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 Tournament Charleston Cougars head coach Pat Kelsey Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

44. Pat Kelsey – Charleston

2 NCAA Tournaments (0-2)

What has transpired at Charleston this season has been a testament to Kelsey’s coaching ability, turning this program around completely in just two seasons. A previous assistant at both Wake Forest and Xavier, he had a prosperous 9-year run as head coach at Winthrop, winning a slew of Big South titles in the process. He was brought to Charleston in 2021 and has led the Cougars to probably their best season in program history. Charleston sits 31-3 and has won the CAA Tournament, while Kelsey will likely be a hot name for coaching jobs in the years to come for his impressive work.

43. Leon Rice – Boise State

3 NCAA Tournaments (0-3)

When Mark Few was hired at Gonzaga, he added Rice to his staff. A former junior college head coach, Rice was an important part of Gonzaga’s early success before heading to Boise State in 2010 for his first D1 head coaching job. Rice has been even more important to the Broncos and now has them in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and a slew of wins in recent seasons.

42. Bryce Drew – Grand Canyon

4 NCAA Tournaments (0-4)

Drew starred at Valparaiso and hit the buzzer-beating shot over Ole Miss in 1998 that still gets replayed around this time of year. His coaching career began at his alma mater, taking the then-Crusaders to a pair of trips to the Big Dance before bailing for Vanderbilt. After things went poorly with the Commodores In the SEC, Drew landed on his feet at Grand Canyon and is leading the Antelopes to a second trip to the NCAA Tournament in just three seasons.

41. Darian DeVries – Drake

1 NCAA Tournament (1-1)

DeVries has proven to be the right man for the Drake job in recent years, elevating the profile of the program since taking over in 2018. Before his head coaching career, he spent nearly two decades on staff at Creighton under both Dana Altman and Greg McDermott and has done wonders running his own MVC program. He’s won at least 20 games in each of his five seasons helming the Bulldogs and won his first MVC Tournament title this year, previously getting the Bulldogs into and winning in the First Four two seasons ago.

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