NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 68 head coaches in 2023 NCAA Tournament

By Joey Loose | Mar 13, 2023

Apr 4, 2022; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self cuts down the net after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament Final Four championship game at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports /

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NCAA Basketball Kansas State Wildcats head coach Jerome Tang Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /

36. Jerome Tang – Kansas State

0 NCAA Tournaments

No coach has had a better season than Tang, who has been phenomenal since taking over at Kansas State last offseason. He previously spent nearly two decades as Scott Drew’s right-hand man at Baylor and was partially responsible for the Bears’ success, including the national title back in 2021. This year, he’s led the Wildcats back to the Big Dance after three straight seasons under .500 and heads to his first NCAA Tournament in his first year as a head coach.

35. Penny Hardaway – Memphis

1 NCAA Tournament (1-1)

Hardaway starred at Memphis back in the early 90’s and has been the head coach of the Tigers for the last five years. He starred in the NBA for parts of 14 seasons before coaching at the high school level. His hiring in 2018 marked his first collegiate head coaching experience, but he’s now led Memphis to consecutive trips to the Big Dance, hoping for another first-round win like last season for this talented squad that won the AAC Tournament.

34. Mike Woodson – Indiana

1 NCAA Tournament (1-1)

Before arriving on campus at his alma mater last year, Woodson’s only coaching experience had come in the NBA. The former Hoosiers guard and longtime NBA player was previously head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks before taking over at Indiana in 2021. He got the Hoosiers back in the NCAA Tournament last year and won their First Four game in the process. They’re clear of Dayton this year and had a better season overall; perhaps Woodson is one of the rare NBA coaches that works in the college game.

33. Chris Jans – Mississippi State

3 NCAA Tournaments (1-3)

It’s been a long and winding road for Jans, who’s coached at a dozen different colleges, including as head coach at four junior colleges. He spent nearly a decade on staff at Wichita State and was also head coach at both Bowling Green and New Mexico State. Jans led the Aggies to an upset win the NCAA Tournament just last season and is hoping to pull off that same magic in his first season leading the Bulldogs.

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