NCAA Basketball: 10 best head coaching hires of 2023 offseason

9. Roger Powell Jr. (Valparaiso)

Seven years ago, Valparaiso was one of the first teams out of the NCAA Tournament. After making a run to the NIT finals, Bryce Drew left for Vanderbilt, and the program has been on a downhill slide ever since. Former assistant Matt Lottich did not work out as the head coach and the Beacons are turning towards a different former assistant, someone who many in the program wanted to take the reins back in 2016.

Powell starred at Illinois back in the early 2000’s and was part of the team that made the national championship game. After a brief professional playing career, he joined Drew’s staff at Valparaiso and followed him to Vanderbilt. Powell got even more coaching experience the last four seasons as an assistant at Gonzaga, though this will mark his first head coaching position at any level.

Powell is an excellent recruiter, has quite the basketball background, and has played or worked under some of the great names in college basketball today, including Bill Self and Mark Few. The Beacons have been abysmal since joining the MVC in 2017 and needed someone like Powell to come to town and inject the program with his energy. Obviously, there are no guarantees, especially with Powell never being a head coach before this, but there’s reason for excitement in Valparaiso.