at Louisiana Tech and Florida, but now he’s paving his own path to greatness. Mincy led the Dolphins to one of the best turnarounds this past season. Their 21 wins were not only nearly double the previous season’s total, but the program’s single-season best in nearly four decades. Is this the beginning of a run of success for the Dolphins in an A-Sun that’s certainly winnable?

222. Edward Joyner (Hampton) (Last year: 217)

• Overall record: 205-209

For Joyner, this is his 17th year working at Hampton, though the first three of those were spent as an assistant coach. The Pirates gave him his first head coaching job and he rewarded them, leading the program to three NCAA Tournaments in his first seven seasons. However, the road has been tougher, and the Pirates were less successful these last four seasons in the Big South, finishing just 9-19 last year, Joyner’s worst season as head coach. Unfortunately, things don’t get easier as Hampton joins the CAA this season.

221. Steve Smiley (Northern Colorado) (Last year: 275)

• Overall record: 33-27

Previously a junior college head coach and an aide at a number of schools around the Rockies, Smiley landed at Northern Colorado six years ago. He was an important part of Jeff Linder’s coaching staff before succeeding him as head coach in 2020. After a decent first season, Smiley lead the Bears to a 22-16 mark this past year, including a deep run in the CBI. He helped build the success of this Northern Colorado program over the last half decade and certainly seems capable of continuing that breakthrough.