NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 362 D-I head coaches for 2023-24 season

There are currently 362 D1 NCAA Basketball teams in the nation and each is led by a talented head coach. Let’s again endure the crazy task of ranking each of them in order!

The calendar has recently flipped over to October, meaning we’re just about a month away from the glorious beginning of a new NCAA basketball season. These past months have been filled to the brim with transfers, coaching moves, realignment rumors, and plenty of other rumblings, but we’re nearer and nearer to when the games are actually going to be played again. The college basketball news cycles seem to be endless regardless of the time of the year, but this is when things really start to get good.

We’re coming off another fantastic season in college basketball, one highlighted by Connecticut’s national championship and a few unexpected but impressive Final Four runs. Looking ahead, there’s no shortage of possibility in the sport, with dozens of programs looking to contend for national prominence in the months ahead. Anything could happen in this sport, especially with the talented players assembled by the head coaches of these programs.

Coaching college basketball is harder now than ever with the newfound mania of the Transfer Portal. Sometimes, the offseason isn’t just for recruiting new players but also trying to keep your own players in your program while also scouting other transfers. It’s an incredible balance for the coaches in this game, who deal with these same issues all the way from the Blue Blood programs to the oft-forgotten low majors.

The very backbone of coaching in this sport has changed mightily in recent years as Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, and Jay Wright all stepped aside in the last three offseasons. A new crop of aspiring head coaches always pops up and some of these names are really making themselves known in recent years.

For a sixth straight year we are throwing ourselves into the coaching world and undergoing to the task of ranking every single head coach in this sport. We’re sitting at 362 head coaches at the D1 level and we’ll have background information on every single one today. It’s impossible to accurately or scientifically rank each of them, but we’ve given it our best shot. Nothing is random, and every consideration has been made. Attributes like coaching experience, success at other levels, recruiting prowess, and recent record all balance out in these selections and rankings.

It’s important to remember that there’s no specific formula here. A young head coach who’s won a lot of games and has postseason success can certainly sit ahead a more experienced coach. These rankings are by no means a perfect solution and there’s no doubt that all 362 D1 programs could see issue with where their coach has been placed. We leaned heavily on Sports Reference and information from nearly every school’s athletic sites to research and evaluate these coaches. This process took well over a month and was not taken lightly.

It’s very likely that anyone who reads through this entire piece learns something about a coach they may not have known existed. Even if you’re an expert at this sport, enjoy this look at every single head coach, from some rookie coaches at the bottom to the future Hall of Famers at the top.

362. Tevon Saddler (Nicholls State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Just five seasons ago, Saddler was a star player at Nicholls State and now he’s taking over as head coach of his alma mater. He actually began his career at UNC Greensboro and spent just a single season with the Colonels under Richie Riley. During a brief coaching career, he’s aided Riley at South Alabama and spent this most recent season in Kevin Willard’s personnel staff at Maryland. Saddler is just 28 years old but takes over a Nicholls State team that’s won two of the last three regular season titles in the Southland.

361. Larry Stewart (Coppin State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

It’s the beginning of Stewart’s head coaching career, though it came at the perfect place for him. A former star player for the Eagles more than three decades, he led Coppin State to the NCAA Tournament as a player in 1990 and will hope to have a similar breakthrough as head coach. He had a long international playing career before spending the last fourteen seasons as a collegiate assistant, the last four of which were at Maryland Eastern Shore.

360. Nate Champion (Le Moyne) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

A former player and graduate assistant for the Dolphins, Champion became the head coach at Le Moyne back in 2019. Also an assistant at a pair of D2 schools, he’s had some success in his first four years leading the Dolphins. This will be Le Moyne’s first year as a D1 program, joining the NEC. Overall, Champion (who’s just 31 years old) is still a relatively young coach and has a task ahead as this program adjusts to D1 ball in the coming years.

359. Alex Pribble (Idaho) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Pribble begins his D1 head coaching career at Idaho this season, though he’s previously been a high school and D2 head coach. He actually led Saint Marin’s to a D2 Sweet Sixteen in 2019 before spending the last four seasons as an assistant at Seattle. The Vandals have mightily struggled in recent memory, meaning Pribble’s new task in the Big Sky won’t be easy. However, he’s a former player at Cal and has more than half a decade as a collegiate assistant.

358. Chad Boudreau (Western Illinois) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Boudreau’s D1 head coaching career begins this season at Western Illinois after three years as associate head coach. He succeeds Rob Jeter, who actually gave him his D1 coaching start nearly two decades ago at Milwaukee. Boudreau has previously been a head coach, leading Highland CC for three seasons, but this is certainly a much different position. He’s got quite the task ahead as the Leathernecks transition into the OVC.

357. Jack Castleberry (Fairleigh Dickinson) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

A native of Virginia, Castleberry has spent much of the last two decades involved in college basketball, first as a player at VMI and then as an assistant at five different schools. He had long assistant coaching stints under his former college coach Duggar Baucom, most recently at The Citadel. He begins his first head coaching job this season after assisting Tobin Anderson last season as these Knights pulled off a history upset as a 16-seed; now the program is in Castleberry’s hands.

356. John Griffin III (Bucknell) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Nearly two decades ago Griffin was a player for the Bison and now he’ll begin his head coaching career as their new leader. He played a few years overseas and worked briefly with the Indiana Pacers before getting into college coaching. He was an assistant for Rider, Bucknell, and Saint Joseph’s across the last decade, spending four years aiding predecessor Nathan Davis with the Bison. This program isn’t in as great a shape as back then and Griffin has a task ahead of him.

355. Rick Cabrera (Northwestern State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

This’ll be Cabrera’s first season as a D1 head coach, but it’s a longtime coming after a long winding coaching career. He played college ball at Tennessee Tech and served as an assistant there and at three other D1 schools. Cabrera has spent six years as a junior college head coach, including the last two at Tallahassee CC in Florida. He inherits a Demons program coming off a pretty decent season, but can he match his excellent junior college coaching while in the Southland Conference?

354. Shane Heirman (Incarnate Word) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

A minor at Tulsa just twelve years ago, Heirman was a high school coach before spending the last six years as a D1 assistant, including a four-year stint under Dave Leitao at DePaul. After picking up that experience in the Big East, he spent the last two years as Central Michigan’s associate head coach and will began his collegiate head coaching career with the Cardinals this season. Incarnate Word has yet to make much headway since joining D1 a decade ago; Heirman’s tasked with changing that.

353. Matt Crenshaw (IUPUI) (Last year: 355)

• Overall record: 8-53

A former point guard at IUPUI, Crenshaw enters his third season at the helm of his alma mater hoping for better results. He briefly played overseas and spent a dozen years as an assistant to the Jaguars before a short stint at Ball State. Crenshaw took over as head coach in 2021 and hasn’t won more than five games in either of his first two seasons. IUPUI has been a bottom feeder in the Horizon League in recent years and he’ll need to start showing some progress here soon.

352. Aaron Fearne (Charlotte) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Fearne is from Sydney and has been a major part of basketball in Australia. He came to America and played for three different schools but has spent much of his professional playing and coaching career over in Australia. He played and coached for the Cairns Marlins and Cairns Taipans for two decades, including nine years leading the Taipans. Fearne was brought to Charlotte by Ron Sanchez back in 2018 and takes over as interim head coach for this upcoming season.

351. Jim Shaw (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

After spending two decades as a D1 collegiate assistant and staffer, Shaw is getting his first shot at running his own program. He spent a number of years under Doc Sadler at UTEP and Nebraska before spending seven years on staff at Texas State. He had a few brief stints at schools in the state of Texas before joining Steve Lutz’s coaching staff in Corpus Christi in 2021. After two trips to the Big Dance in two seasons, Lutz is off to Western Kentucky and Shaw takes over a program that’s hoping to be a mainstay atop the Southland standings.

350. Andrew Wilson (VMI) (Last year: 356)

• Overall record: 7-25

A former guard at Florida State, Wilson’s head coaching career got started last year at VMI, though it wasn’t a super notable beginning. He spent much of his coaching career alongside Mark Byington, including nearly a decade under him as an assistant at both Georgia Southern and James Madison. VMI brought him aboard last season and a 7-win season isn’t exactly a fantastic start but he’s still got time to win games for the Keydets.

349. Sundance Wicks (Green Bay) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Wicks takes over at Green Bay but this actually isn’t his first head coaching experience. He had a pair of seasons leading D2 Missouri Western before his most recent three year stint on Wyoming’s coaching staff. Prior to that, Wicks had more than a decade as an assistant, including time in the Big 12 at Colorado many years ago. Green Bay has largely been a disappointment in recent years, and the former MWC assistant has a Wisconsin-based rebuild ahead.

348. Rod Strickland (LIU) (Last year: 338)

• Overall record: 3-26

Long ago, Strickland starred at DePaul and became a 1st round draft pick back in 1988. He was a talented point guard who spent parts of 17 seasons in the NBA and has only recently gotten his coaching career going. Strickland had stints on staff at Memphis, Kentucky, and South Florida but was surprisingly named LIU’s head coach last summer. The record speaks for itself: it was a really rough debut season for the Sharks, though the jury’s not out on Strickland quite yet.

347. Chris Mudge (Sam Houston State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

A former student manager at Texas, this is the beginning for Mudge, who takes over as head coach at Sam Houston State after a long stint on their coaching staff. Much of his coaching career has come with the Bearkats, as he joined the staff back in 2010, spending Jason Hooten’s entire tenure by his side. This is Mudge’s program now after the last two years as associate head coach, and he’ll look to keep the program competitive as they transition into the new-look Conference USA.

346. Matt Logie (Montana State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

A native of Washington, Logie spent more than a decade at Lehigh as a player and assistant before beginning his head coaching career back in 2011. He’s already had two very successful coaching stints, though not at the D1 level. Logie took Whitworth to seven D3 Tournaments in eight years and produced results at D2 Point Loma, but this is a different animal. Fortunately, he’s taking over a Montana State program that’s been the league’s best in recent years.

345. Kyle Gerdeman (Lindenwood) (Last year: 361)

• Overall record: 11-21

Gerdeman spent a decade as a junior college assistant and head coach before another decade as a D1 assistant, spending most of that time under Keno Davis at Central Michigan. Though he’s yet to have a season above .500, he begins his fifth season at Lindenwood and his second year since the Lions joined the D1 level. Last year’s 8th place finish in the OVC wasn’t exactly life-altering, but there’s hope ahead for a program and coach who isn’t exactly new to this, though we’re still waiting on the results.

344. Stan Waterman (Delaware State) (Last year: 354)

• Overall record: 8-50

After spending more than three decades coaching high school ball, principally at the Sanford School in Delaware, Waterman was named Delaware State’s head coach two seasons ago. He boasts very little collegiate coaching experience and his Hornets struggled mightily, winning just two games in his debut season. They did triple that, finishing with six wins this past season, but there’s clearly still a lot of work ahead for this longtime resident of the Diamond State.

343. Grant Billmeier (NJIT) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Much of Billmeier’s career has come in his home state of New Jersey and now he gets his first shot as a head coach. A former center at Seton Hall, he’d return for multiple stints under Kevin Willard at his alma mater before following him as an assistant at Maryland last year. Nearly his entire coaching career has come by Willard’s side, minus a season as an assistant over at Fairleigh Dickinson. That’s not a ton of outside experience, though his expertise in the state makes him an appealing hire at NJIT.

342. Andy Newman (Cal State Northridge) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Much of Newman’s collegiate coaching career has taken place in California and he’s taking over a Northridge program that needs a new direction. He was an assistant at a number of schools and actually spent a season as interim head coach at Cal State Fullerton. Newman spent the last decade spending five years apiece as head coach at Texas-Permian Basin and Cal State San Bernardino, two D2 schools that had great success. Fresh off a D2 Final Four, Newman is ready for this new challenge.

341. David Ragland (Evansville) (Last year: 346)

• Overall record: 5-27

Although briefly a junior college head coach at Vincennes over a decade ago, Evansville gave Ragland the head coaching job last season and it was his first real experience running his own program. He spent the last decade plus bouncing around six different D1 institutions, including success at Utah State and Butler, but Evansville is a different animal. The last place finish in the MVC in year one wasn’t a shocker, but it’s on Ragland to make sure it’s not a regular occurrence like it has been in recent memory.

340. Duane Simpkins (American) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

As a player, Simpkins starred at the famous DeMatha Catholic HS just outside Washington DC and he now takes over at nearby American. He was also a star player at Maryland under Gary Williams back in the mid-90’s and played internationally for several years. The head coach at a couple of high schools, Simpkins spent just over a decade as a D1 assistant, including the last eight years with George Mason. This is his first collegiate head coaching job after working wonders with Kim English the last two years.

339. Erik Martin (South Carolina State) (Last year: 347)

• Overall record: 5-26

Last year was a big first for Martin, as South Carolina State gave him his first shot as a head coach at any level. He starred at power forward for three colleges and spent nearly a decade playing overseas. The last two seasons of his collegiate playing career came at Cincinnati under Bob Huggins and he’d spend most of his coaching career with him as well, including a 15-year stint at West Virginia. In his first season at South Carolina State, Martin didn’t win a ton of games, but has he laid groundwork for a turnaround?

338. Kevin Kuwik (Army) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Seemingly a long time coming, Kuwik begins his head coaching career at Army after spending the last 25 years as a collegiate assistant. His career includes long stints with Ohio and Dayton and time under Thad Matta at both Ohio State and this past season at Butler. He certainly has plenty of experience in his background at five D1 colleges. Kuwik takes over an Army program that has never appeared in the NCAA Tournament, but can this graduate of Notre Dame actually move the needle for the Black Knights?

337. Charlie Henry (Georgia Southern) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Henry’s coaching career began as an assistant under Nate Oats at Romulus High School in Detroit. He’s worked at multiple levels of basketball over the years, including two NBA franchises and as head coach of the Windy City Bulls in the G-League. Most recently, Henry spent four more years with Oats, this time as an Alabama assistant, before taking the Georgia Southern job a few months ago. It’s Henry’s first collegiate head coaching position and he certainly is uniquely qualified.

336. Quinton Ferrell (Presbyterian) (Last year: 332)

• Overall record: 34-84

Ferrell played at Presbyterian in the mid-2000’s and begins his fifth season as head coach of the Blue Hose. There are a few other coaching stints in his recent past, but Presbyterian has represented much of his life in college basketball. Unfortunately, things are not going well for those Blue Hose, who Ferrell led to another last place finish in the Big South last season, winning just 5 games. Ferrell has won less than a fourth of his conference games and the patience may be running thing if things don’t turn around soon.

335. Mike McGarvey (Lafayette) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Hoping to calm the waters at Lafayette, McGarvey takes full control of the program this season, having been interim head coach for the final five games of last year. He played and coached at D3 Ursinus before Matt Langel brought him to the D1 game on the bench at Colgate. McGarvey was back in D3 ball, with four successful years as head coach at Lycoming before joining the Leopards in 2022. After a topsy-turvy first season, mostly as an assistant, he takes full control of this program, hoping to compete for Patriot League glory.

334. George Halcovage (Buffalo) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Although his playing days came at Babson, a D3 college in Massachusetts, Halcovage has spent his entire coaching career at Villanova. He originally joined Jay Wright’s program in 2008 as a graduate assistant and filled many shoes over the years. He was on staff for a pair of national championships, earning promotions to assistant in 2017 and associate head coach four years later. Buffalo brings him aboard as their new head coach; his first head coaching job, while trusting that all that experience with the Wildcats pays off in the long run.

333. Anthony Boone (Central Arkansas) (Last year: 325)

• Overall record: 34-73

A former star player and graduate assistant at Ole Miss, Boone has spent his coaching career exclusively on the staffs of Tevester Anderson (Murray State and Jackson State) and Russ Pennell at three different places. After a year as a WNBA assistant, he followed Pennell to Central Arkansas as an assistant and ascended to the head coaching job back late in 2019. Now in his fourth full seasons leading the Bears, he’s hoping for better results, coming off a 13th place finish in the ASUN and a fourth straight season with less than 12 wins.

332. John Smith (Cal Poly) (Last year: 321)

• Overall record: 26-89

Early in his coaching career, Smith bounced around at a number of high schools and junior colleges before beginning his head coaching career at San Bernardino Valley in 2000. He spent more than a dozen seasons leading that program and Riverside CC before joining the D1 ranks at Cal State Fullerton as an assistant. Smith took over Cal Poly in 2019 and has yet to win more than 7 games in a season, with an atrocious 8-56 mark against the Big West. Can he make any headway with these Mustangs?

331. Roger Powell Jr. (Valparaiso) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Powell was a star forward on the Illinois team that advanced to the national championship game in 2005. After an international playing career, Powell returned to the college game as an assistant to Bryce Drew at Valparaiso in 2011. He’d spend nearly a decade with Drew, including time at Vanderbilt, before spending four seasons at Gonzaga, losing another title game in the process. Powell returns to Valparaiso as their new head coach, hoping to rejuvenate a program in much worse shape than when he left town seven years ago.

330. Solomon Bozeman (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) (Last year: 345)

• Overall record: 17-45

A college point guard at both South Florida and Little Rock, Bozeman spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach before getting his shot at Arkansas-Pine Bluff back in 2021. He was an assistant at Abilene Christian, Little Rock, and Oral Roberts, helping lead the Golden Eagles to that shocking Sweet Sixteen run just before he left the program. He’s still in the early stages with the Golden Lions, though last season’s 10-win campaign was certainly a step in the right direction.

329. Alan Huss (High Point) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

It’s a new beginning for Huss, who was previously a high school coach for nearly a decade, but begins his collegiate head coaching career at High Point. A former player at Creighton more than twenty years ago, Huss gained D1 coaching experience at New Mexico before a six-year stint at his alma mater, proving a valuable resource to Greg McDermott. High Point has dealt with inconsistency in recent years but is hoping that Huss can turn things around for a Panthers squad that has previously had success in the Big South.

328. Patrick Sellers (Central Connecticut) (Last year: 336)

• Overall record: 18-46

It’s been two small steps in the right direction for Sellers, who begins his third season as the head coach of his alma mater. A player at Central Connecticut more than three decades ago, his coaching career say him bounce around at more than half a dozen colleges, including stints at UConn, Creighton, and DePaul. His Blue Devils improved their win total again, finishing with 10 wins and a 7th place finish in the NEC, though there’s clearly still progress to be made in New Britain.

327. Dwayne Stephens (Western Michigan) (Last year: 326)

• Overall record: 8-23

Stephens waited a long time for his shot as a collegiate head coach and the first year was a somewhat expected rebuild. A former star at Michigan State in the early 90’s, he helped take Marquette to the Final Four as an assistant in 2003 before spending the next nineteen seasons under Tom Izzo at his alma mater. Stephens was immensely important during nearly two decades of success for the Spartans, but a turnaround at Western Michigan is no easy task. A last place finish in the MAC was the result of year one.

326. Brooks Savage (East Tennessee State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Things have been wildly inconsistent at East Tennessee State these last few years, but the Buccaneers are banking on an old friend to turn things around. Savage started off as a student manager and graduate assistant at Tennessee under Bruce Pearl before taking full-time jobs at a few other schools. He spent the last eight seasons aiding Steve Forbes, with the first five of those at ETSU during the program’s most prosperous era. Savage will hope to steady the ship and get the Buccaneers back on top of the SoCon.

325. Kevin Johnson (Southern) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 65-100

It’s been quite the ride for Johnson and it’s led him to taking over at Southern this season. He actually played at Texas Pan-American under Lon Kruger and has already been a D1 head coach, spending six years leading Centenary in the early 2000’s. In actuality, Johnson has coached at colleges in the state of Louisiana for the last twenty-six seasons, most recently spending four years with Ron Hunter at Tulane. His time with Centenary was up and down; he’ll hope to get the Jaguars back into fighting shape in the SWAC.

324. Chris Crutchfield (Omaha) (Last year: 337)

• Overall record: 9-23

Crutchfield has bounced around between several schools in his coaching career and now begins the second year of his first D1 head coaching job. Most notably he spent a few seasons under Lou Henson at New Mexico State and helped Lon Kruger guide Oklahoma to a Final Four back in 2016. His third collegiate head coaching position, Crutchfield actually played for Omaha back in the early 90’s. Winning just 8 games in his first year may seem underwhelming, but it’ll take time to make headway with these Mavericks.

323. Gerald Gillion (Chicago State) (Last year: 340)

• Overall record: 18-45

For the first time in recent memory, there might be legitimate basketball excitement at Chicago State. Despite being cast off as an independent last season, Gillion still led the Cougars to 11 wins, their highest total in nearly a decade. He’s a former Florida State graduate who assisted at South Florida and Samford, but Gillion seems to be doing respectable work in the Windy City. We don’t know what the future holds for Chicago State as a program, but Gillion seems to be a terrific find early on.

322. Jaret von Rosenberg (Texas A&M-Commerce) (Last year: 359)

• Overall record: 13-19

He’s still a relatively young head coach, but von Rosenberg has already spent six years as head coach at Texas A&M-Commerce. He spent most of his playing career and was an assistant at Hartford before multiple stints with the Lions, becoming their head coach in 2017. After leading the program to three D2 NCAA Tournaments, he brought Commerce to the D1 level this past season. A 5th place finish in the Southland Conference is certainly a decent enough start.

321. Dwayne Killings (Albany) (Last year: 307)

• Overall record: 21-41

It’s been a long and winding road, but Killings begins his 3rd season at Albany. He worked a few seasons in the NBA before spending over a decade on D1 coaching staffs, spending nearly a decade at Temple and time at both UConn and Marquette. Killings has dealt with off-court issues in recent years, but he’s down a few spots due to his Great Danes struggling again this season. Winning just 8 games and finishing last in the America East was not the second season he wanted.

320. Eric Peterson (South Dakota) (Last year: 349)

• Overall record: 12-19

Though formerly a junior college head coach, Peterson’s first real collegiate coaching job came at South Dakota starting this past season. He bounced around a number of schools before linking up with Craig Smith, assisting him for nearly a decade at South Dakota, Utah State, Utah. Four years after departing the staff, he rejoined the Coyotes as their new head coach and tied for 6th place in the Summit League in his first season. It was a slight step back for the program as they reload their talent.

319. K. T. Turner (UT Arlington) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Turner began his career playing and coaching at lower levels of college basketball before becoming a D1 assistant at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2011. He bounced around at half a dozen schools over the next decade, including brief stints at Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky in recent years. He’s off to Arlington, taking over as the new head coach for the Mavericks to begin his own head coaching career. UT Arlington could certainly use a push in the right direction and Turner has quite the pedigree.

318. Chris Kraus (Stonehill) (Last year: 360)

• Overall record: 14-17

This year marks a decade already for Kraus as head coach at Stonehill, though it’s just his second year since the Skyhawks became a D1 program. He played for the program nearly two decades ago and led them to the D2 NCAA Tournament a few times. While Stonehill did finish under .500 in their first D1 season, they tied for second place in the NEC and Kraus was the league’s Coach of the Year as a result. Kraus certainly isn’t new to this, but he’s got a program that could surprise in the coming years.

317. David McLaughlin (Dartmouth) (Last year: 312)

• Overall record: 56-110

McLaughlin bounced around several universities before spending nine seasons as head coach at Stonehill, back when that program was still at the D2 level. His first D1 position came on Bill Coen’s staff at Northeastern before Dartmouth hired him in 2016. The Big Green haven’t exactly been a basketball power for quite a long time, and McLaughlin hasn’t done much to change this momentum. He’s been under .500 in each of his seasons and has led Dartmouth to three straight 6th place finishes in the Ivy League.

316. Bryan Hodgson (Arkansas State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Relatively unknown early in his career, Hodgson coached at a few small coaches before joining Nate Oats’ staff at Buffalo back in 2015. He became a major part of Oats’ program both with the Bulls and for four seasons at Alabama, serving as a significant recruiter for the Crimson Tide. Arkansas State handed him the keys, giving him his first head coaching job at any level. After what he’s demonstrated as a D1 assistant, there could be exciting things in store for the Red Wolves in the years to come.

315. Tony Madlock (Alabama State) (Last year: 301)

• Overall record: 24-43

It’s year two for Madlock at Alabama State and there’s hope that he can the Hornets turned around in the years ahead. He has a ton of coaching experience at the D1 level, with stints at Auburn, Ole Miss, and Memphis before taking the South Carolina State head coaching job in 2021. After a 15-win campaign there, he jumped to Alabama State and went just 8-23 in his debut season. It’s been eight years since the Hornets finished above .500 and Madlock will hope to end that streak very soon.

314. Alvin Brooks (Lamar) (Last year: 314)

• Overall record: 65-133

A player at Lamar more than four decades ago, Brooks returned to the Cardinals recently as head coach and will enter his third season. He’s worked at a number of Texas D1 schools, had a rocky stint as head coach at Houston, and was even a staffer for Kentucky under Billy Gillispie for a few years. After an abhorrent 2-27 season in his debut, Brooks did lead the Cardinals to a 9-win season last year; he’ll just need to continue to improvements for a program that was pretty solid in the Southland just a few seasons ago.

313. Russell Springmann (Oral Roberts) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Albeit a former high school coach in the 90’s, this is Springmann’s first collegiate head coaching position and the opportunity is certainly warranted. He actually spent 14 years on Rick Barnes’ bench at Texas as a full-time assistant before the entire staff was fired in 2015. Springmann returned to prominence with this Oral Roberts program, serving as an assistant for five seasons and helping them to that unexpected Sweet Sixteen run in 2021. How will he fare as the new head coach with Paul Mills moving on?

312. Ron Cottrell (Houston Christian) (Last year: 308)

• Overall record: 130-262

When Cottrell took over at Houston Christian, then still known as Houston Baptist, the program was coming off a 2-year hiatus and wasn’t at the D1 level. He’s been there in Houston since 1990 and has won a ton of games with the Huskies, including great success at the NAIA level. Unfortunately, things haven’t been as great since rejoining the D1 level, as the program has only made a couple postseason trips. Last year’s 10-win season wasn’t terrible, but it was their sixth straight season below .500.

311. Ross Hodge (North Texas) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

After playing his college ball at Texas A&M-Commerce, then still a D2 program, Hodge would kick start his head coaching career with great results at a pair of junior colleges. He spent more than a decade as a D1 assistant, serving on the staffs of Larry Eustachy and Grant McCasland at two schools apiece. At North Texas since 2017, he contribute as associate head coach on a great run of success for the Mean Green and will look to maintain that success in the coming years as the program’s new leader.

310. Ryan Pedon (Illinois State) (Last year: 316)

• Overall record: 11-21

Pedon bounced between MAAC schools and was a staffer at Illinois under John Groce before joining Chris Holtmann’s Butler staff back in 2015. He’d assist Holtmann for the next seven years, including a long stint at Ohio State, before getting his first shot to run his own program at Illinois State. The Redbirds won’t be satisfied with 9th place finishes in the MVC, though it was a decent start for a program in need of a restart; the jury is certainly still out on Pedon as a head coach.

309. Levell Sanders (Binghamton) (Last year: 328)

• Overall record: 25-35

A former point guard at Seton Hall, Sanders had a long international playing and coaching career before settling back in the States. He actually was hired as an assistant at Binghamton in 2019 and was named interim head coach two seasons later. The Bearcats have long been a dormant program, but Sanders’ first two seasons have seen legitimate results, with their two highest win totals of the last decade. Not only did Binghamton tie for 4th in the America East last season, but they finished at .500 in conference play for the first time since 2010.

308. Antoine Pettway (Kennesaw State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Since the turn of the century, Pettway has spent most of his life in Tuscaloosa, but he’s left Alabama and takes over his own program. An Alabama native, he played four years for the Crimson Tide before returning as an assistant coach. He left briefly for a stint at Jacksonville State, but actually spent the last 15 years assisting four different head coaches, mostly recently under Nate Oats. Pettway begins his head coaching career with a Kennesaw State program that had a revival last season, but can he maintain that momentum?

307. Todd Phillips (Utah Valley) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

We’re in for new beginnings again at Utah Valley as Phillips takes control of the program. It’s not his first rodeo as a head coach, as he led Salt Lake CC to a junior college championship across an 8-year stint with the school. He’s also quite familiar with the Wolverines, spending the last four years on Mark Madsen’s staff, including two years as associate head coach. Obviously, things will be different with Phillips in the head coach’s chair, but this Utah Valley program has been really solid over the last decade.

306. Shane Burcar (Northern Arizona) (Last year: 311)

• Overall record: 43-76

Much of Burcar’s coaching career has been at the high school level, up until he joined the staff at Northern Arizona back in 2018. After a single season as an assistant, Burcar was named head coach, originally holding the interim role in his first year. The Lumberjacks won 16 games and finished 5th in the Big Sky in his first season, but things haven’t been as bright since then. Last year, Northern Arizona won 12 games and claimed a 9th place finish, which technically was improvement over the previous two seasons.

305. Rashon Burno (Northern Illinois) (Last year: 329)

• Overall record: 22-40

It’s year three for Burno at Northern Illinois and things might finally be trending in the right direction. He played his college ball at DePaul and was a high school coach in the Chicago area before getting back into the college game at Towson. Most notably, Burno spent a number of years with Billy Donovan at Florida and Bobby Hurley at Arizona, having played under his father in high school decades earlier. Last year’s 13-win campaign was the Huskies’ best mark in three seasons, but it can lead to more in the years ahead?

304. Paul Sather (North Dakota) (Last year: 310)

• Overall record: 43-80

Boasting nearly two decades of collegiate head coaching experience, this will mark five seasons at North Dakota for Sather. He led Black Hills State to an NAIA Final Four and took Northern State to the D2 Final Four before he was hired by the Fighting Hawks in 2019. North Dakota has finished below .500 in each of his first four seasons, though last year’s 13-win finish was more than double the wins of the previous season. Can Sather make this program actually competitive after struggling in their first half decade in the Summit League?

303. Tony Skinn (George Mason) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

In 2006, Skinn was a major piece of George Mason’s incredible season, as the Patriots marched to the Final Four. He played internationally for several seasons before beginning his coaching career and now it’s a career that’s come full circle. Skinn spent time on the staffs of Seton Hall, Ohio State, and Maryland in recent years, but his alma mater presented him his first chance to run his own program. The Patriots are coming off a 20-win campaign under former coach Kim English and it’s on Skinn to stay competitive in a tough A-10.

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

• Overall record: 39-77

A former guard at Eastern Oregon, Looney has a ton of experience and success as a collegiate head coach on the west coast. He returned to his alma mater to begin his head coaching career and had success at a pair of D2 colleges, leading Seattle Pacific to several postseason bids before taking Point Loma to the D2 title game in 2019. A few weeks later, he took over at Idaho State and has been alright with the Bengals, leading them to a 5th place finish in the Big Sky this past season.

301. Otis Hughley Jr. (Alabama A&M) (Last year: 352)

• Overall record: 15-18

Hughley has been a basketball coach for three decades and he’s quite literally coached all over the place. He’s been a high school coach in Alabama, a collegiate assistant at several schools, and been on a few NBA staffs. He spent several years overseas as national coaches, most recently coaching Nigeria’s women’s team after a few years in China. Hughley took over at Alabama A&M last season and came out of it with a very solid start, 15 wins and a 5th place finish in the SWAC.

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

• Overall record: 145-231

McCullum has been in coaching for almost five decades and has had an impact literally across the country. He’s been an assistant at a number of schools, notably under Lon Kruger at Florida and Illinois and with Dana Altman at Oregon. Previously, he was already a D1 head coach at Western Michigan and South Florida and has been entrenched at Florida A&M since 2017. Unfortunately, last season’s 7-22 finish was his worst mark with the Rattlers.

299. Jason Crafton (Maryland-Eastern Shore) (Last year: 327)

• Overall record: 34-56

Originally from Brooklyn, Crafton was a video coordinator at Villanova and a longtime assistant at Navy before beginning his head coaching career at D2 Nyack, his alma mater. While his record there wasn’t impressive, he got another shot when Maryland Eastern Shore brought him to town in 2019. The Hawks skipped the pandemic season, meaning Crafton has coached three full years and he’s coming off a fantastic year, leading his team to 18 wins and a 3rd place finish in the MEAC.

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

• Overall record: 46-68

Fischer spent much of his collegiate coaching career as an assistant under Dave Paulsen, working with him at Williams, Bucknell, and George Mason. In total, Fischer had 14 years of D1 coaching experience when he was hired by William & Mary for his first head coaching job back in 2019. After a 21-win campaign in his debut season, things have been less successful for the Tribe, though this past year’s 13-20 mark was actually a step back in the right direction.

297. Jeff Wulbrun (Denver) (Last year: 318)

• Overall record: 26-38

A native of the West Coast, Wulbrun played at Cal State Fullerton before spending a long stint as an assistant at California back in the 90’s. He was a high school head coach and worked at four other D1 schools, including nine seasons at UAB and Stanford with Jerod Haase. He took over at Denver in 2021, his first collegiate head coaching job, and has made progress in his first two seasons. Inheriting a 2-win team, Wulbrun has won 11 and 15 games respectively in his first two years and looks to continue that trajectory.

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

• Overall record: 35-50

Judkins has only worked at a pair of colleges in his long coaching career and has been a head coach for the last thirty years. He originally spent a dozen seasons leading Snow College, a junior college in Utah, before landing at Utah Tech, then known as Dixie State. Since 2005, Judkins has led the Trailblazers and had already been on hand for many years when they joined D1 back in 2020. After D2 success, Utah Tech has settled for three seasons under .500 and very small steps in the WAC.

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

• Overall record: 156-230

Engles has more than three dozen years of D1 coaching experience and has been a head coach for the last 15 years. After stints at Wagner, Rider, and Columbia, he was hired by NJIT in 2008 and actually had quality success with those Highlanders until returning to Columbia as their new head coach in 2016. Unfortunately, his Lions have finished dead last in the Ivy League in each of the last three seasons and have failed to win more than 11 games in a season since he was hired.

294. Mo Williams (Jackson State) (Last year: 324)

• Overall record: 28-54

A star guard at Alabama in the early 2000’s, Williams spent more than a decade playing in the NBA, even winning a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. His coaching career began soon after his retirement, spending a pair of seasons at Cal State Northridge before getting an early chance to run his own program. Williams had two adequate years leading Alabama State before accepting the Jackson State job last offseason. In year one, he won 14 games with the Tigers and finished 4th in the SWAC; certainly a decent start.

293. Jay Young (Fairfield) (Last year: 274)

• Overall record: 50-73

Previously leading Newbury to a junior college Final Four and New Haven to some success at the D2 level, Young was named Fairfield’s head coach in 2019, giving him his first D1 head coaching job. He had spent the last 14 years on Steve Pikiell’s staffs at Stony Brook and Rutgers, but Young was certainly ready for his own opportunity. There hasn’t been too much to celebrate in his first four seasons with the Stags, as Fairfield has yet to finish above .500 and has settled for three straight 7th place finishes in the MAAC.

292. Chris Markwood (Maine) (Last year: 353)

• Overall record: 13-17

Two decades ago, Markwood transferred from Notre Dame to Maine and became a major piece for the Black Bears before joining their coaching staff. He’s back after coaching stints at Vermont, Northeastern, and Boston College, contributing on some successful teams and spending a year in the ACC. In his first season as head coach, Markwood led Maine to a 13-win season, which was by far their best result in over a decade. Perhaps Markwood was the perfect hire to finally resurrect this program.

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

• Overall record: 26-36

There hasn’t been a lot to celebrate at Portland State recently, but Coburn enters year three hoping to turn that around. He was a high school and junior college coach before joining Portland State’s staff back in 2013. After assisting two different coaches, he was promoted to the top job in 2021 and has taken the Vikings to a pair of 7th place finishes in the Big Sky. Last year was a slight step back with just 12 wins as well as the program’s third straight season under .500.

290. Jonas Hayes (Georgia State) (Last year: 235)

• Overall record: 14-21

After playing forward at Georgia, Hayes began his coaching career and bounced around at a few different schools, most notably spending stints at his alma mater and at Xavier. He actually succeeded Travis Steele in March 2022 and led the Musketeers to an NIT title before he accepted his first full-time heading coaching job at Georgia State. Although the Panthers are fresh off success, Hayes’ first season ended with just 10 wins and a last place finish in the Sun Belt.

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

• Overall record: 226-320

Ignoring a single season as head coach at Queens, then still a non-D1 program, Radebaugh has spent a majority of his head coaching career at Charleston Southern. He worked as an assistant at Wofford, Winthrop, and even Miami before the Buccaneers hired him in 2005. While he hasn’t yet led the Buccaneers to the Big Dance in nearly two decades, he did take Charleston Southern to a few NIT bids. Lately things have been less impressive, with four straight finishes under .500.

288. Darrell Walker (Little Rock) (Last year: 278)

• Overall record: 61-86

Formerly a guard at Arkansas and in the NBA for a decade, Walker’s coaching career has been quite eventful, including stints as head coach at both the NBA and WNBA level. He was a longtime pro coach before taking the head coaching job at Clark Atlanta in 2016. After leading that program to a pair of D2 Tournaments, he accepted the Little Rock job and it’s been an up and down affair. Walker won the Sun Belt regular season title in his second season, but the Trojans have been below .500 the last three years, averaging just 10 wins a season.

287. Dwight Perry (Wofford) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 12-12

He was a player at Kentucky, an intern at Stanford, and a graduate assistant at VCU, but Perry has seemingly found a home in the SoCon. He spent half a decade at Furman before he was hired as an assistant at Wofford in 2019. During this past season, he became the interim head coach in early December, helping guide the Terriers to a 5th place finish in the SoCon. He was named the full-time head coach in the offseason and will hope to get Wofford back towards winning titles in this league.

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

• Overall record: 53-70

Certainly no stranger to basketball, Kiefer has served at numerous colleges and high schools, even starting his career as a student manager under Bob Huggins. After spending time as a video aide at UCF and South Carolina, his first full-time D1 job came at Southeastern Louisiana. After four years assisting Jay Ladner, Kiefer was given the top job in 2019. Though his first two seasons weren’t great, Kiefer has led the Lions to a pair of Top 3 finishes in the Southland, winning 18 games this past season.

285. Adam Fisher (Temple) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Fisher begins his own head coaching career after gaining plenty of D1 experience. He’s a graduate of Penn State who has worked not only at his alma mater but as a graduate assistant at Villanova and a full-time assistant for Jim Larranaga at Miami. Following a pair of seasons with Micah Shrewsberry with the Nittany Lions, Fisher takes over at Temple, hoping to resurrect an Owls program that has been less successful since joining the AAC a decade ago.

284. Matt McKillop (Davidson) (Last year: 343)

• Overall record: 16-16

After playing under and spending over a decade as an assistant to his father, McKillop took over as Davidson’s head coach last season. He briefly played with Stephen Curry and helped the Wildcats recruit a ton of impressive talent in recent years, but running the program is a different animal. While an 8th place finish in year one isn’t ideal, McKillop is only getting started and we won’t know what to make of him until he has a few more years under his belt.

283. Dave Dickerson (USC Upstate) (Last year: 288)

• Overall record: 123-181

Things have actually been trending in a good direction for USC Upstate in recent years as Dickerson begins year six leading the Spartans. His best success came as a D1 assistant, winning a national championship with Maryland and helping Ohio State to a Final Four just over a decade ago. Dickerson had a rocky stint as head coach at Tulane, but his time in Spartansburg has begun turning around, leading USC Upstate to 16 wins and a trip to the CBI this past season.

282. Stan Gouard (Southern Indiana) (Last year: 358)

• Overall record: 16-17

Outside of a three-year stint on Indiana State’s staff, this past season was Gouard’s first D1 experience. He had 12 years as the head coach at Indianapolis before taking over Southern Indiana in 2020. He won a D2 national title under Bruce Pearl as a player for the Screaming Eagles back in 1995 and now has led his alma mater to the D1 level. The record isn’t stunning, but tying for 6th in the OVC and getting a CBI invite is a very solid start, especially in just year three with the program.

281. Anthony Latina (Sacred Heart) (Last year: 279)

• Overall record: 125-177

A former point guard at Brandeis, Latina spent nearly two decades as a collegiate assistant, with stints at UMass Lowell and Central Connecticut before he was brought to Sacred Heart back in 2005. After eight years assisting Dave Bike, he began his head coaching career with those Pioneers and has been in position for a decade already. Sacred Heart has had some solid seasons under Latina’s leadership and finished 5th in the NEC this past season, bouncing back after a 10-20 mark the previous season.

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

• Overall record: 51-62

Paulus has had quite the sports journey, having starred at Duke as a point guard before briefly playing quarterback at Syracuse. He’s been in coaching since 2010, with stints at Ohio State, Louisville, and a few other schools. Niagara originally brought him aboard in 2019 as an assistant, but he became the interim and later permanent head coach only a few months later. This past year was his first getting the Purple Eagles to .500 in conference play, finishing 5th in the MAAC and hoping for even better things ahead.

279. Brian Barone (SIU Edwardsville) (Last year: 309)

• Overall record: 47-75

A junior college assistant early in his career, Barone spent times on the staffs of Porter Moser, Tom Crean, and Brian Wardle early in his career, having connecting with all of them as a player at Texas A&M and Marquette. He arrived at SIU Edwardsville in 2017 and was promoted to head coach just two seasons later, giving him his first real head coaching gig. This past season was a serious breakthrough, leading SIUE to a 19-win season that was their best total (by 7!) since joining D1 just over a decade ago.

278. Eric Olen (UC San Diego) (Last year: 273)

• Overall record: 30-46

Ever since he helped lead Spring Hill to a ton of NAIA success in the early 2000’s, Olen has spent his entire coaching career at UC San Diego. After nine years on the Tritons’ bench as an assistant, he was promoted to head coach in 2013 and enters year eleven leading the program. He led the Tritons to four straight D2 Tournaments before UC San Diego transitioned to the D1 level in 2020. It’s been a tough first few seasons in the Big West for the Tritons, finishing just 10-20 and 9th in the league last season.

277. Luke Yaklich (UIC) (Last year: 265)

• Overall record: 35-49

Yaklich was a high school coach in Illinois for more than a decade before returning to Illinois State, his alma mater, as an assistant to Dan Muller. He gained prominence as a defensive-minded assistant at Michigan and Texas in the coming years, helping lead the Wolverines to the Final Four in 2018. Yaklich began his collegiate head coaching career at UIC back in 2020. He’s produced three seasons under .500 and turned in an 11th place finish in the Flames’ first year in the MVC; is a revival coming?

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

• Overall record: 135-153

Though just 41 years old, Martin has spent his entire collegiate experience in the Ivy League, both as a player and coach. He played at Brown in the early 2000’s and was briefly an assistant with the program before following Glen Miller to rival Penn. Back in 2012, he returned to his alma mater as head coach a few months shy of his 30th birthday and has been entrenched in Providence ever since. He’s led Brown to a couple postseason appearances and took the Bears to a 4th place finish this past year, making it three out of four seasons above .500.

275. Justin Gray (Western Carolina) (Last year: 333)

• Overall record: 29-37

Formerly a highly-sought prospect, Gray played shooting guard at Wake Forest, teaming up with Chris Paul in the early 2000’s. He’d spent more than a decade playing professional overseas before beginning his coaching career just a few seasons ago. After a brief stint as a staffer with the Demon Deacons, he was a full-time assistant for Pat Kelsey at Winthrop before accepting the Western Carolina job in 2021. After a mediocre debut, he led the Catamounts to 18 wins and a 4th place finish in a solid SoCon this past year.

274. Ed Conroy (The Citadel) (Last year: 272)

• Overall record: 151-201

Boasting more than three decades of collegiate coaching experience, Conroy began his second stint as head coach at The Citadel last season. He formerly was an assistant at a myriad of schools, including NC State, Tulsa, and Tennessee, before head coaching stints at The Citadel and Tulane with mixed results. After spending several seasons at Minnesota and Vanderbilt as an assistant, he returned to The Citadel last season, winning just 10 games in his first season back in Charleston; we’ll have to see if he can match his earlier success with the Bulldogs.

273. George Ivory (Mississippi Valley State) (Last year: 253)

• Overall record: 145-296

It felt fitting that Ivory was hired by Mississippi Valley State this past season, having played for the Delta Devils back in the 80’s. He was an assistant in the SWAC at multiple schools and is coming off a recent 13-year stint leading Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He took those Golden Lions to the 2010 NCAA Tournament, though his tenure in Pine Bluff ended in disappointment. Mississippi Valley State has struggled as a program in recent memory, with Ivory finishing just 5-27 in his first season at the helm.

272. Grant Leonard (Queens) (Last year: 362)

• Overall record: 18-15

Early in his career, Leonard bounced around a number of smaller colleges in the Midwest, including a stint at Texas-Pan American, but this was his first head coaching experience. He was an assistant at Queens back in 2013 and was promoted to head coach last offseason. The promotion came the same time the Royals ascended to the D1 level. Certainly, there’s always room for improvement, but there’s little disappointment with an 18-win campaign in their first season in the ASUN.

271. Tavaras Hardy (Loyola-Maryland) (Last year: 266)

• Overall record: 59-85

Born in Joliet, a suburb of Chicago, Hardy played his college ball at Northwestern and began his coaching career on Bill Carmody’s staff with the Wildcats. He actually had stints on three different power conference programs, playing an important role at Georgetown and Georgia Tech as well. His first head coaching opportunity came when Loyola brought him to town in 2018. Unfortunately, the Greyhounds are still hunting for their first finish above .500 under Hardy’s leadership, winning just 13 games last season with a 6th place finish in the MAAC.

270. Dan Engelstad (Mount St. Mary’s) (Last year: 267)

• Overall record: 59-90

Engelstad is still a relatively young coach, but he does have a decade of head coaching experience under his belt already. His coaching career got started with stints under Milan Brown at Mount St. Mary’s and Holy Cross before Southern Vermont gave him his head coaching shot back in 2013. After leading that program to D3 success, he returned to Mount St. Mary’s as head coach in 2018. He led the Mountaineers to the NCAA Tournament just two years ago and is coming off an 8th place finish in the program’s first season in the MAAC.

269. Johnny Tauer (St. Thomas) (Last year: 339)

• Overall record: 29-34

Aside from the few years where he was getting his doctorate, Tauer has spent his entire collegiate experience at St. Thomas. He played for the Tommies back in the early 90’s and joined the staff as an assistant in 2000. Tauer has been the head coach since 2011, leading St. Thomas to a D3 national championship in 2016 and a host of other success. The program transitioned to D1 two offseasons ago and a breakout year last season, finishing 19-14 with a 4th place finish in the Summit League.

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

• Overall record: 71-137

Perry has been around basketball for several decades and not just at the college level. His first head coaching gig came at Idaho and after that he spent half a decade as a scout and assistant with the Indiana Pacers. He was also an assistant under Larry Eustachy at four different schools before and after those stints before landing at Pacific seven years ago. Perry was promoted to head coach in 2021 and had a much better second season this year, tying for 5th place in a tough WCC.

267. Josh Eilert (West Virginia) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

Being an interim head coach at a major program is never easy, and Eilert steps in this season after Bob Huggins’ departure from West Virginia’s program. Eilert played at Kansas State two decades ago and was a graduate assistant under Huggins before following him to West Virginia back in 2007. Over the last sixteen years, Eilert has severed a number of roles for the Mountaineers and was actually a full-time assistant for only one of those years. What can we expect now that he’s the one calling the shots for this program?

266. Reggie Theus (Bethune-Cookman) (Last year: 264)

• Overall record: 115-169

Theus spent over a decade as a player in the NBA and has served as a head coach at the collegiate, NBA, ABA, and G-League levels. His first collegiate experience came on Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville, helping the Cardinals to a Final Four in 2005 before moving on to New Mexico State. Theus had success with those Aggies and a rocky stint leading Cal State Northridge, but took over at Bethune-Cookman just two seasons ago. This past season was better than his first with the Wildcats, though it’s hard to get too excited over a 12-20 mark and a 7th place finish in the SWAC.

265. Billy Lange (Saint Joseph’s) (Last year: 277)

• Overall record: 130-192

Much of Lange’s basketball career has come in Philadelphia, and that trend continues in his current head coaching gig. He’s actually from New Jersey and has been head coach of both the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy and Navy, mostly struggling in that first D1 head coaching job. Lange had time under Jay Wright at Villanova and spent six years assisting the Philadelphia 76ers when Saint Joseph’s hired him in 2019. There hasn’t been much to celebrate so far, though the Hawks’ 16 wins this past season was actually a major step forward.

264. Rob Krimmel (St. Francis PA) (Last year: 271)

• Overall record: 147-188

A fixture at St. Francis since 1996, Krimmel played point guard for the Red Flash before joining the coaching staff right after graduation. He was an assistant for over a decade before he was named head coach in 2012, spending his entire collegiate life at St. Francis alone. He’s had eleven years leading this program, with a few postseason bids and a NEC regular season title under his belt. Last season’s squad won just 13 games, but their 4th place finish in the NEC was a big step forward after two rough seasons.

263. Brian Collins (Tennessee State) (Last year: 303)

• Overall record: 63-87

A former player at Belmont and a native of Nashville, Collins has also had coaching success in his home state of Tennessee. His career began as an assistant at Tennessee State and a successful head coaching stint at Columbia State CC. Collins was an assistant at two more D1 schools before he was brought back to Tennessee State in 2018 as the head coach. His time with the Tigers has been up and down across the last half decade, but last year was good, with 18 wins and a 3rd place finish in the OVC, his best season yet.

262. Greg Gary (Mercer) (Last year: 258)

• Overall record: 81-106

Gary has bounced around quite a bit in his coaching career, though the former point guard from Tulane did spend a number of years under his coach Perry Clark, including a stint at Miami. He was head coach at Centenary back when the Gentlemen were a D1 program, spent nearly a decade with Matt Painter at Purdue, and was then hired by Mercer in 2019. His first season leading the Bears was his best and unfortunately this past year was the worst, finishing just 14-19 and struggling in conference play in the SoCon.

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

• Overall record: 63-86

Originally a high school coach for more than a decade, Pujol became a collegiate assistant nearly two decades ago, spending time at four different schools. He was an assistant under Anthony Grant at both VCU and Alabama and spent some time at Wyoming before North Alabama hired him back in 2018. His hire coincided with the program’s rise to D1. After four mediocre seasons to start, the Lions had their best season this past year, winning 18 games and making the CBI, finishing above .500 in conference play for the first time.

260. David Patrick (Sacramento State) (Last year: 257)

• Overall record: 41-56

As a player, Patrick was part of a Final Four team at Syracuse in 1996 before ending his college playing career at Louisiana. He’d spent time playing professionally over in Australia and would even assist their national team later in his career. Patrick has been an assistant for six different D1 schools and had two solid years as head coach at UC Riverside. Sacramento State handed him the reigns last offseason, with year one’s results being a decent 14-18 mark, albeit an improvement from their previous season.

259. Chris Caputo (George Washington) (Last year: 313)

• Overall record: 16-16

After a playing career at Westfield State, a D3 college in Massachusetts, Caputo would join Jim Larranaga’s coaching staff at George Mason and would be set up for success. He’d become a full-time assistant and later helped lead the Patriots to the Final Four in 2006. Caputo followed Larranaga to Miami, spending 11 years in the ACC on his mentor’s bench. Caputo’s first shot at running his own program came last year when George Washington hired him. Tying for 6th place in the A-10 is certainly a solid enough start.

258. Keith Richard (Louisiana-Monroe) (Last year: 255)

• Overall record: 302-369

Richard has spent nearly all of his career in the state of Louisiana, including most of his four decades in the collegiate game. He’s been an assistant at several schools, including a stint at LSU, and previously spent nine seasons as head coach at Louisiana Tech. Since 2010, Richard has been head coach at Louisiana-Monroe and it’s been an interesting journey with the Warhawks. He led the program to four postseason bids in five years earlier in his tenure, but his Warhawks have been under .500 and have struggled in the last four seasons.

257. Talvin Hester (Louisiana Tech) (Last year: 341)

• Overall record: 15-18

Two decades as a collegiate assistant prepared Hester for this moment and he’s now a year into his first head coaching job. He spent time at a number of D1 colleges over the years, with his first taste at Prairie View A&M before success with Houston, Oral Roberts, Louisiana Tech, and Texas Tech in recent years. The Bulldogs brought him back as head coach in 2022 after a year in the Big 12 and it was a decent enough start to his head coaching career, though a 9th place finish in the CUSA certainly isn’t the ceiling.

256. Donald Copeland (Wagner) (Last year: 334)

• Overall record: 15-13

A former point guard at Seton Hall, Copeland played international ball for nearly a decade before beginning his coaching career. He originally arrived at Wagner in 2015 as a graduate assistant and would only leave for a season on Kevin Willard’s staff at Seton Hall. Copeland would depart his alma mater to return to Wagner as head coach in 2022. While 15 wins and a 5th place finish in the NEC is actually a step backwards form last season, it’s certainly a great start to a head coaching career.

255. Monte’ Ross (North Carolina A&T) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 132-184

Ross previously spent a decade as the head coach at Delaware and has been a college basketball coach for the better part of three decades. He started as an assistant at Lehigh way back in 1993 before later spending a decade at Saint Joseph’s, helping them to that memorable 2004 season. Ross had spent the last four years on the staff at Temple and now gets his second shot as head coach, taking over a North Carolina A&T program looking for stability.

254. Billy Taylor (Elon) (Last year: 245)

• Overall record: 173-192

It’s been a mixed bag of a coaching career for Taylor, who just began his fourth head coaching job last season at Elon. He led Lehigh to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 before six mediocre seasons leading Ball State. Taylor was also an assistant under Fran McCaffery, with two stints at Iowa sandwiching time leading D2 Belmont Abbey. Elon won just 8 games in Taylor’s first season leading the Phoenix, though it’s too early to know if he can turn this program around.

253. Landon Bussie (Alcorn State) (Last year: 276)

• Overall record: 41-44

Bussie ended his own playing career at Xavier University of Louisiana, an NAIA school that he later served at as an assistant. He’d move on to Prairie View A&M, spending seven years first as a women’s assistant and then coaching with the men’s team. His first shot at running a program came when Alcorn State gave him their job in 2020. After struggling in his first season, he’d led the Braves to back-to-back SWAC regular season titles, though Alcorn State has settled for the NIT in both campaigns.

252. John Dunne (Marist) (Last year: 250)

• Overall record: 211-312

No strange to collegiate coaching, Dunne’s career began over three decades ago with short stints at schools like Wilkes and Adelphi. He assisted Louis Orr at Siena and Seton Hall before starting his head coaching career at Saint Peter’s back in 2006. Dunne has spent the last 17 years as a head coach in the MAAC, leading the Peacocks to a Tourney appearance and CIT title before transitioning to Marist in 2018. His only season above .500 with the Red Foxes was the shortened post-pandemic season and his team is coming off an 11th place finish in the league.

251. Kenny Payne (Louisville) (Last year: 84)

• Overall record: 4-28

Easily the largest dropper in the history of these rankings, Payne begins his second year at Louisville with almost nowhere to go but up. A former forward at Louisville and for the Philadelphia 76ers, he had long coaching stints at Oregon and Kentucky, helping John Calipari build a fantastic program as an assistant. After a pair of seasons in the NBA with the New York Knicks, Payne was brought back to his alma mater last season and it was horrific. The Cardinals somehow won just 4 games and were the worst power conference team we’ve seen in several years.

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

• Overall record: 38-28

Much of Tanner’s experience has come in the great state of Texas, including junior college stints long ago. He had long stints as an assistant or associate head coach at both Stephen F. Austin and Abilene Christian with varying levels of success. When Joe Golding left the program in 2021, Abilene Christian handed him the reins. Winning 25 games in his first season was excellent, but a 13-17 mark last year was clearly a step back as the program reloaded some talent.

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

• Overall record: 45-47

Smiley spent six years as a junior college head coach at Sheridan College, but this time with Northern Colorado is his first shot running a D1 program. He had spent time at a few non-D1 schools before coaching stints at Weber State and Northern Colorado. When Jeff Linder was hired by Wyoming, Smiley was promoted to head coach and is three years into his stint. His second season featured 22 wins and a deep run at the CBI, but the Bears won just 12 games and finished 8th in the Big Sky last year.

248. Marty Simmons (Eastern Illinois) (Last year: 248)

• Overall record: 198-223

A native of southeastern Illinois, Simmons has spent nearly his entire coaching career in that part of the country, including all four of his head coaching stints. He was head coach at Wartburg and SIU Edwardsville (before they were D1) and spent 11 years leading Evansville, his alma mater. He won a CIT title at Evansville, but was fired in 2018 and spent three years as a special assistant at Clemson. Eastern Illinois brought him to town two seasons ago, but he’s just 14-48 to this point.

247. Tony Barbee (Central Michigan) (Last year: 241)

• Overall record: 148-171

Barbee played his college ball at UMass under John Calipari and has been an assistant under him at three different schools. Barbee spent long stints at Memphis and Kentucky on Calipari’s coaching staffs, sandwiching his first taste of head coaching. He led UTEP to the NCAA Tournament and a few CBI runs before stalling in four seasons as head coach at Auburn. Central Michigan gave him the job in 2021, though a pair of 10th place finishes in the MAC and just 17 total wins hasn’t been the greatest start for the Chippewas.

246. Mark Slessinger (New Orleans) (Last year: 246)

• Overall record: 144-184

After working at a few different schools early in his career, including two seasons as a junior college head coach at Northland Pioneer, Slessinger had a 12-year stint as an assistant at Northwestern State under Mike McConathy. His first D1 head coaching opportunity came in 2011 at New Orleans and he’s led the Privateers ever since. His tenure included a trip to the Big Dance in 2017 and a few other postseason trips, though last year’s 12-20 mark was certainly a down year for the program.

245. Tom Pecora (Quinnipiac) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 199-232

Pecora begins his fourth head coaching job and his third at the D1 level, taking the top job for Quinnipiac this past offseason. Formerly head coach at SUNY Farmingdale more than three decades ago, he had varying levels of success leading Hofstra and Fordham, though his time with the Rams wasn’t great. Eight years after Fordham fired him, he begins his next quest, having spent the last six years on the Quinnipiac staff in various roles. Can he build on last year’s 3rd place finish in the MAAC?

244. Eric Duft (Weber State) (Last year: 350)

• Overall record: 18-15

He began his career as a junior college coach in his home state of Kansas, but Duft has made himself quite a life out in Utah at Weber State. He joined the staff when Randy Rahe was originally hired back in 2006 and spent the next sixteen years as an assistant, taking over as the head coach this past season. It’s hard to tell too much from a first season, but 18 wins and a 3rd place finish in the Big Sky certainly seems like a solid first season for the Wildcats.

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

• Overall record: 172-185

Long before arriving at Stony Brook, Ford already had a plethora of coaching experience. He was briefly an assistant at Ohio, his alma mater, and has been the head coach at Shawnee State and Muskingum, two non-D1 schools. As a D1 head coach, he took Kent State to a pair of NIT’s before bottoming out at Bradley nearly a decade ago. He joined the Seawolves’ staff under Jeff Boals in 2016 and was promoted to the top job three years later. He’s had a few good seasons, but last year’s 11-22 finish in their first year in the CAA was certainly disappointing.

242. Brian Earl (Cornell) (Last year: 251)

• Overall record: 74-95

While his career certainly hasn’t all been spent in Ithaca, Earl has only known life in the Ivy League, at least at the collegiate level. He played at Princeton back in the 90’s, appearing in a few NCAA Tournaments, before joining the coaching staff for nearly a decade. In 2016, he began his head coaching career at Cornell and has had decent results with the Big Red. Not only did he get Cornell to the CIT in his third season, but he’s lead them to at least a 4th place finish in four of his six seasons at the helm, including a personal-high 17 wins last year.

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

• Overall record: 292-340

Much of Witherspoon’s life has been spent in and around Buffalo, including his playing career and his entire head coaching career. He was a high school and junior college coach in the city before being hired by the Buffalo, the program in the MAC. He spent 14 years with the Bulls and made a few postseason trips. After two brief coaching stints outside the state, including at Alabama, he was hired by Canisius in 2016 and led the Golden Griffins to success early in his tenure. Unfortunately, Canisius hasn’t won more than 12 games in the last four seasons.

240. Dan Earl (Chattanooga) (Last year: 252)

• Overall record: 91-156

A former point guard at Penn State, Earl played briefly overseas before beginning his coaching career at his alma mater back in the mid-2000’s. He’d serve on Ed DeChellis’s staff and later followed him to Navy as associate head coach. Earl got his own head coaching start at VMI in 2015, spending the next seven years building the Keydets program. He moved on to Chattanooga in 2022, staying in the SoCon, and taking over a program riding high off a trip to the Big Dance. A 7th place finish in the league in year one doesn’t sound great, but it’s a decent start for the Mocs.

239. Mark Prosser (Winthrop) (Last year: 242)

• Overall record: 75-79

The son of a fantastic head coach in his own right, Prosser has done well to mark his own path in the sport. He was an assistant at numerous schools, including stops at Bucknell, Wofford, and Winthrop. Prosser spent a single year as head coach at D2 Brevard, but really got his career going when Western Carolina hired him in 2018. Three decent seasons leading the Catamounts led Winthrop to bringing him back to the program as head coach, where he delivered a regular season title in his first season and a less impressive 4th place mark in year two.

238. Ryan Ridder (Tennessee-Martin) (Last year: 260)

• Overall record: 75-81

It’s been a recent rise for Ridder who has spent the last decade as a college basketball head coach. Still just 38 years old, he assisted at a few schools, including Campbell at the D1 level, before starting his head coaching career at Daytona State. After a ton of junior college success, he was hired at Bethune-Cookman and had four decent years with those Wildcats. UT Martin hired him in 2021 and things are going well early on, with the Skyhawks winning 19 games and tying for 3rd in the OVC this past season.

237. Scott Pera (Rice) (Last year: 259)

• Overall record: 85-106

A longtime high school head coach, Pera’s collegiate career got started in earnest on Herb Sendek’s staff at Arizona State. He worked at a few different colleges and joined Mike Rhoades’ Rice staff back in 2014. After three years, Rhoades departed for VCU and Pera became the head coach. He’s slowly been building the Owls into a better program, with back-to-back CBI trips in the last two seasons. He failed to finish above .500 in the CUSA and has a tougher challenge ahead, with Rice joining the AAC this year.

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

• Overall record: 265-296

Currently in his second stint leading Air Force, Scott has had an eventful coaching career already. A former point guard at Princeton, he was a longtime assistant for the Tigers and even became head coach way back in 2004, the very job that caused him to leave Air Force the first time. Add on a 9-year stint leading Denver and Scott had been the head coach for three different D1 programs, with his lone trip to the Big Dance coming with these Falcons. The program is improving but he’s just 30-56 during this second stint.

235. Steve Henson (UTSA) (Last year: 215)

• Overall record: 99-123

Still serving his first head coaching job at UTSA, Henson spent much of his early coaching career under Lon Kruger. He played point under Kruger at Kansas State, and after a playing career that included a few years in the NBA, Henson assisted Kruger with Illinois, the Atlanta Hawks, UNLV, and Oklahoma. After helping the Sooners to a Final Four in 2016, he advanced to UTSA and has had mixed results in seven years. He won 20 games in his second season in San Antonio but has won just 10 apiece these last two seasons, finishing 11th in the CUSA for this year.

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

• Overall record: 155-164

Formerly head coach at the high school and D3 level (at Beaver College), McGeehan has been a D1 coach for the better part of the last two decades. His entire experience as an assistant came under Chris Mooney, brief at Air Force before a long stint at Richmond. He was hired as the new head coach at Campbell back in 2013 and has had some success with the Camels, making the NIT in 2019 and winning plenty of games. Coming off a 16-18 season, Campbell transitions to the CAA this season, meaning new challenges are ahead for McGeehan and this program.

233. Kenny Blakeney (Howard) (Last year: 304)

• Overall record: 43-59

Blakeney played at Duke in the early 90’s and has bounced around quite a bit in his coaching career. He was an assistant at James Madison, Seton Hall, Harvard, and a few other schools before eventually being hired by Howard back in 2019. His first head coaching job started a little rough, but this past season certainly made up for early struggles. Blakeney led the Bison to the MEAC regular season and tournament titles, getting Howard to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 31 years.

232. Donte Jackson (Grambling State) (Last year: 254)

• Overall record: 99-87

Originally from Milwaukee, Jackson has had himself a pretty decent run to this point as a collegiate coach. He’s a former player, assistant, and head coach at Central State, while also leading Stillman to the D2 Tournament a few years later. After those two D2 head coaching gigs, he was hired by Grambling State in 2017. He’s been pretty steady with the Tigers, a program once considered one of the nation’s worst. Grambling finished 24-9 this past season, with Jackson earning a second SWAC regular season title.

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

• Overall record: 44-51

After playing at Southern Illinois under Bruce Weber and Matt Painter, Korn began his coaching career with those same Salukis for nearly a decade. He was on Weber’s staff at Kansas State and also spent time at Missouri State as well before getting his shot to run a program. Southeast Missouri State hired him in 2020 and he’s just achieved the desired results in year three, leading the Redhawks to the NCAA Tournament this past March.

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

• Overall record: 257-288

Ferry has been a collegiate head coach at six different schools, though one of those stops was as the interim leader. Early in his career he had success at D3 Plymouth State and D2 Adelphi before starting a decade as head coach at Long Island, taking the Blackbirds to a pair of NCAA Tournaments in the early 2010’s. He struggled at Duquesne and was briefly interim head coach at Penn State before landing at UMBC in 2021. Two 18-win campaigns with decent conference finishes have followed, though it’s nothing too special yet for him with the Retrievers.

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

• Overall record: 213-233

For more than a decade, Joyner was a player and assistant coach at Johnson C. Smith, a D2 school in North Carolina. He joined Hampton’s coaching staff in 2006 and was promoted to head coach just three years later. There’s been success for the Pirates across the last fourteen years, including three trips to the Big Dance in his first seven years. Hampton took a slight step back after joining the Big South in 2018 and finished just 8-24 last year, the program’s first season in the CAA.

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

• Overall record: 77-79

Following a playing career at Colgate, Ballard served as an assistant at several D1 schools, starting right back at his alma mater. He’s worked with Shaka Smart at VCU, Kevin Stallings at Pittsburgh, and Mike Rhoades in a second stint with the Rams. In 2018, he got his first head coaching job at Florida International. The first two years were solid, winning 39 games combined in those seasons, but the Panthers have been below .500 in the three years since, though they did tie for 6th in the CUSA this season.

227. Michael Schwartz (East Carolina) (Last year: 319)

• Overall record: 16-17

A longtime D1 assistant, Schwartz only just began his head coaching career this past season at East Carolina. He briefly played at Texas under Rick Barnes and spent a decade on his staffs both with the Longhorns and most recently at Tennessee. Between that Schwartz spent time Miami, Tulsa, and a few other schools. This 16-win campaign wasn’t exactly outstanding, but it was the Pirates’ most wins in a season in nine years, a more than solid start to a head coaching career.

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

• Overall record: 34-26

After playing his college ball at Kent State, Mincy spent just over a decade as a collegiate assistant, starting off as a graduate assistant at South Carolina. He split time between six different schools, including seven years under Mike White at both Louisiana Tech and Florida as one of his top assistants. Mincy’s first head coaching position came at Jacksonville, where he’s been since 2021. His Dolphins won 21 games in a phenomenal first year, but tied for 11th in the ASUN this past season.

225. Byron Smith (Prairie View A&M) (Last year: 220)

• Overall record: 113-113

Smith bounced around as an assistant at a number of schools early in this career, and was even the coach of the Harlem Globetrotters two decades ago. He was all over the game of basketball in the state of Texas, even spending time on staff at Houston and Texas A&M. He was hired by Prairie View A&M back in 2013 as an assistant and would become interim head coach just over three years later. Smith led the Panthers to just their second-ever trip to the Big Dance in 2019 and won three straight SWAC regular season titles, though the last two years have been more mediocre.

224. King Rice (Monmouth) (Last year: 187)

• Overall record: 189-193

Rice has been entrenched at Monmouth since 2011 and spent several years as a D1 assistant before that. A former North Carolina point guard, he served time at Oregon, Illinois State, Providence, and Vanderbilt, spending time under Kevin Stallings at two of those schools. He led the Hawks to a pair of MAAC titles early in his career, but hasn’t yet sniffed the Big Dance. He’s led Monmouth during two conference changes, though this one’s off to a rough start, as the Hawks were just 7-26 last year in their CAA debut.

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

• Overall record: 136-163

UMass Lowell’s head coach for their entire run at the D1 level, Duquette’s coaching career began with short stints at non-D1 schools. He was hired by Al Skinner at Boston College and would spend thirteen seasons with the Eagles. After a short run at Northeastern, Duquette moved over to Lowell, taking over the River Hawks’ program in 2013. His first decade produced a lot of average finishes but culminated in success, as the River Hawks finished 26-8 last season with a 2nd place finish in the America East.

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

• Overall record: 195-230

Native to West Virginia, Spiker actually served as an admin assistant with the Mountaineers early in his career before getting his first full-time shot at Cornell. A few years later, his head coaching career began with a solid seven-year stint at Army. Spiker moved to Drexel back in 2016 and has fared much better in recent years. He’d lead the Dragons to the NCAA Tournament back in 2021 and has finished above .500 in CAA play in each of the last two seasons as well.

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

• Overall record: 96-96

Influenced by some of the sports’ best coaches, Calhoun played at Cleveland State under Rollie Massimino and was a student assistant and later a staffer under Bob Huggins at both Cincinnati and West Virginia. His first head coaching experience came at Fairmont State, as he led the Fighting Falcons to the D2 title game in 2017. A few weeks later he was hired by Youngstown State and has turned the Horizon League’s perennial doormat into a contender, winning 24 games and the league’s regular season title this past season.

220. Darris Nichols (Radford) (Last year: 322)

• Overall record: 32-33

Once his play days at West Virginia were over, Nichols got into coaching after a very brief international career. He was a graduate assistant at his alma mater and spent time at four different schools as an assistant, including at Louisiana Tech and Florida under Mike White. The first head coaching chance came at Radford in 2021 and it’s been a decent first two years. While his first season wasn’t anything special, he just led the Highlanders to 21 wins and a trip to the semifinals of the CBI.

219. John Gallagher (Manhattan) (Last year: 213)

• Overall record: 169-207

It’s been an interesting journey for Gallagher in recent years and we’ll explain why. He coached at a number of D1 schools, including La Salle and Penn, before he was hired by Hartford back in 2010 as their new head coach. His first head coaching job, he would have success with the Hawks, leading them to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, but was blindsided by the school’s decision to drop down from D1. After resigning last year, he was recently hired by Manhattan, inheriting a program coming off its own inconsistent season.

218. Chris Gerlufsen (San Francisco) (Last year: 294)

• Overall record: 28-19

Before beginning his head coaching career on the west coast, Gerlufsen had bounced around at a number of schools all over the country. After a few non-D1 jobs, he spent long stints at The Citadel and Hartford before heading west, with stints at San Diego, Hawaii, and San Francisco. He was promoted to head coach last season after Todd Golden left for Florida. His Dons won 20 games and tied for 5th in a tight WCC in his first season, but there’s certainly room for improvement.

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

• Overall record: 125-161

Ladner has served as a head coach for more than three decades, though the first twenty years came at the high school level in Mississippi. After winning a junior college title at Jones County JC, he led Southeastern Louisiana for five seasons, winning a Southland regular season title during that span. Back in 2019, Ladner was hired by Southern Miss and things weren’t great initially. This past season significantly redeemed his stock, as he led the Golden Eagles into the Sun Belt with a 25-8 record and a regular season title.

216. Corey Gipson (Austin Peay) (Last year: 351)

• Overall record: 22-11

A former player and assistant at Austin Peay, Gipson returns to his alma mater this season as the new head coach. He was previously an assistant at a few other schools, including stints at UNC Greensboro and Missouri State. Gipson’s head coaching career actually began last season at Northwestern State, where he led the Demons to a major bounce back, winning 22 games and finishing 2nd in the Southland. Now he’s given a similar task with the Governors, who begin their second season in the ASUN.

215. Matthew Driscoll (North Florida) (Last year: 209)

• Overall record: 217-231

Driscoll was an assistant at several schools early in his career, and even spent four years at D3 LaRoche as head coach. His first D1 experience came under Larry Shyatt as an assistant at Wyoming and Clemson. Driscoll then served on Scott Drew’s initial Baylor staff before he was hired at North Florida way back in 2009. Driscoll has led the Ospreys for 14 years, getting them to the 2015 NCAA Tournament and three ASUN titles in the process. The last three seasons have been under .500, including a 7th place finish in the league in 2023.

214. Josh Schertz (Indiana State) (Last year: 305)

• Overall record: 34-33

Early on, Schertz was an assistant under Bart Lundy at Queens and High Point, but he’s certainly carved out his own legacy as a head coach. He spent 13 years leading Lincoln Memorial, taking the Railsplitters to a slew of D2 postseason success, including three Final Fours in his last six seasons. Schertz got his D1 chance just two seasons ago when Indiana State brought him aboard. After an underwhelming first season, Schertz led the Sycamores to a 23-13 mark with a 5th place finish in the MVC, a major step forward for this program.

213. Daniyal Robinson (Cleveland State) (Last year: 331)

• Overall record: 21-14

Before his head coaching career began, Robinson spent more than two decades as a collegiate assistant. He worked initially at Little Rock and Illinois State under Porter Moser and would later be on his staff at Loyola-Chicago. Robinson was briefly at Houston and spent nearly a decade at Iowa State under three different head coaches. Cleveland State gave him that first head coaching shot last offseason and the first year was certainly a solid effort, with the Vikings winning 21 games for the first time in nearly a decade.

212. Joe Jones (Boston University) (Last year: 203)

• Overall record: 288-282

Boasting nearly twenty years of D1 head coaching experience, Jones has become quite the name, especially in Beantown in recent years. He was originally an assistant under Jay Wright at Hofstra and later worked under him at Villanova. Jones’s first taste of head coaching came in a 7-year stint at Columbia before a brief stint on staff at Boston College. Since 2011, he’s been the head coach at Boston University and has had better success with the Terriers. He’s finished Top 5 in the Patriot League in all but one of his seasons, though last year’s 15-17 mark was certainly a step back.

211. Lennie Acuff (Lipscomb) (Last year: 247)

• Overall record: 65-60

Before his current stint at Lipscomb, Acuff had been a head coach at three other schools, with short stints at Belhaven and Berry, two NAIA schools. He spent 22 seasons as the head coach at Alabama-Huntsville at the D2 level, taking that program to several conference titles and postseason appearances. Lipscomb hired him back in 2019 and he’s coming off his best season leading the Bisons. Last year, Lipscomb won 20 games and finished 5th in the ASUN.

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

• Overall record: 43-39

Bouncing around between several colleges, Johnson earned plenty of experience before his own head coaching career began. He started twenty years ago at Bemidji State and spent time at seven different schools, including at Utah, Arizona State, and most recently with Marquette. Johnson was hired by Loyola Marymount back in 2020 and had a great first season, finishing 3rd in the WCC. After taking a step back in year two, Johnson led the Lions to 19 wins and a 4th place finish this past season.

209. Nathan Davis (New Hampshire) (Last year: 188)

• Overall record: 129-115

This season marks a new beginning for Davis, who takes over at New Hampshire. A former assistant at Navy, Bucknell, and a few other schools, he led Randolph-Macon to the D3 Tournament in all six years as head coach before taking over at Bucknell back in 2015. With the Bison, he won four straight Patriot League titles and went twice to the Big Dance, but his last four seasons were miserable and he was fired last year. He’ll look to regroup with a Wildcats program that has never been to the NCAA Tournament.

208. Ben Johnson (Minnesota) (Last year: 149)

• Overall record: 22-39

Johnson hasn’t exactly had the kind of success he was hoping for early on at his alma mater. A native of Minneapolis, he served on several coaching staffs, with time at Northern Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Xavier before returning to the Golden Gophers as head coach in 2021. Minnesota had just finished below .500 in consecutive seasons and unfortunately the streak is now four straight. Johnson’s Golden Gophers finished dead last in the Big Ten last season and only won 9 games; patience might run out sooner rather than later.

207. Kevin Broadus (Morgan State) (Last year: 204)

• Overall record: 94-80

Originally from Washington DC, Broadus has spent his entire coaching career doing solid work on the east coast. He was an assistant at a number of schools, including Georgetown (who made a Final Four in 2007), before he took over as head coach at Binghamton. He led the Bearcats to the Big Dance but was dismissed following several violations. After assisting at Georgetown and Maryland for nearly a decade, he got his second chance at Morgan State and has been relatively decent, sitting 57-54 through four years in the MEAC.

206. Michael Lewis (Ball State) (Last year: 315)

• Overall record: 20-12

Lewis played at Indiana under Bob Knight before joining his former coach as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech in the early 2000’s. His coaching career saw him on numerous staffs over the years, including Butler under Brad Stevens, Nebraska, and most recently with UCLA. Lewis got his head coaching opportunity just last season, taking over at Ball State. Year one was certainly a great start, as his Cardinals won 20 games for the first time in six years while finishing 4th in the MAC.

205. Bashir Mason (Saint Peter’s) (Last year: 197)

• Overall record: 179-148

After playing point guard at Drexel, Mason began his coaching career with stints on staff at Marist and Wagner. Surprisingly, he was promoted to Wagner’s top job in 2012 when he was still just 28 years old. He won three NEC regular season titles with the Seahawks and was largely successful during his tenure. He jumped ship last offseason, taking over a Saint Peter’s program coming off that unbelievable run to the Elite Eight. His first season with the Peacocks was no comparison, as Mason’s crew finished just 14-18.

204. Matt Figger (UTRGV) (Last year: 205)

• Overall record: 99-91

It’s been a journey for Figger, who served as an assistant at several schools before getting his head coaching career started back in 2017. He aided at South Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas State, and South Carolina, serving under Frank Martin for over a decade at those last two schools. His first head coaching gig was a solid 4-year run at Austin Peay before UTRGV brought him to town in 2021. His Vaqueros are just 23-40 after a pair of seasons in the WAC, though last year was significantly better than his first year.

203. Kevin Baggett (Rider) (Last year: 207)

• Overall record: 177-166

Early in his career, Baggett bounced around at several different colleges, with short stints on staff at Western Kentucky, Coastal Carolina, and a few other schools. He became an assistant at Rider in 2006, associate head coach two years later, and was named the new head coach back in 2012. This has been his program for the last eleven years and there has been mixed results. Rider has been a contender in the MAAC for most of his tenure, though they’ve yet to reach the Big Dance. Last year’s 2nd place finish was a big step forward after two straight seasons under .500.

202. David Riley (Eastern Washington) (Last year: 275)

• Overall record: 41-27

After graduating from Whitworth in 2011, Riley has spent his entire coaching career to date at Eastern Washington. He originally joined the Eagles as a graduate assistant, following his college coach Jim Hayford from Whitworth. He became a full-time assistant three years later and was promoted to the top job in 2021 after a decade on the coaching staff. He’s helped maintain Eastern Washington’s footing as a strong Big Sky program, winning the league’s regular season title during a 23-win campaign this year.

201. Dedrique Taylor (Cal State Fullerton) (Last year: 211)

• Overall record: 141-161

Taylor has coached college basketball on the west coast for his entire career. A former player at UC Davis, he spent time at his alma mater before stints with Portland State, Nevada, and Arizona State, spending seven years with Herb Sendek at that final post. Cal State Fullerton handed him his first head coaching job back in 2013 and his first decade with the Titans has been successful. He’s led the program twice to the NCAA Tournament, most recently in 2022, and is coming off a second straight 20-win season.

200. John Pelphrey (Tennessee Tech) (Last year: 210)

• Overall record: 190-208

A successful forward at Kentucky, Pelphrey has been a collegiate coach for the last thirty years. He served under Billy Donovan for over a decade, mostly at Florida, and was previously head coach at both South Alabama and Arkansas. He led both of those programs to NCAA Tournaments and first round wins, but fizzled out with the Razorbacks over a decade ago. He’s gotten a third shot with Tennessee Tech and finally had a breakthrough in his fourth season, taking the Golden Eagles to a 2nd place finish in the OVC, coming painstakingly close to the NCAA Tournament.

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

• Overall record: 67-55

Mullins played at Southern Illinois in the late 2000’s and has already gotten his coaching career off to a solid start. After a few seasons playing professionally overseas, he joined Porter Moser’s staff at Loyola-Chicago back in 2013 and was on staff when the Ramblers made that run to the Final Four in 2018. His alma mater called him back home as the new head coach in 2019 and Mullins is coming off his best season leading the Salukis. Southern Illinois tied for 3rd in the new-look MVC, with their 23 wins the program’s most in sixteen years.

198. Jared Grasso (Bryant) (Last year: 198)

• Overall record: 80-89

Grasso played at Quinnipiac right around the turn of the century and assisted several D1 schools, even serving as interim head coach for a really awful Fordham team. He was associate head coach at Iona for nearly a decade during a very successful run for the Gaels and then began his own head coaching career at Bryant in 2018. Grasso led these Bulldogs to the Big Dance in his fourth season, slowly building something special in Rhode Island. This past season saw Bryant’s first in the America East, finishing with a respectable 17-13 mark.
(Grasso is currently taking a leave of absence away from the team due to a personal matter.)

197. Scott Davenport (Bellarmine) (Last year: 189)

• Overall record: 49-39

Davenport has spent nearly his entire life playing and coaching in Louisville. An alum of Louisville, he was a graduate assistant and alter a full-time assistant there under Denny Crum and also spent a decade coaching high school ball in the city. He began his collegiate head coaching career at Bellarmine back in 2005 and has been there ever since. Davenport led the Knights to the D2 national title in 2011 and a slew of other success before helping the program transition to D1 just three seasons ago. They’ve been solid in their first years in the ASUN, though last year’s 15-18 mark was the worst by far.

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

• Overall record: 48-35

A former player at Birmingham-Southern, McMillan had zero collegiate coaching experience when Samford hired him in 2020. He had spent the last twelve seasons as head coach of Mountain Brook HS nearby in Alabama, but the Birmingham native has done solidly at the collegiate level as well. After a slow first year, McMillan has finished 21-11 in each of the last two seasons, leading the Bulldogs to the SoCon regular season title this past year.

195. Mike Morrell (UNC Asheville) (Last year: 256)

• Overall record: 73-76

Things are certainly trending in a great direction in Asheville now that Morrell has half a decade of head coaching experience under his belt. He had a few brief stops in his coaching career before spending seven years under Shaka Smart at both VCU and Texas as a full-time assistant. In 2018, he was hired by UNC Asheville and got off to a slow start, but he’s rebuilt the program in recent seasons. This past year saw him leading the Bulldogs to regular season and tournament titles in the Big South, culminating in a 27-8 record and a trip to the Big Dance.

194. Martin Ingelsby (Delaware) (Last year: 192)

• Overall record: 112-103

A point guard at Notre Dame over two decades ago, Ingelsby got his coaching career started with a season at Wagner before returning to the Fighting Irish as a staffer. He worked for the next 13 years in South Bend under Mike Brey, who was his college head coach during his senior year. After helping the Fighting Irish to plenty of success, his own head coaching career began at Delaware. He led the Fightin’ Blue Hens to the Big Dance in 2022 and pulled out a decent 17-16 campaign this past season.

193. Andrew Toole (Robert Morris) (Last year: 190)

• Overall record: 216-210

Much of Toole’s basketball experience has come right here at Robert Morris. He was a guard at Elon and Penn and an assistant at Lafayette before he joined the Colonials back in 2007. After three years on Mike Rice Jr.’s staff, he was given the program’s reigns. Early on, he produced some fantastic results and got Robert Morris to the Big Dance back in 2015. However, the program has taken a step back since joining the Horizon League in 2020. It’s worth mentioning that this season’s 16-win mark was significantly higher than their first two years in the conference.

192. Rob Jeter (Southern Utah) (Last year: 196)

• Overall record: 223-215

Jeter cut his teeth early in his career under Bo Ryan, playing and coaching under him at Wisconsin-Platteville before joining his staffs at Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Jeter’s first head coaching chance came at Milwaukee, taking the Panthers to decent success and a first round Tourney upset way back in 2006. He’s coming off a decent three year stretch at Western Illinois, with a 39-45 mark that’s actually better than it sounds in the Summit League. Jeter takes over a Southern Utah program that’s coming off a pretty nice season with 24 wins in their debut in the WAC.

191. Stan Heath (Eastern Michigan) (Last year: 182)

• Overall record: 227-251

It’s been quite a journey for Heath, but it actually began as a player at Eastern Michigan back in the 80’s. After that, he was an assistant at a number of schools, including a stint with Tom Izzo and Michigan State that included the national title in 2000. Heath had varying levels of success as head coach at Kent State, Arkansas, South Florida, and the Lakeland Magic in the G-League before Eastern Michigan brought him home in 2021. He’s just 18-44 in his first two seasons with the Eagles, finishing 9th place in the MAC this past season.

190. Dustin Kerns (Appalachian State) (Last year: 195)

• Overall record: 101-95

A student assistant at Clemson over two decades ago, Kerns served as an assistant at a number of schools, including two separate stings with Mike Young at Wofford. His head coaching career began at Presbyterian and resulted in a 20-win campaign in his second and final season. Appalachian State hired him in 2019 and was quickly rewarded, as he led the Mountaineers to the NCAA Tournament in his second season. Year four produced his lowest finish in the Sun Belt, but Kerns still has this program in fantastic shape.

189. Terrence Johnson (Texas State) (Last year: 169)

• Overall record: 55-34

Originally from New Orleans, Johnson split his playing career between two SWAC schools before beginning his coaching career over at Samford. He’d spend some time coaching at the AAU level before joining Danny Kaspar’s coaching staff at Texas State back in 2015. Five years later, he was promoted to head coach after Kaspar’s dismissal and the Bobcats have produced since then. Texas State won the Sun Belt regular season titles in each of his first two seasons, though last year’s 16-19 mark was clearly a step back.

188. Damon Stoudamire (Georgia Tech) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 71-77

After starring at Arizona, Stoudamire spent over a decade in the NBA and was even the league’s Rookie of the Year back in 1996. After his retirement, he went into coaching, with stints at Memphis, Arizona, and two different NBA franchises as an assistant. His first head coaching experience came in a surprisingly solid five-year stint at Pacific before bailing for the Boston Celtics. Stoudamire begins his career at Georgia Tech this upcoming season, taking over an ACC program that yearns to contend on a more consistent basis.

187. Donnie Jones (Stetson) (Last year: 212)

• Overall record: 211-194

After playing and coaching at Pikeville, an NAIA school in Kentucky, Jones would catch on at Marshall and end up as an assistant under Billy Donovan. He’d help Donovan build the Gators into a fantastic program and became a head coach right after Florida won a pair of titles. Jones had a solid stint leading Marshall before a lame finish as head coach at UCF. Stetson gave him a third shot at head coach a few years later, with Jones’ most recent season his finest. His Hatters tied for 3rd in the ASUN.

186. Mike Magpayo (UC Riverside) (Last year: 218)

• Overall record: 52-32

A former player at UC Santa Barbara, Magpayo made history as the first Asian head coach in college basketball history, but that’s not the only history he’s been making. He began his coaching career under Kyle Smith at Columbia and would later work with him at San Francisco, but has had his success at UC Riverside. Prior to becoming head coach in 2020, he worked two seasons under David Patrick before his promotion. Magpayo’s first two seasons were solid enough, but he’s coming off a season where the Highlanders won 21 games, by far their most as a program at the D1 level.

185. Ed DeChellis (Navy) (Last year: 183)

• Overall record: 387-424

DeChellis has spent the last 27 years as a D1 head coach and it’s been quite the journey. He’s a graduate and longtime assistant at Penn State who started off with seven years leading East Tennessee State. After slowly building the Buccaneers into a Tournament team, he returned to his alma mater as head coach. Back in 2011, he was hired away by Navy after eight seasons leading the Nittany Lions. While DeChellis hasn’t led the Midshipmen to the Big Dance, he’s been relatively solid, leading Navy to three straight Top 2 finishes in the Patriot League.

184. Todd Simon (Bowling Green) (Last year: 201)

• Overall record: 127-114

It’s a new opportunity for Simon as he takes over at Bowling Green this year. Despite being from Michigan, he had spent much of his coaching career on the west coast. He was a high school coach in Las Vegas and was on the UNLV staff twice, even serving as interim head coach in 2016. He’d spend the next seven years leading Southern Utah for his first collegiate head coaching gig, winning at least 20 games in his last three seasons with the Thunderbirds. He begins his tenure with a Falcons program under .500 these last two years and hoping to compete someday soon in the MAC.

183. Jon Coffman (Purdue-Fort Wayne) (Last year: 184)

• Overall record: 156-130

Earlier in his coaching career, Coffman was an assistant at a few D1 schools, including an 8-year stint with Stetson. In 2011, he was brought onto the IPFW staff under Tony Jasick and would actually succeed him as head coach just three years later. Coffman is nearly a decade into his head coaching career, though many things have changed with these Mastodons. He’s won regular season titles in both the Summit League and Horizon League, has kept Purdue Fort Wayne in relatively good position, coming off a mediocre 17-win season.

182. Tony Stubblefield (DePaul) (Last year: 139)

• Overall record: 27-51

Before DePaul hired him in 2021, Stubblefield had been around as an assistant coach for a long time. His career began at Omaha, his alma mater, back in the early 90’s, and he’s spent time at numerous schools. He was briefly interim head coach at New Mexico State, spent time with Mick Cronin at Cincinnati, and was an Oregon assistant for 11 years. Stubblefield’s first season with the Blue Demons showed plenty of promise but last year’s 10-23 mark looks a lot more like the DePaul program we’ve seen in recent memory.

181. Kyle Neptune (Villanova) (Last year: 181)

• Overall record: 33-33

After Jay Wright’s surprise retirement, Neptune was hired by Villanova last season, though he certainly was no stranger to the Wildcats. He played ball at Lehigh and was briefly an assistant at Niagara, but Neptune also spent a decade on Wright’s staff, including during both of their recent national championships. Neptune had a decent single season as head coach at Fordham before being brought back to Villanova last year. His first year was a disappointment, finishing just 16-16, though it was a season hampered by injuries and inconsistency and we’re willing to see what this year brings.

180. Preston Spradlin (Morehead State) (Last year: 208)

• Overall record: 114-100

A former player at Alice Lloyd College, an NAIA school, Spradlin was hired by John Calipari to be a graduate assistant at Kentucky. He served as a staffer for the Wildcats four years before getting his first full-time gig at Morehead State. After allegations ended Sean Woods’ coaching tenure, Spradlin was named interim head coach in late 2016 and has been there ever since. He led these Eagles to the Big Dance back in 2021, is coming off his first OVC regular season title, and has won at least 22 games in each of the last three seasons.

179. Amir Abdur-Rahim (South Florida) (Last year: 306)

• Overall record: 45-74

For the better part of a decade, Abdur-Rahim was a D1 assistant responsible for plenty of success, especially in recruiting. He was an aide at Murray State, Texas A&M, and Georgia before getting his first shot as a head coach back in 2019. Abdur-Rahim took over a meek Kennesaw State program and finished just 1-28 in his first season. Three years later, he led the Owls to ASUN titles and their first trip to the NCAA Tournament. He begins this season at South Florida, hoping for similar turnaround success in the AAC.

178. Pat Skerry (Towson) (Last year: 194)

• Overall record: 193-185

Early in his career, Skerry was head coach at D3 Curry, but his head coaching career started in earnest at Towson. Before that he had stints at several D1 schools, serving as an assistant at Rhode Island, Providence, and Pittsburgh most recently. Skerry landed at Towson back in 2011 and won just a single game in his debut, but slowly turned this Tigers program around. Towson is just two years removed from a CAA title and trip to the NIT and did win 20 games again last season.

177. Rick Croy (Cal Baptist) (Last year: 177)

• Overall record: 85-67

Croy played college ball at San Francisco State and became a D1 assistant soon after graduation. He spent time at UC Riverside before taking over at Citrus College, winning a lot of games at the junior college level. Croy was named to Randy Bennett’s staff at Saint Mary’s before departing in 2013, becoming head coach at Cal Baptist. After leading the Lancers to five straight trips to the D2 Tournament, he guided the program as they transitioned to D1, resulting in five decent seasons in the WAC, all above .500.

176. Carmen Maciariello (Siena) (Last year: 180)

• Overall record: 64-44

Maciariello has proven himself to be a solid coach and has learned from some solid names in this sport. He was a staffer under Fran McCaffery at Siena and aided Ed Cooley at Fairfield before later taking coaching jobs at Boston University and George Washington. Maciariello returned to Siena in 2018 and would become the head coach just one year later after Jamion Christian’s departure. He won the MAAC regular season titles in his first two seasons and is coming off a solid 17-win campaign, certainly boasting decent success four years into his time leading the Saints.

175. Justin Hutson (Fresno State) (Last year: 159)

• Overall record: 80-73

A native of southern California, Hutson played and coached early in his career at Cal State Bakersfield and at the high school level in that same city. He had two 5-year stints as an assistant at San Diego State, mostly under Steve Fisher, and also worked at Cal Poly and UNLV in his career. Fresno State hired him back in 2018. After winning 23 games in his first season, he led the Bulldogs to the TBC title in year four, though last season’s 11-20 mark was certainly a step backwards.

174. Richie Riley (South Alabama) (Last year: 178)

• Overall record: 129-95

For Riley, his coaching career featured a series of short coaching stints before settling in at South Alabama. He bounced around as an assistant at Coastal Carolina, Eastern Kentucky, UAB, and Clemson before Nicholls State gave him their head coaching job in 2016. After winning a Southland title in year two, he was hired by South Alabama and has been with the Jaguars for the last half decade. Riley is averaging just under 19 wins a season at South Alabama, including last year’s 19-win mark.

173. Tim Craft (Gardner-Webb) (Last year: 174)

• Overall record: 171-150

A graduate of Florida, Craft has been a basketball coach for more than two decades, starting off with time at the high school and junior college levels. His first D1 experience actually came at Gardner-Webb before spending time under Jeff Lebo at both Auburn and East Carolina. Craft’s head coaching journey began at Gardner-Webb back in 2013 and featured a trip to the Big Dance in 2019. He has regularly had the Runnin’ Bulldogs among the consistent programs in the Big South, even though they finished a hair under .500 last season.

172. A. W. Hamilton (Eastern Kentucky) (Last year: 219)

• Overall record: 87-74

A longtime associate of Kevin Keatts, Hamilton played under and coached under Keatts had several different places, including Hargrave Military Academy, where Hamilton began his head coaching career. After a year on Keatts’ staff at NC State, Hamilton’s collegiate head coaching career got started at Eastern Kentucky back in 2018. He’s had decent success in both the OVC and ASUN and is coming off a 23-win season with a trip to the CBI title game a 3rd place finish in the OVC.

171. Kevin Kruger (UNLV) (Last year: 191)

• Overall record: 37-27

Kruger played point guard at Arizona State and for a season at UNLV under his father. After half a decade playing professional ball, he spent time as an assistant at Northern Arizona, Oklahoma, and UNLV, with that stint in the Big 12 with the Sooners coming under father Lon again. In 2021, UNLV promoted him to the top job after T. J. Otzelberger left for Iowa State. There are no complaints so far for the Runnin’ Rebels through two seasons; we’re just wondering what the future holds for this program.

170. Bart Lundy (Milwaukee) (Last year: 244)

• Overall record: 118-99

Certainly successful throughout his coaching career, Lundy is in his fourth stop as a head coach and his second at the D1 level. He had two very successful stints at Queens when the program was still D2 and was decent across six seasons leading High Point from 2003 to 2009. Also a staffer at Marquette and an assistant at North Texas, Lundy was hired last season by Milwaukee after his second stint at Queens. The Panthers made a major jump in his first season, winning 22 games and finishing 2nd in the Horizon League.

169. Griff Aldrich (Longwood) (Last year: 186)

• Overall record: 88-72

Much of Aldrich’s coaching career came at the AAU level following a very brief stint at Hampden-Sydney, his alma mater. His return to collegiate coaching came as the director of recruiting for Ryan Odom’s UMBC staff, helping those Retrievers to that historic 1-seed upset in 2018. Soon after, he was hired as the new head coach at Longwood and these last five years have been pretty strong. The record is pretty good for a Big South school, he led the Lancers to the Big Dance in 2022, and is coming off a second straight 20-win campaign.

168. Rod Barnes (Cal State Bakersfield) (Last year: 166)

• Overall record: 369-382

A longtime collegiate head coach, Barnes was a player, assistant, and head coach at Ole Miss early in his career, even leading the Rebels to a Sweet Sixteen before he was fired in 2006. Barnes later spent four years leading Georgia State with poor results before landing in Bakersfield back in 2011. In his fifth season he led the Roadrunners to their first trip to the NCAA Tournament and is responsible for a few other trips to the postseason. Things haven’t been as great since they joined the Big West three seasons ago and Barnes is just 20-41 over the last two years.

167. Dave Paulsen (Holy Cross) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 229-185

New beginnings for both Holy Cross and Paulsen, who begins his sixth head coaching job this season. A former assistant at Michigan and a few other schools, Paulsen led St. Lawrence, Le Moyne, and Williams, winning a D3 title at that last school. As a D1 head coach, he had good results at Bucknell before flaming out two years ago at George Mason. Fresh off a two-year stint aiding at Fordham, he inherits a Crusaders program that hasn’t finished above .500 in a decade and could use his experience and new direction.

166. Travis Steele (Miami OH) (Last year: 117)

• Overall record: 82-70

Things simply haven’t gone as anticipated for Steele in his head coaching career, but it’s far from over. Still just 41 years old, he was briefly an assistant at Indiana before a long run at Xavier, beginning as director of basketball operations before becoming head coach in 2018. Despite winning 70 games in four years, he failed to lead the Musketeers to the Big Dance and was fired, landing at Miami a few weeks later. A 12-20 mark and 8th place finish in the MAC wasn’t exactly the first season the RedHawks were hoping for, but there’s potential for a turnaround in Oxford.

165. Billy Gillispie (Tarleton State) (Last year: 170)

• Overall record: 189-152

Quite literally, Gillispie has been around and it’s been quite the career. We could talk a lot about his high school success, his time under Bill Self at Tulsa and Illinois, or his rise and fall as head coach at UTEP, Texas A&M, Kentucky, and Texas Tech. Disappointment and scandal ruined those last two positions, but the story isn’t finished for Gillispie. He begins his fourth year leading Tarleton State and is coming off his best season yet, albeit a 17-17 mark, finishing 7th place in the WAC.

164. Chris Victor (Seattle) (Last year: 200)

• Overall record: 43-21

Victor played at Concordia-Irvine and later assisted there, though his first head coaching experience came at Citrus College. After five years and an impressive record at the junior college level, he joined Jim Hayford’s staff at Eastern Washington and followed him to Seattle. In 2021, Hayford was dismissed and Victor became interim head coach, leading the Pioneers to a regular season title in the WAC. Now the permanent coach, he won 20 games yet again in year two and has Seattle primed as one of this league’s best programs.

163. Bill Coen (Northeastern) (Last year: 157)

• Overall record: 270-264

After playing and coaching at Hamilton, a D3 school in New York, Coen would spend a significant amount of time with Al Skinner, joining his staff at Rhode Island back in 1989. He’d spend the next 17 years with Skinner, coaching both the Rams and at Boston College before accepting the Northeastern head coaching position in 2006. In the last seventeen years, Coen has led the Huskies to a pair of NCAA Tournaments, four CAA regular season titles, and plenty of other success. Unfortunately, the Huskies have turned in 10th and 9th place finishes the last two seasons.

162. Joe Gallo (Merrimack) (Last year: 185)

• Overall record: 61-52

A guard at Merrimack in the early 2000’s, Gallo has done his alma mater proud as their head coach. He was previously an assistant at Dartmouth and Robert Morris before starting his head coaching career with the Warriors, taking over back in 2016. After leading the program to three straight trips to the D2 NCAA Tournament, he helped Merrimack make a successful transition to D1. After winning the NEC regular season title in their very first season, Gallo is fresh off a season where the Warriors won both the regular season and tournament titles in the league.

161. Brett Reed (Lehigh) (Last year: 167)

• Overall record: 262-222

Reed has been a fixture at Lehigh for more than two decades. After experience at a few other schools, including UNC Greensboro and High Point, he joined the Mountain Hawks’ coaching staff back in 2002. After five years on that staff, he was promoted to head coach and has held that role for the last 16 years. Reed led Lehigh to the Big Dance twice in his first five seasons and has kept them consistently as a contender in the Patriot League, finishing 3rd place in something of a bounce back year this past season.

160. Dana Ford (Missouri State) (Last year: 156)

• Overall record: 146-131

Before getting his own shot as a head coach, Ford was a player at Illinois State and an assistant at a few other colleges, including a brief stint under Gregg Marshall at Wichita State. In 2014, his head coaching career got started at Tennessee State, with Ford making decent headway in the next four years. He was then brought back to the MVC, taking the top job at Missouri State in 2018. He’s had decent success with the Bears, including an NIT run two seasons ago, though he is coming off a 6th place finish in league play.

159. Scott Cross (Troy) (Last year: 171)

• Overall record: 285-225

For more than two decades, Cross was a big part of basketball at Texas-Arlington, playing and coaching for the Mavericks between 1995 and 2018. That included 12 seasons as head coach, several postseason trips, and a decent number of wins before he was relieved of his duties. After a season assisting at TCU, Cross’s second chance as a head coach came at Troy and he’s put in solid work in his first four years. His Trojans have won 20 games in each of the last two seasons, hoping to become more of a fixture near the top of the Sun Belt standings.

158. Jim Les (UC Davis) (Last year: 164)

• Overall record: 329-326

Before he got into coaching, Les was a point guard at Cleveland State, Bradley, and with several organizations at the professional level. He didn’t have a ton of coaching experience when Bradley brought him back to Peoria as their head coach back in 2002. The clear highlight with the Braves was their Sweet Sixteen run in 2006, though Les was fired just five years later. He’s been entrenched at UC Davis ever since, and has kept the Aggies in mostly solid shape in the Big West, with last year’s 18-win mark their best in five years.

157. Steve Donahue (Penn) (Last year: 161)

• Overall record: 312-307

Achieving significant success in the Ivy League, Donahue spent a decade as an assistant at Penn under Fran Dunphy before beginning his head coaching career at Cornell. He led the Big Red to three straight trips to the Big Dance, including a stunning Sweet Sixteen trip in 2010, before a forgettable four year stint lading Boston College. Donahue has been the head coach at Penn since 2015 and has led the Quakers to an NCAA Tournament trip and relative consistency in this conference, fresh off another Top 4 finish in the league.

156. Nick McDevitt (Middle Tennessee) (Last year: 162)

• Overall record: 167-153

Native to North Carolina, McDevitt played college ball at UNC Asheville and would stay with the Bulldogs for more than two decades, becoming an assistant and later the head coach. He took UNC Asheville to the Big Dance and a pair of Big South regular season titles before accepting the Middle Tennessee head coaching job in 2018. His first few seasons with the Blue Raiders were tough, but he’s turned the program around again, leading them to the CBI title game and then a 19-14 mark last season.

155. Rob Lanier (SMU) (Last year: 138)

• Overall record: 121-122

Lanier has really been around in his collegiate career and is now a year into his third head coaching job. He’s been an assistant at Rutgers, Texas, Virginia, Florida, and Tennessee and led both Siena and Georgia State to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach. He’s learned under successful coaches and led talented players, but has quite the job ahead with the Mustangs. His first season saw a 10-22 and a 10th place finish in the AAC in a rebuilding season. With SMU soon joining the ACC, Lanier needs to figure things out fast.

154. Drew Valentine (Loyola-Chicago) (Last year: 116)

• Overall record: 35-29

A forward and assistant at Oakland under Greg Kampe, Valentine rose more into coaching prominence when he joined Porter Moser’s staff at Loyola-Chicago. In his very first season with the Ramblers, he helped lead the program to that surprise Final Four appearance in 2018. Three years later, he was given the top job after Moser left for Oklahoma. In his first season, Loyola won 25 games and returned to the NCAA Tournament again, but last year was really tough, as the Ramblers finished dead last in their first season in the A-10, winning just 10 games on the year.

153. Dan Monson (Long Beach State) (Last year: 150)

• Overall record: 424-381

Monson’s career serves somewhat as a cautionary tale for young coaches, but it’s hard to complain. He was a longtime assistant at Gonzaga and became the program’s head coach, leading them to the Elite Eight in 1999 as a true Cinderella. Monson departed immediately for Minnesota and lasted seven and a half seasons with mixed results. He’s been the head coach at Long Beach State for the last 16 years, winning four Big West regular season titles but leading the Beach to just a single Big Dance. They’re coming off a 7th place finish in league play.

152. Keith Urgo (Fordham) (Last year: 302)

• Overall record: 25-8

Earlier in his career, Urgo was a staffer and assistant under Jay Wright at Villanova before spending nearly a decade at Penn State, mostly under Pat Chambers. After a single season as Kyle Neptune’s associate head coach at Fordham, he ascended to the top job last season when Neptune was called back home to lead Villanova. His Rams greatly exceeded expectations in his first year, not only winning 25 games but tying for 2nd place in an always talented A-10.

151. Takayo Siddle (UNC Wilmington) (Last year; 173)

• Overall record: 58-29

After playing ball at Gardner-Webb, Siddle would return as an assistant under Chris Holtmann before eventually coaching under Kevin Keatts. He actually served on Keatts’ staff at three different schools, including time with both UNC Wilmington and NC State. In 2020, Siddle was summoned back to Wilmington as the Seahawks’ new head coach and it’s been a fantastic hire. In year two, UNC Wilmington tied for the CAA regular season title and won the CBI, while last year featured 24 wins and another solid campaign.

150. Brian Wardle (Bradley) (Last year: 168)

• Overall record: 230-191

Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Wardle has had a successful playing and coaching career in the Midwest. He was a player and staffer at Marquette, mostly under Tom Crean, before heading to Green for his first full-time gig. Five years later he became Green Bay’s head coach, leading the Phoenix to 95 wins and a few NIT bids across the next half decade. Wardle was brought to Bradley in 2015 for a rebuild and has been successful, winning a pair of MVC Tournaments. Last season, he led the Braves to the MVC regular season title and a trip to the NIT.

149. Mark Madsen (California) (Last year: 224)

• Overall record: 70-51

Madsen was a star frontcourt weapon at Stanford and later won a couple NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. He returned to both places an assistant coach, departing the Lakers in 2019 to become head coach at Utah Valley. These last four years have seen the Wolverines achieve a ton of success in the WAC, with a pair of regular season titles, including a run to the NIT during last year’s 28-win campaign. Now, Madsen takes over a California program devoid of any basketball success in recent memory, hoping to turn things around.

148. Kim English (Providence) (Last year: 226)

• Overall record: 34-29

A successful shooting guard at Missouri just over a decade ago, English was a second round NBA Draft pick who didn’t play professional ball for too long. He got into coaching and had stints on staff for Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee. English’s first head coaching job came these last two seasons at George Mason, putting in decent work with the Patriots. Last season, George Mason won 20 games and finished 5th in the A-10. This season, English takes over at Providence, hoping to continue his coaching success.

147. Tod Kowalczyk (Toledo) (Last year: 158)

• Overall record: 394-281

Kowalczyk has been doing this coaching thing for quite a while ever since catching on as an assistant at Minnesota-Duluth, his alma mater, some 35 years ago. After serving as an assistant at Rider, Rutgers, Marquette, and a few other schools, he became head coach at Green Bay back in 2002. He had a decent record across eight years with the Phoenix before accepting the Toledo job in 2010. Though he hasn’t led the Rockets to the Big Dance, he’s won four MAC regular season titles, including each of the last three, with Toledo coming off a 27-8 finish.

146. Joe Golding (UTEP) (Last year: 133)

• Overall record: 168-146

After bouncing around as a junior college and high school coach, Golding caught on as an assistant at Abilene Christian, his alma mater. He’d return later on as their head coach and helped lead the program to the D1 level back in 2013. Not only did he lead the Wildcats for a decade, but he got them to the first two trips to the NCAA Tournament, including a first-round upset win over Texas back in 2021. A few weeks later, he accepted the UTEP job and is still getting going with the Miners, winning just 14 games in year two last season.

145. Eric Konkol (Tulsa) (Last year: 109)

• Overall record: 158-100

After growing up and playing college ball in the state of Wisconsin, Konkol has had coaching success all over. He was an aide under Buzz Peterson initially and assisted Jim Larranaga for a decade at both George Mason and Miami. His first head coaching opportunity came with Louisiana Tech and he had seven mostly successful seasons, winning at least 20 games in all but one of those years with the Bulldogs. Tulsa hired him last offseason and his first year was a rough rebuild, with a paltry 5-25 record and just a single win in AAC play.

144. Eran Ganot (Hawaii) (Last year: 155)

• Overall record: 139-90

Ganot has spent his coaching career bouncing between Saint Mary’s and Hawaii and he’s been pretty successful. He actually started off as a volunteer assistant under Randy Bennett with the Gaels before joining Hawaii’s staff. He was back at Saint Mary’s in the early 2010’s and was even acting head coach for five games. In 2015, Hawaii brought him back as their head coach and he immediately delivered not just a trip to the Big Dance but a first-round upset over California. The Rainbow Warriors haven’t returned to NCAA Tournament in the last seven years but are coming off a 22-win season.

143. Speedy Claxton (Hofstra) (Last year: 193)

• Overall record: 46-21

Formerly the star point guard at Hofstra in the late 90’s, Claxton spent nine seasons playing in the NBA and even served as a scout for the Golden State Warriors after his retirement. His first coaching experience came under Joe Mihalich at his alma mater. The Pride had success during that time and later turned to Claxton to take over the program in 2021. After a 21-win debut season, Claxton led Hofstra to the CAA regular season title and a trip to the NIT last year, winning 25 games in the process.

142. Greg Kampe (Oakland) (Last year: 140)

• Overall record: 413-361

Now the longest-tenured college basketball head coach, Kampe played at Bowling Green, was an assistant at Toledo, and was then hired by Oakland in 1984. He begins his 40th season with Oakland, having taken the Golden Grizzlies to several D2 Tournaments before leading them to D1 ball in the late 90’s. He won a few Summit League titles and has led Oakland into March Madness three times, though none of those trips have come since joining the Horizon League a decade ago. He’s fresh off three consecutive 5th place finishes in the Horizon.

141. Tobin Anderson (Iona) (Last year: 357)

• Overall record: 21-16

Early in his head coaching career, Anderson had decent success at Clarkson and Hamilton, two D3 schools, but nothing compares to this past season. Formerly an assistant at Siena, Anderson spent nearly a decade leading D2 St. Thomas Aquinas to a host of success before being hired by Fairleigh Dickinson. Taking several of his players with him, he led the Knights not just to a historic season, but to an upset win over 1-seed Purdue. Anderson parlayed that success into the Iona job, taking over for Rick Pitino, and is certainly set up for success in years to come with the Gaels.

140. Shantay Legans (Portland) (Last year: 131)

• Overall record: 108-83

When his playing career was finished, Legans briefly coached at the high school level before joining the staff at Eastern Washington. He’d spent eight years as an assistant, mostly under Jim Hayford, before being promoted to head coach in 2017. He led the Eagles to the Big Sky title in his third year and got them into the Big Dance in year four, actually finishing Top 3 in the league in all four seasons. Legans was hired by Portland that next offseason and sits 33-34 after two years, including last year’s 8th place WCC finish.

139. Mark Byington (James Madison) (Last year: 154)

• Overall record: 181-129

A D1 head coach for a decade now, Byington has had some success with this coaching thing. He was an assistant for nearly a decade at the College of Charleston and spent time as their interim head coach in 2012. After assisting at Virginia Tech, his head coaching career began the following season with seven years at Georgia Southern, winning 20 games in more than half of his seasons. He’s been at James Madison since 2020, won the CAA title in his first season, and led the Dukes to 22 wins and a solid 4th place finish in their first season in the Sun Belt.

138. Robert Jones (Norfolk State) (Last year: 146)

• Overall record: 188-137

Much of Jones’ coaching experience has come at Norfolk State but that’s not the whole story. He played and coached at New Paltz in New York before spending a few seasons at the high school level. He joined Anthony Evans’ staff with the Spartans and was part of their 2012 upset over 2-seed Missouri. A season later, he became Norfolk State’s head coach and remains there a decade later. The Spartans have made two of the last three NCAA Tournaments and have finished Top 3 in the MEAC in each of these last ten seasons, with Jones and this program humming right along.

137. Ray Harper (Jacksonville State) (Last year: 129)

• Overall record: 221-158

Harper is a former player, assistant, and head coach at Kentucky Wesleyan, winning a pair of D2 national titles with those Panthers. He then won a pair of NAIA titles leading Oklahoma City before catching on at Western Kentucky, originally as an assistant. Harper took over as the interim coach and led the Hilltoppers to a pair of NCAA Tournaments before departing for Jacksonville State in 2016. Continuing his success, he’s led the Gamecocks twice to the Big Dance but is coming off a 13-win season, finishing just 11th place in the ASUN.

136. Mike Jones (UNC Greensboro) (Last year: 148)

• Overall record: 257-180

Jones spent nearly two decades as a D1 assistant, spending time with John Beilein (Richmond and West Virginia) and Shaka Smart (VCU) among others. After helping lead the Rams to that crazy Final Four run in 2011, he took over as head coach at Radford and had ten very solid seasons, including an NCAA Tournament in 2018 and a pair of Big South titles. Jones transitioned to UNC Greensboro in 2021 and has had solid success through two seasons coming off a 20-win season and 3rd place mark in the SoCon.

135. Marvin Menzies (Kansas City) (Last year: 125)

• Overall record: 257-180

Now entering the second season at his third D1 head coaching job, it’s fair to say that Menzies has been around for a while. A former assistant at San Diego State, USC, and Louisville, Menzies led New Mexico State to five trips to the Big Dance in nine years as head coach before stalling at UNLV. He was out of the game for a few seasons, but was hired by Kansas City in 2022 and has a rebuild ahead with the Roos, finishing just 11-21 in his first year.

134. Johnny Jones (Texas Southern) (Last year: 144)

• Overall record: 385-307

After nearly two decades as a player and assistant at LSU, Jones had brief stints at Memphis and Alabama, including a season as the Tigers’ interim head coach. His head coaching career truly began with an 11-year run at North Texas before middling success back at LSU, leading the Tigers to the Big Dance back in 2015. Jones has bounced back nicely at Texas Southern, where he’s been since 2018, having led the Tigers to each of the last three NCAA Tournaments.

133. Travis DeCuire (Montana) (Last year: 123)

• Overall record: 177-112

After playing at Montana in the early 90’s, DeCuire got into coaching at the high school and junior college level. He joined his former college coach Blaine Taylor’s staff at Old Dominion before hopping to California, spending six seasons as a Pac-12 assistant. DeCuire was brought home to Montana as head coach in 2014 and has been successful, taking the Grizzlies to the NCAA Tournament multiple times. Unfortunately, things have been a bit stale in recent years, finishing outside the Top 3 in the Big Sky each of the last three seasons.

132. Earl Grant (Boston College) (Last year: 136)

• Overall record: 156-126

It’s been a successful journey for Grant through his coaching career, which started just over two decades ago at the Citadel. He spent six years with Gregg Marshall and aided Brad Brownell at Clemson before beginning his own head coaching career back in 2014 at the College of Charleston. After taking the Cougars to the Big Dance in 2018 and a healthy amount of wins, Grant was hired by Boston College two seasons ago. The Eagles have mightily struggled in recent memory, though last year’s 16-17 mark is one of their best of the last decade.

131. Jason Hooten (New Mexico State) (Last year: 143)

• Overall record: 261-169

Just a few years after playing college ball at Tarleton State, then still a non-D1 program, Hooten joined the coaching staff and worked there for over a decade. In 2004, he hopped over to Sam Houston State and would succeed head coach Bob Marlin six seasons later. Hooten spent the last 13 years as the Bearkats’ head coach and is fresh off a 26-8 season; just the program’s second in the WAC. Now, he’s tasked with resurrecting a New Mexico State program that’s been successful, but completely fell apart due to scandal last year and joins the new-look CUSA.

130. Dan D’Antoni (Marshall) (Last year: 151)

• Overall record: 164-128

A former point guard and graduate assistant at Marshall, D’Antoni spent three decades coaching at the high school level at Socastee High School in Myrtle Bach. He’d then spend much of the next decade working under brother Mike in the NBA. His collegiate head coaching break came when the Thundering Herd brought him home in 2014. Back after 43 years away, he led Marshall to an NCAA Tournament upset win in 2018, a CIT title the next year, and took the program to 24 wins and a 2nd place finish in their first season in the Sun Belt just a few months ago.

129. Mike Davis (Detroit) (Last year: 126)

• Overall record: 411-329
• Final Four in 2002

After a very solid playing career both at Alabama and internationally, Davis served as a coach at several different institutions. He coached in the CBA and was on staff for both Alabama and Indiana before he was selected to succeed Bob Knight at Indiana. He led the Hoosiers to the national title game in his second season, but was fired after six years. He’s had stints at UAB and Texas Southern, leading the Tigers to four trips to the Big Dance, before he was hired by Detroit in 2018. He’s just 59-88 with the Titans, even with his son Antoine setting all kinds of records in the Horizon League.

128. Jerod Haase (Stanford) (Last year: 111)

• Overall record: 192-162

Haase started his playing career at California but transferred to Kansas three decades ago, beginning a long relationship with Roy Williams. He’d serve on Williams’ staff for over a decade both at Kansas and North Carolina before beginning his head coaching career at UAB in 2012. He averaged 20 wins a year with the Blazers, even pulling off an upset in the Big Dance in 2015, and was hired the following season by Stanford. Frankly, his seven years with the Cardinal haven’t gone according to plan, failing to reach the NCAA Tournament and struggling to a 10th place mark in the Pac-12 last year.

127. LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central) (Last year: 132)

• Overall record: 239-162

Originally from Boston, Moton was recruited to play guard at North Carolina Central in the 90’s and has become a major part of this program’s culture and history. He briefly coached high school ball in Raleigh, but returned to Durham on the Eagles’ staff. In 2009, he was promoted to head coach and has led North Carolina Central for most of their D1 history. That history includes four trips to the Big Dance, four MEAC regular season titles, and a seemingly consistent place near the top of the league standings, including a 2nd place finish last season.

126. Adrian Autry (Syracuse) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 0-0

A Syracuse point guard back in the early 90’s, Autry played professionally for over a decade before beginning his coaching career at the high school level. He spent three seasons on staff at Virginia Tech under Seth Greenberg before rejoining the Orange as an assistant in 2011. Later promoted to associate head coach, Autry was a major part of the program the last twelve seasons and now steps into the head coaching shoes after Jim Boeheim’s retirement, hoping to maintain a solid footing in the ACC for years to come.

125. Dave Richman (North Dakota State) (Last year: 130)

• Overall record: 175-114

Native to North Dakota, Richman has spent his entire playing and coaching career in his home state. He was a player and briefly an assistant at NDSCS before joining the North Dakota State staff as graduate assistant way back in 2003. Later promoted to a full-time assistant, he aided the Bison until he was named head coach in 2014. Since then, he’s led the Bison twice to the Big Dance, won three Summit League Tournament titles and has finished Top 3 in the conference in each of the last five seasons.

124. Jeff Linder (Wyoming) (Last year: 86)

• Overall record: 128-92

Linder has been excellent as a head coach early in his career, though he’s coming off a bit of a rough year. He was previously an assistant at several schools, including a six-year stint at Boise State, before Northern Colorado hired him in 2016. He inherited a program coming off several violations and led them to a CIT title and 80 wins in four years. With Wyoming, who hired him in 2020, he’s done even more improbable things, leading them straight to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Stricken by injuries and inconsistent play, his Cowboys won just 9 games and finished dead last in the MWC, but Linder might just bounce back.

123. Mike Hopkins (Washington) (Last year: 105)

• Overall record: 105-96

Formerly a magnet at Syracuse, Hopkins played guard under Jim Boeheim with the Orange in the early 90’s before spending more than two decades on the coaching staff, including a 9-game run as interim head coach in 2015. Hopkins left the nest and took over at Washington back in 2017 and would get the Huskies to a Pac-12 regular season crown in just his second season. However, the Huskies have really struggled these last four seasons, failing to return to the Big Dance. Last year ended with Washington tied for 8th in the Pac-12 in another disappointing season.

122. Tim Miles (San Jose State) (Last year: 145)

• Overall record: 216-239

Miles is an established head coach who has served six different colleges across the last three decades. He led Mayville State, Southwest Minnesota State, and North Dakota State before starting his D1 career with success at Colorado State. After mixed results in the Big Ten at Nebraska, he took a few years away from the game before being hired by the Spartans in 2021. After a very slow first season, he led San Jose State to 21 wins and a 5th place finish in the MWC in a dramatic improvement.

121. Eric Henderson (South Dakota State) (Last year: 122)

• Overall record: 87-35

A former high school coach, Henderson caught on in the D1 college game with stints in the Summit League, assisting at both North Dakota State and South Dakota State. After T. J. Otzelberger departed for UNLV in 2019, Henderson became the Jackrabbits’ head coach and has had a productive first four years. The record speaks for itself and includes three consecutive regular season titles in the Summit League, including 30 wins and a trip to the Big Dance in 2022. Last year’s 19-win campaign wasn’t half bad either.

120. Joe Pasternack (UC Santa Barbara) (Last year: 142)

• Overall record: 170-107

In his earliest days, Pasternack was a student manager at Indiana under Bob Huggins before getting into coaching. He had long stints as an assistant at California and Arizona, sandwiching his first head coaching gig at New Orleans. His best success has come at UC Santa Barbara, who brought him aboard back in 2017. Pasternack has led the Gauchos to 20 wins in five of his six seasons and has taken the program to NCAA Tournament appearances in two of the last three seasons, including last year’s 27-8 season.

119. James Jones (Yale) (Last year: 124)

• Overall record: 373-301

Nowadays among the longest-tenured head coaches in the game, Jones begins his 25th season leading Yale, having spent a majority of his coaching career with these Bulldogs. He actually played and worked at Albany for a decade before brief coaching stints at Yale and Ohio. Since his return to Yale as head coach in 1999, he’s been responsible for a bevy of success. The Bulldogs have won five of the last eight regular season titles in the Ivy League, with three trips to the NCAA Tournament plus an NIT bid last year.

118. Paul Mills (Wichita State) (Last year: 165)

• Overall record: 106-84

Previously a high school coach in the state of Texas, Mills was a video coordinator for a season at Rice before beginning a long partnership with Scott Drew. Mills joined Drew’s original Baylor staff in 2003 and helped turn the program around before leaving for Oral Roberts fourteen years later. His first collegiate head coaching gig was extremely successful, with Mills leading the Golden Eagles to the Sweet Sixteen in 2021 and another trip to the Big Dance this past March. He transitions to Wichita State, hoping to rejuvenate a Shockers program that’s struggled in recent seasons.

117. Richard Pitino (New Mexico) (Last year: 127)

• Overall record: 194-168

The son of a Hall of Famer, coaching was always in Pitino’s blood and he’s gotten plenty of opportunities. He bounced around as an assistant, working under his father at Louisville, Billy Donovan at Florida, and for a few other schools. He was great in a lone season leading Florida International before an up-and-down 8-year stretch as head coach at Minnesota. Pitino was hired by New Mexico in 2021 and is off to a decent start with the Lobos, coming off a 22-win season and a trip to the NIT.

116. Niko Medved (Colorado State) (Last year: 106)

• Overall record: 171-152

Still considered a rising name in coaching circles, Medved has had a productive first decade as a head coach. A former assistant at several schools, including Minnesota, he led a turnaround as head coach at Furman before starting that same process in a single season at Drake. Colorado State hired him back in 2018 and he’s done the same thing with the Rams, making this a competitive program in the MWC again. Medved took the Rams to the Big Dance in 2022, though last year’s 15-18 mark was certainly a step backwards.

115. Wayne Tinkle (Oregon State) (Last year: 104)

• Overall record: 285-249

Tinkle played center at Montana and internationally for more than a decade before beginning his coaching career at his alma mater. After five years as an assistant with the Grizzlies, he became head coach in 2006 and was successful, taking Montana to three NCAA Tournaments. He’s had quite the tenure at Oregon State, breaking a long Tournament drought in his second season before leading the Beavers to a surprise Elite Eight run back in 2021. Things have not been pretty since then, though last year’s 11-21 mark is actually way better than the year before.

114. Jeff Boals (Ohio) (Last year: 113)

• Overall record: 133-89

Back in the 90’s, Boals played at Ohio and he’s done well back with the Bobcats as their head coach. Between then, he was an assistant at several schools, including a 7-year stretch under Thad Matta at Ohio State. His first taste of head coaching came at Stony Brook, where he won 55 games across three years before returning to Ohio in 2019. In his second season, he led Ohio to an NCAA Tournament appearance and upset win over Virginia; they finished 5th place and won 19 games last season.

113. Matt Langel (Colgate) (Last year: 147)

• Overall record: 202-174

Unquestionably one of the rising names in the game, Langel has been fantastic in recent years at Colgate. All of his previous experience came with Fran Dunphy, whom he played for at Penn and served as an assistant under at both Penn and Temple. Colgate handed him his first head coaching gig in 2011 and are reaping the benefits. Colgate has appeared in the last four NCAA Tournaments, including last season’s 26-win mark, and continues to be a dominant force in the Patriot League.

112. Chris Collins (Northwestern) (Last year: 160)

• Overall record: 156-162

Collins played at Duke back in the 90’s and spent more than a decade on Coach K’s staff with the Blue Devils. He also spent time coaching at Seton Hall and in the WNBA but got his head coaching start at Northwestern back in 2013. Four years into his tenure, he led the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament, but many of his seasons have ended in disappointment. This past season was different again, as he led the Wildcats to a tie for 2nd in the Big Ten and another trip and win in the Big Dance, cementing this as an impressive season for Northwestern.

111. Pat Chambers (Florida Gulf Coast) (Last year: 107)

• Overall record: 207-193

Early on his career, Chambers was a player and assistant at Philadelphia University before a five-year stint under Jay Wright at Villanova. As a head coach, he won 21 games apiece in two seasons at Boston university before spending nine years leading Penn State. His tenure with the Nittany Lions ended in disgrace, but did include an NIT title and a few competitive seasons. He was hired by Florida Gulf Coast this past offseason and led the Eagles to a 9th place finish in the ASUN, with his work only getting started.

110. Steve Lutz (Western Kentucky) (Last year: 172)

• Overall record: 47-23

Lutz was a collegiate assistant for several decades before getting his head coaching chance, but he’s really taken advantage of his opportunities. He had successful stints as an assistant at SMU, Creighton, and Purdue before taking over at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2021. Lutz would lead the Islanders to the NCAA Tournament in each of his town seasons with the program before he was hired by Western Kentucky this offseason. He’ll hope for similar success with a Hilltoppers program that’s been stale in recent years.

109. Chris Mooney (Richmond) (Last year: 100)

• Overall record: 345-274

A former player at Princeton, Mooney has had himself a successful coaching career, going back to his head coaching stints at the high school level and at Beaver College. His D1 head coaching career actually began with a single season leading Air Force before Richmond hired him way back in 2005. His best success came in 2011 as he led the Spiders to the Sweet Sixteen. Mooney is responsible for three NCAA Tournaments and a slew of postseason appearances in the A-10. Unfortunately, health issues shortened Mooney’s season last year but he’s back, just two seasons removed from a trip to the Big Dance in 2022.

108. Jerry Stackhouse (Vanderbilt) (Last year: 110)

• Overall record: 61-69

Stackhouse starred at North Carolina in the 90’s and played for nearly two decades in the NBA. Soon after retiring, he served on a couple of NBA staffs and was the Raptors’ G-League coach for two seasons. In 2019, Vanderbilt brought him back to the collegiate game and it’s been an interesting first four years. There wasn’t much to celebrate in his first few seasons, though he did lead the Commodores to a tie for 4th in the SEC and a second straight trip deep into the NIT.

107. Casey Alexander (Belmont) (Last year: 108)

• Overall record: 235-150

After playing under Rick Byrd at Belmont back in the early 90’s, Alexander joined the staff right away and was a critical part of the Bruins’ success for nearly two decades. His head coaching career began with a short stint at Stetson before returning to Nashville at Lipscomb. There he delivered an NCAA Tournament appearance and trip to the NIT title game before returning to Belmont in 2019. Taking over after Byrd’s retirement, Alexander has now led this program into the MVC, tying for 3rd in their first season in the new league.

106. Bob Marlin (Louisiana) (Last year: 128)

• Overall record: 472-306

Marlin has been coaching for quite a long time and has been a D1 head coach for the last 25 years. Formerly head coach at Pensacola State College and a former assistant at Marshall and Alabama, that D1 head coaching journey began at Sam Houston State in 1998. He had 12 really solid years with the Bearkats before taking over at Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns haven’t been a Sun Belt contender every season, but won the league and are fresh off an NCAA Tournament appearance, the second under Marlin’s leadership.

105. Mike Rhoades (Penn State) (Last year: 120)

• Overall record: 176-113

For the first 13 years of his coaching career, Rhoades was at Randolph-Macon, spending ten of those seasons as a successful D3 head coach. He then joined Shaka Smart’s VCU staff in 2009 and helped lead the program to the Final Four two years later. Rhoades was hired by Rice and had three solid years turning that program around before being called back to VCU in 2017 as head coach. He won a ton of games and led the Rams to three NCAA Tournaments, including last year’s A-10 regular season title. Now he takes over a Penn State program that presents a much tougher challenge.

104. Kyle Smith (Washington State) (Last year: 102)

• Overall record: 233-183

Considered one of the brilliant minds in the game, Smith spent nearly two decades as a collegiate assistant before getting his chance as head coach, including long stints at San Diego and Saint Mary’s. After aiding Randy Bennett for nine years, he was head coach at Columbia, winning the CIT in 2016, and San Francisco, winning at least 20 games in all three seasons. Smith was brought to Washington State back in 2019 and has had decent luck turning around a dormant Huskies program, with NIT bids and 5th place finishes in the Pac-12 each of the last two years.

103. Russ Turner (UC Irvine) (Last year: 114)

• Overall record: 265-170

Turner remains with the Anteaters, with this still being his first head coaching position. He was an assistant at Hampden-Sydney, his alma mater, before stints at Wake Forest and Stanford. He followed former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery to the NBA, spending six years with the Golden State Warriors before taking over at UC Irvine in 2010. Across these last thirteen years, Turner has cultivated the best program in the Big West, with six regular season titles, a pair of trips to the Big Dance and an upset win back in 2019. Last year was just another of those regular season titles.

102. Lamont Paris (South Carolina) (Last year: 89)

• Overall record: 98-93

Before his shot as a head coach, Paris was an assistant coach at several smaller schools before long stints on staff at Akron and Wisconsin. After helping the Badgers to multiple Final Fours under Bo Ryan, his head coaching career began at Chattanooga back in 2017. He engineered a turnaround in his fifth season, leading the Mocs to the SoCon regular season title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Paris was nabbed by South Carolina a few weeks later and has barely gotten started with the Gamecocks, winning just 11 games in his first season at the power conference level.

101. Keith Dambrot (Duquesne) (Last year: 112)

• Overall record: 416-257

Dambrot has had a series of coaching positions across his career, including a stint at LeBron James’ high school coach in Akron. He’s led five different colleges, including Central Michigan in the early 90’s and Akron more recently. After winning more than 300 games across those thirteen years with the Zips, he was hired by Duquesne in 2017. The results have been mixed, but he’s coming off a 20-win season where the Dukes tied for 6th in a tough A-10.

100. Danny Sprinkle (Utah State) (Last year: 141)

• Overall record: 81-43

Success in recent years has greatly elevated Sprinkle’s stock, especially as he takes over this season at Utah State. He had previously been a collegiate assistant for nearly two decades, mostly splitting time at Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton. His head coaching career began at his alma mater, Montana State, four seasons ago, and he spent that time turning the Bobcats into the Big Sky’s best team, with NCAA Tournament appearances for two straight seasons. Now he’ll look to continue that success at a Utah State program that’s been pretty solid the last half decade.

99. Rob Senderoff (Kent State) (Last year: 137)

• Overall record: 247-147

Senderoff was a collegiate assistant for nearly two decades, spending time at six different schools. He worked under James Jones at Yale, Kelvin Sampson at Indiana, and two different head coaches at Kent State. He was actually promoted from associate head coach to the top job for Kent State back in 2011 and has led the Golden Flashes ever since. He’s averaged more than 20 wins a season, has led Kent State to several postseason appearances, and is coming off his second trip to the NCAA Tournament after his program won the MAC.

98. Fred Hoiberg (Nebraska) (Last year: 95)

• Overall record: 155-139

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Hoiberg starred at Iowa State in the early 90’s before spending a decade in the NBA. After retiring from basketball, he worked in NBA front offices before becoming Iowa State’s head coach back in 2010. Hoiberg had great success across five years leading the Cyclones before departing to lead the Chicago Bulls. Back in the college game, he’s been at Nebraska in his hometown for the last four seasons and it’s been a struggle, with this past season’s 16-16 mark by far his best result.

97. Kyle Keller (Stephen F. Austin) (Last year: 91)

• Overall record: 145-69

For much of his coaching career, Keller has coached college ball in the state of Texas. He was a junior college coach early on before long stints on the staffs of Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Texas A&M. After his time with those Aggies, he was hired to succeed Brad Underwood at Stephen F. Austin in 2016. The Lumberjacks program was in fantastic shape and Keller has maintained that standing. Though he’s made just a single trip to the NCAA Tournament, he’s won plenty of games, though the Lumberjacks finished just 4th in the WAC last season.

96. Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State) (Last year: 115)

• Overall record: 107-89

A former point guard at South Carolina, Boynton got into coaching as a graduate manager at Furman before spending time assisting at five different D1 schools. That included stints under Frank Martin and Brad Underwood, including a final season at Oklahoma State. In 2017, Underwood departed for Illinois and Boynton was promoted to the top job. While he’s only led the Cowboys to the Big Dance once in six years, he’s coming off a better than expected season, winning 20 games and finishing 7th in a very tough Big 12.

95. Lorenzo Romar (Pepperdine) (Last year: 82)

• Overall record: 454-377

Romar starred at Washington in the late 70’s before spending half a decade playing in the NBA. He was later an assistant at UCLA under Jim Harrick and was part of their title-winning team in 1995. Romar’s head coaching career has included stints at Pepperdine, Saint Louis, and Washington, including significant success in 15 years leading the Huskies. He’s been in his second stint at Pepperdine since 2018, but it’s not been the most successful run. While Pepperdine won the CBI in 2021, they’ve finished dead last in the WCC each of the last two seasons.

94. Darrin Horn (Northern Kentucky) (Last year: 103)

• Overall record: 250-156

In the 90’s, Horn played ball at Western Kentucky and later served as both an assistant and head coach at the school. His head coaching career began with the Hilltoppers right after helping Marquette to the Final Four in 2003. After leading Western Kentucky to the Sweet Sixteen in 2008, he was hired by South Carolina but flamed out after four seasons. He’s had a significant rejuvenation at Northern Kentucky these last four years. He’s 79-45 with the Norse and is fresh off a trip to the NCAA Tournament and his second Horizon League Tournament title.

93. Ritchie McKay (Liberty) (Last year: 94)

• Overall record: 367-242

Certainly one of the nation’s well-traveled coaches, McKay was an assistant at Bradley and Washington back in the 1990’s before beginning a long head coaching career. He’s spent time leading Portland State, Colorado State, Oregon State, New Mexico, and Liberty and is actually in his second stint with Liberty after spending time with Tony Bennett at Virginia. His Flames have won four of the last five regular season titles in the ASUN, including last year’s 27-9 season, but now transition into the new-look CUSA.

92. Scott Nagy (Wright State) (Last year: 93)

• Overall record: 316-176

Much of Nagy’s career came in building the basketball program at South Dakota State. He was a graduate assistant at Illinois before joining the Jackrabbits and would later serve as their head coach for 21 years. After plenty of postseason success at both the D2 and D1 level in Brookings, Nagy departed in 2016 and took over at Wright State. He ushered the Raiders back to the Big Dance in just his second season then won three straight Horizon League regular season titles. Last year was just his second without a conference regular season or tournament title, but Wright State is still in good shape.

91. Jeff Jones (Old Dominion) (Last year: 96)

• Overall record: 557-412

Long before he arrived at Old Dominion, Jones spent a significant amount of time at Virginia. He played point guard for the Cavaliers and joined the staff as an assistant in the early 80’s before spending eight years as head coach. Jones got Virginia to an NIT title and an Elite Eight but fizzled out. He then spent 13 years leading American before Old Dominion hired him in 2013. There’s certainly been success in his first decade with the Monarchs, including several trips to the postseason and a 5th place finish last year; their first year in the Sun Belt.

90. Mark Schmidt (St. Bonaventure) (Last year: 88)

• Overall record: 364-303

Schmidt coached at a number of schools, though his finest work as an assistant came under the late, great Skip Prosser at both Loyola-Maryland and Xavier. In 2001, his head coaching career began with a decent run at Robert Morris, but his best work has certainly come at St. Bonaventure. Hired in 2007, he was tasked with resurrecting a program in ruin and has been successful. He’s taken the Bonnies to several postseason runs, but is coming off a tough 14-18 season after reloading the roster this past offseason.

89. Micah Shrewsberry (Notre Dame) (Last year: 153)

• Overall record: 37-31

Much of Shrewsberry’s basketball experience has come in his home state of Indiana so it’s rather fitting that he takes over at Notre Dame. He was head coach at IU South Bend, and aided Brad Stevens during Butler’s two Final Four runs. Shrewsberry also assisted Stevens with the Boston Celtics and had two stints at Purdue with Matt Painter. The last two years were even more significant, as he began his D1 head coaching career at Penn State. He led the Nittany Lions to an impressive season that involved a first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll see if success follows to South Bend.

88. Ryan Odom (VCU) (Last year: 119)

• Overall record: 149-96

Long before his UMBC squad upset 1-seed Virginia, Odom had been a collegiate assistant at several programs, including long stints at Virginia Tech and Charlotte. He’s been head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne (a D2 school), UMBC, and Utah State, getting the Aggies back into the NCAA Tournament this past season. Clearly, Odom’s finest achievement is that successful upset with the Retrievers, but he’s been sneaky good everywhere he’s gone and inherits a VCU program already in fantastic shape.

87. John Groce (Akron) (Last year: 87)

• Overall record: 296-201

After playing and coaching at Taylor, an NAIA school in Indiana, Groce joined Herb Sendek’s coaching staff at NC State. He would then follow fellow assistant Thad Matta to three schools, with success at Butler, Xavier, and Ohio State. Across four seasons, Groce won three NCAA Tournament games as head coach at Ohio but flamed out during five years in the Big Ten at Illinois. Back in the MAC, he was hired by Akron back in 2017 and got the Zips to the Big Dance in 2022. Last year was another 20-win campaign and a 3rd place finish in the MAC, with Akron remaining a contender in the league.

86. Rodney Terry (Texas) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 185-164

It’s hard to know what to make of Terry’s work last season with the Longhorns, but now he takes over as the full-time head coach in Austin. He was previously a high school coach and longtime assistant at Texas before head coaching stints at Fresno State and UTEP. He led the Bulldogs to the Big Dance but left UTEP before he had really rebuilt the Miners, joining Chris Beard’s staff two seasons ago. He just led a very talented Texas squad to the Elite Eight to cap off a wild and turbulent season; we’ll see how this program fares in the years to come under his control.

85. Tommy Amaker (Harvard) (Last year: 75)

• Overall record: 454-305

A former star player at Duke way back in the 1980’s, Amaker joined Coach K’s staff soon after his playing career ended and was part of multiple national championships with the Blue Devils. His head coaching career started back in 1997 at Seton Hall and featured decent success with the Pirates before a flat six years leading Michigan. Harvard brought Amaker aboard back in 2007 and were rewarded with four straight trips to the Big Dance, breaking a drought of more than sixty years. Unfortunately, the Crimson finished 7th in the Ivy League last year and have been struggling lately.

84. Travis Ford (Saint Louis) (Last year: 83)

• Overall record: 411-315

After playing college ball at Missouri and Kentucky, Ford got into coaching and has been a head coach continuously since 1997. After time at NAIA Campbellsville, he began his D1 career at Eastern Kentucky, leading the Colonels to the Big Dance. Ford would have varying levels of success in the coming years at UMass and Oklahoma State before he was hired by Saint Louis in 2016. He has gotten the Billikens back into contention in the A-10, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. Last year’s success included 21 victories and a tie for 2nd place in that tough mid-major league.

83. Shaheen Holloway (Seton Hall) (Last year: 67)

• Overall record: 81-70

Holloway was the perfect hire for Seton Hall last offseason, but patience will be required. He was a point guard for the Pirates in the late 90’s before spending several years playing professional ball. He was an assistant under Kevin Willard at both Iona and Seton Hall for over a decade before his head coaching career got started at Saint Peter’s. Leading the Peacocks, a 15-seed, to the Elite Eight in 2022 was one of the most incredible stories in recent memory, though Seton Hall finished just 17-16 in his first season as head coach.

82. Ron Hunter (Tulane) (Last year: 85)

• Overall record: 448-331

Hunter’s coaching career began with coaching stints with Milwaukee and Miami-Ohio before taking his first head coaching job at IUPUI in 1994. He took over a Jaguars program that was still NAIA and led them to the D1 level, including their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament back in 2003. He then had massive success at Georgia State, including the unforgettable upset win over Baylor lead by his son RJ In 2015. Tulane hired him in 2019 and he’s slowly turned things around for the Green Wave, resulting in a 20-win season last year and a 3rd place mark in the AAC.

81. Johnny Dawkins (UCF) (Last year: 81)

• Overall record: 287-202

Another disciple of Mike Krzyzewski, Dawkins played for Duke in the early 80’s before playing in the NBA for nearly a decade. He rejoined Coach K in the late 90’s and spent a decade as an assistant with the Blue Devils. His first head coaching gig came at Stanford, where he’d take the Cardinal to a Sweet Sixteen and two NIT titles across eight seasons. He was hired by UCF in 2016, where he had a breakout campaign in year three with a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His Knights won 19 games and made the NIT last year and transition into the Big 12 this season.

80. Todd Golden (Florida) (Last year: 61)

• Overall record: 73-53

Golden played guard for Randy Bennett at Saint Mary’s and got his own coaching career started a few years later. It began under Kyle Smith, a former Gaels assistant, who he aided at both Columbia and San Francisco, with a stint in between with Bruce Pearl at Auburn. Golden ascended to the head coaching job with the Dons back in 2019 and three very solid seasons, including a trip to the Big Dance in 2022. His stock higher than ever, he took the Florida job last offseason and got the Gators to the NIT, but 16-17 is not a record worth repeating.

79. Mitch Henderson (Princeton) (Last year: 134)

• Overall record: 208-117

During his playing career, Henderson helped lead Princeton to a Tournament upset back in 1996 before his coaching career even began. He’s now doubled that feat as the Tigers’ head coach. He actually began with an 11-year stint under former college coach Bill Carmody at Northwestern before taking over as Princeton’s head coach back in 2011. Prior to last season, he had a few postseason bids, including the 2017 NCAA Tournament, but clearly last season’s Sweet Sixteen run as a 15-seed is the crowning moment of his career.

78. Mark Pope (BYU) (Last year: 71)

• Overall record: 164-97

After a playing career that included time at Washington, Kentucky, and with four NBA franchises, Pope got into coaching just over a decade, grabbing a spot on Mark Fox’s new staff at Georgia. He was also an assistant at Wake Forest and BYU before starting his head coaching journey at Utah Valley. He took those Wolverines to three CBI bids and a plethora of wins before returning to BYU as head coach in 2019. Pope got the Cougars to the Big Dance in 2021, but BYU has struggled the last two seasons and transitions into a much tougher Big 12.

77. Bobby Hurley (Arizona State) (Last year: 79)

• Overall record: 183-133

Hurley won a pair of national championships as a point guard at Duke in the early 90’s before spending half a decade in the NBA. He actually didn’t get into coaching until more than a decade later, joining brother Dan’s staffs at Wagner and Rhode Island. His head coaching career started with a prosperous 2-year stint at Buffalo before Arizona State hired him in 2015. Under his leadership, the Sun Devils have had some highs and lows and have been to the NCAA Tournament three times, including at the end of last season, with his 23 wins his high point with the program.

76. Jeff Capel (Pittsburgh) (Last year: 98)

• Overall record: 250-191

Fresh off a prosperous season in a make-or-break year, Capel continues his head coaching career. A former Duke guard and assistant under Coach K, he was previously head coach at both VCU and Oklahoma, recruiting Blake Griffin and getting the Sooners to the Elite Eight over a decade ago. He was hired by Pittsburgh back in 2018 and wasn’t getting the job done in his first four seasons. Last year was very different, as the Panthers tied for 3rd in the ACC and made the Big Dance for the first time in seven years.

75. Herb Sendek (Santa Clara) (Last year: 92)

• Overall record: 533-389

Sendek has done impactful work throughout his coaching career, dating back to time as an assistant under Rick Pitino at both Providence and Kentucky. As head coach he led Miami-Ohio to a Tourney upset win in 1995, made five straight trips to the Big Dance at NC State and was mostly prosperous with Arizona State. He’s led Santa Clara since 2016 with varying success but is coming off his best season with the Broncos. Not only has his program won at least 20 games in three of the last four seasons, but the Broncos have finished 3rd in the WCC each of the last two seasons.

74. Wes Miller (Cincinnati) (Last year: 77)

• Overall record: 226-163

During his playing career, Miller won a national championship as a reserve at North Carolina back in 2005. After a brief international career, this former point guard got into coaching with brief stints on a few college staffs. An assistant at UNC Greensboro, he was promoted to interim head coach in 2011 and would hold the Spartan’s head coaching job for the next decade, leading the program to 125 wins in his final five seasons. He enters year three at Cincinnati fresh off a 23-win campaign and an NIT bid, but things are much tougher as the Bearcats just joined the Big 12.

73. John Becker (Vermont) (Last year: 76)

• Overall record: 280-113

Flying under the radar for much of his career, Becker’s first head coaching experience actually came at Gallaudet in Washington DC. He had success at the non-D1 level before joining Vermont’s coaching staff as an assistant way back in 2006. After five years with Mike Lonergan, he was promoted to the top job. These last twelve years have been filled with success for the Catamounts, who have made five trips to the NCAA Tournament and have won the last seven America East regular season titles. Last year was another checkmark in both of those columns for Becker’s dominant mid-major program.

72. Steve Lavin (San Diego) (Last year: 59)

• Overall record: 248-170

After playing college ball at the non-D1 level, Lavin sure caught on with some big programs, spending time as an assistant at Purdue and UCLA. After helping the Bruins to their national title in 1995, he was promoted to head coach a year later. He flamed out at UCLA despite leading the program to an Elite Eight and four Sweet Sixteen’s before five very eventful years leading St. John’s. San Diego brought Lavin back into the college coaching world last season and it’s a big task ahead, as the Toreros finished just 11-20 last season.

71. Tad Boyle (Colorado) (Last year: 70)

• Overall record: 324-214

A former player at Kansas, Boyle got his career started at the high school level before stints as an assistant under Jerry Green and Mark Turgeon, serving for six years at Wichita State under the latter. His head coaching journey began at Northern Colorado, where he resurrected the Bears into a winner in just four seasons. In 2010, Boyle jumped to Colorado and has been successful with the Buffaloes, leading the program to five NCAA Tournaments and numerous postseason bids in the Pac-12. Last season was a slight step back at just 18-17, but it did end in another trip to the NIT.

70. Steve Prohm (Murray State) (Last year: 66)

• Overall record: 218-139

Prohm’s college career began as a volunteer assistant under Billy Kennedy at Centenary, though Prohm would later follow Kennedy to two other schools. He was an assistant at Murray State for five years before ascending to the top job himself, leading the Racers to an NCAA Tournament win in his first season. Prohm spent six years at Iowa State and did make a Sweet Sixteen but had a horrific final season with the Cyclones. In a twist of fate, Murray State brought him back for a second stint last season, with the Racers finishing 7th in their first season in the MVC.

69. Cliff Ellis (Coastal Carolina) (Last year: 68)

• Overall record: 830-561

A long time ago, Ellis was a high school and junior college head coach before South Alabama hired him in 1975. He’s spent 44 years as D1 head coach, with decade-long stints at South Alabama, Clemson, and Auburn with success at times at each school. Coastal Carolina hired him in 2007 and became his fourth school he’d lead to the Big Dance. He won a few Big South titles before helping the Chanticleers transition to the Sun Belt several years back, though last year’s 11-20 mark was his worst season at Coastal Carolina.

68. Bryce Drew (Grand Canyon) (Last year: 72)

• Overall record: 228-135

Drew starred under his father Homer at Valparaiso and hit an unforgettable shot in the Big Dance back in 1998. After playing six years in the NBA, he began his coaching career at his alma mater, including five seasons as head coach. Not only did Drew lead Valparaiso to the NCAA Tournament, but he did the same at Vanderbilt before being fired after just three seasons. In 2020, Grand Canyon brought him into the program and he’s had phenomenal success. Drew has led the Antelopes to their first two trips to the NCAA Tournament, including this past year after another WAC Tournament title.

67. Bob Richey (Furman) (Last year: 97)

• Overall record: 139-54

This past year was a significant breakthrough for Richey, who remains a rising name in the coaching world and is still just 40 years old. He had stints as an assistant at Charleston Southern and Furman before ascending to the Paladins’ top job in 2017. He’s led Furman to a Top 3 finish in a strong SoCon in each of his first six seasons, but last year took the cake. Not only did he lead the Paladins to regular season and tournament titles in the SoCon, but Furman upset Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

66. Will Wade (McNeese State) (Last year: N/A)

• Overall record: 196-96

Despite a bizarre fall from grace, Wade is back in the college game this season at McNeese State. His career began as a graduate assistant at Clemson and included his contributions as an assistant at VCU during their run to the Final Four. Wade had great two-year stints as head coach at both Chattanooga and VCU before engineering at turnaround at LSU. However, he was fired by the Tigers after several violations. McNeese State provides him a soft landing and there’s hope he can win Southland titles with these Cowboys.

65. Craig Smith (Utah) (Last year: 65)

• Overall record: 181-114

Early in his career, Smith was an assistant under Tim Miles, working under him at several schools including Colorado State and Nebraska. Formerly an NAIA head coach, his first D1 head coaching experience came at South Dakota just under a decade ago. He led a turnaround for the Coyotes and then took Utah State to immense success across three seasons before he was hired by Utah in 2021. The Utes are slowly turning this around, with Smith’s program finishing 7th in the Pac-12 last season, which is actually a big step forward.

64. Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa) (Last year: 62)

• Overall record: 335-219

A former point guard and assistant at North Dakota, Jacobson has spent more than two decades involved with basketball at Northern Iowa. He was an assistant under Greg McDermott for five years before succeeding him in 2006. During that time, the Panthers have won four NCAA Tournament games, including unforgettable shots by Ali Farokhmanesh in 2010 and Paul Jesperson in 2016. The Panthers recently won the MVC title, but finished just 8th place in the league last season, winning just 14 games on the year.

63. Kevin Keatts (NC State) (Last year: 80)

• Overall record: 185-107

We’re not quite sure yet how much of a winner Keatts will be at NC State, but he did have great success at Hargrave Military Academy. He helped Louisville win the national title in 2013 as an assistant and won 72 games in three years at UNC Wilmington before taking the NC State job in 2017. The Wolfpack weren’t trending in a great direction recently, finishing dead last in the ACC in 2022, but Keatts helped turn things around. Last year he got the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament for a second time and finished 6th in the ACC.

62. Archie Miller (Rhode Island) (Last year: 53)

• Overall record: 215-143

Miller has played and coached at some impressive basketball schools during his career. He was an assistant at NC State, Arizona State, Ohio State, and Arizona before beginning his head coaching career at Dayton. Miller was overwhelmingly success with the Flyers, including four straight trips to the Big Dance, but really struggled and was fired after just four years at Indiana. Eyeing a bounce back, he took the Rhode Island job this past offseason but he’ll need a few years with the Rams, finishing just 14th place in the A-10 in year one.

61. Leon Rice (Boise State) (Last year: 73)

• Overall record: 268-155

Rice bounced around as an assistant at a few schools in the West Coast before he caught on at Gonzaga, joining new head coach Mark Few’s staff in 1999. After eleven years as an assistant with the Bulldogs he took his first D1 head coaching job at Boise State. Simply put, Rice has been a revelation with the Broncos, leading the program to four NCAA Tournaments and keeping them competitive in the MWC on a yearly basis. Just a year removed from a conference title, Rice took the Broncos to 24 wins and a second straight trip to the Big Dance last season.

60. Matt McMahon (LSU) (Last year: 46)

• Overall record: 168-86

One of McMahon’s earliest influences was Buzz Peterson, who he played under at Appalachian State and coached under at a few schools, including as a graduate assistant at Tennessee. He was an assistant under Steve Prohm at Murray State before being promoted to the top job in 2015. McMahon’s biggest accomplishment has been finding Ja Morant and turning him into a star. He won a pair of games and a slew of OVC titles with the Racers before taking LSU’s head coaching job last offseason. McMahon inherited Will Wade’s mess and finished last in the league in his first year, winning just 14 games.

59. Darian DeVries (Drake) (Last year: 74)

• Overall record: 122-48

Successful in the MVC for most of his career, DeVries played his college ball at Northern Iowa before joining the Creighton staff as a graduate manager. He was later promoted to full-time assistant and would spend 20 years with the Bluejays, including their first five seasons in the Big East. In 2018 he was hired by Drake, beginning his head coaching career back in the MVC with the Bulldogs. He’s won at least 20 games in all five seasons, leading the Bulldogs twice to the NCAA Tournament, including in last year’s 27-win campaign.

58. Grant McCasland (Texas Tech) (Last year: 101)

• Overall record: 155-77

A former junior college head coach, McCasland played point guard at Baylor back in the late 90’s and would begin his D1 career on Scott Drew’s staff, with the Bears albeit in much different shape. His D1 head coaching career began with a 20-win season at Arkansas State before he was lured to North Texas in 2017. These last six seasons have been very prosperous for the Mean Green, as McCasland delivered a CBI title, an NCAA Tournament upset win, and last year’s NIT title. His coaching career began as director of operations at Texas Tech and he returned 22 years later as their new head coach.

57. Steve Forbes (Wake Forest) (Last year: 57)

• Overall record: 180-83

Forbes has bounced around between a long list of colleges throughout his career, including three different junior college head coaching jobs. He’s served on the staffs of Porter Moser, Billy Gillispie, Bruce Pearl, and Gregg Marshall, learning from some brilliant minds in this game. He spent five very successful years leading East Tennessee State, winning 130 games and making plenty of waves with the Buccaneers. He’s been at Wake Forest since 2020 and has done decent work turning these Demon Deacons around, including a 19-14 mark last season.

56. Fran Dunphy (La Salle) (Last year: 58)

• Overall record: 595-344

A player at La Salle more than half a century, it seemed oddly fitting when Dunphy took over the program last offseason. Formerly an assistant at several other colleges, he spent 17 years as head coach at Penn, taking the Quakers to nine NCAA Tournaments. Dunphy was then hired at Temple and made eight more trips to the Big Dance while leading the Owls before retiring in 2019. After three years out of the game, he took over at his alma mater and secured an 11th place finish in his first season back in the A-10.

55. Penny Hardaway (Memphis) (Last year: 69)

• Overall record: 111-52

Back in the early 90’s Hardaway a star guard at Memphis, becoming the 3rd pick in the 1993 NBA Draft before a long and successful NBA career. Several years later, he became a high school coach in the city of Memphis before the Tigers handed him their head coaching job back in 2018. This last half decade has been his first taste of coaching at the college level. He’s proven to be an elite recruiter, won the NIT in 2021 and has led Memphis to back-to-back trips to the Big Dance, winning 26 games last season.

54. Steve Pikiell (Rutgers) (Last year: 56)

• Overall record: 309-262

More than three decades ago Pikiell was a point guard and briefly an assistant at UConn at the beginning of his coaching career. He worked at Yale and George Washington and a few other schools before starting his head coaching journey at Stony Brook. Pikiell slowly built success for the Seawolves, leading them to their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Hired to fix a broken Rutgers program in 2016, he has been unexpectedly successful with the Scarlet Knights, with multiple trips to the Big Dance, though last season saw their bubble burst as Rutgers headed to the NIT.

53. Pat Kelsey (Charleston) (Last year: 99)

• Overall record: 234-114

This past year was certainly the breakthrough season Kelsey was hoping to have in Charleston. He played point guard at Xavier under Skip Prosser and assisted him for several years at Wake Forest. Kelsey went back to Xavier as associate head coach before spending 9 seasons at Winthrop, securing four Big South titles. Kelsey was hired by the College of Charleston in 2021 and is coming off a masterful season, with the Cougars finishing 31-4 after winning the CAA and making the NCAA Tournament.

52. Porter Moser (Oklahoma) (Last year: 35)

• Overall record: 327-275
• Final Four in 2018

Moser has been around the game for quite some time, though we know his best breakthrough came at Loyola-Chicago. Long before that, he was an assistant at Texas A&M and a few other schools before brief head coaching stints at Little Rock and Illinois State. He aided Rick Majerus at Saint Louis before his decade at Loyola, leading the Ramblers to a wild Final Four run in 2018. A few weeks after a Sweet Sixteen in 2021, he bolted for Oklahoma and has struggled in his first two years, including last year’s disappointing 15-17 finish.

51. Anthony Grant (Dayton) (Last year: 52)

• Overall record: 317-174

A Miami native who coached high school ball in the area, Grant’s career really got going when he joined Billy Donovan’s staff at Marshall, later helping Florida to a national championship. Grant then spent stints as head coach at both VCU and Alabama, with varying levels of success, especially with the Rams. After a couple seasons on Donovan’s bench in the NBA, Grant was hired in 2017 at Dayton, his alma mater. His Flyers finished 29-2 in the pandemic-shortened season and unfortunately have yet to make the Big Dance, though they have finished 2nd in the A-10 in each of the last two seasons.

50. Mike White (Georgia) (Last year: 51)

• Overall record: 259-144

White played point guard at Ole Miss back in the late 90’s before getting his coaching career started at Jacksonville State. He was later an assistant with the Rebels before his head coaching career began at Louisiana Tech in 2011. After more than 100 wins in four years with the Bulldogs he was hired by Florida and had a decent 7-year run with the Gators, making four trips to the Big Dance. He jumped over to Georgia last offseason, staying in the SEC and taking over a program in much worse shape. His Bulldogs finished 11th in the SEC in year one.

49. Frank Martin (Massachusetts) (Last year: 41)

• Overall record: 303-217
• Final Four in 2017

Prior to 2000, Martin’s entire coaching career had been spent coaching high school ball in Miami. He then was an assistant at a few schools, including Cincinnati and Kansas State under Bob Huggins. After Huggins left for West Virginia in 2007, Martin ascended to head coach and led the Wildcats to an Elite Eight. He had very mixed results over a decade as head coach at South Carolina with the clear highlight being the team’s Final Four run in 2017. Martin started at UMass last season and finished 13th in the A-10, but he’s only just begin his work with the Minutemen.

48. Dennis Gates (Missouri) (Last year: 135)

• Overall record: 75-50

Certainly one of the hottest names in coaching in recent years, Gates was an assistant for many years, including nearly a decade at Florida State with Leonard Hamilton. His head coaching career began in 2019 at Cleveland State and he effectively turned around a Vikings program in tough shape, leading them to the NCAA Tournament in just his second season. Quick turnarounds seem to be his thing because he joined Missouri as head coach last season and led the Tigers to 25 wins and the second round of the Big Dance in his first year.

47. Chris Jans (Mississippi State) (Last year: 63)

• Overall record: 164-57

Earlier in his career, Jans was a head coach at four different junior colleges before catching on at the D1 level, assisting at Illinois State and Wichita State. Things went sideways after a single season leading Bowling Green, but his head coaching career would rebound nicely at New Mexico State, leading the Aggies to three NCAA Tournaments and an upset win in 2022. He accepted the Mississippi State job and did marvelous work in his first season, winning 21 games and making a trip to the Big Dance.

46. T. J. Otzelberger (Iowa State) (Last year: 60)

• Overall record: 140-90

After growing up and playing ball in Wisconsin, Otzelberger’s career began at the high school and junior college level before joining Greg McDermott’s Iowa State staff in 2006. He would spend eight of the next ten years with the Cyclones (leaving briefly for Washington) before head coaching stops at South Dakota State and UNLV, taking the Jackrabbits to the NCAA Tournament twice. Iowa State brought him back as head coach in 2021 and he’s led the Cyclones to the Big Dance both years, including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2022.

45. Mike Young (Virginia Tech) (Last year: 44)

• Overall record: 372-295

Native to Radford, Virginia, Young had his best coaching work down in South Carolina, spending three decades on staff at Wofford. He was an assistant for thirteen years before earning the Terriers’ top job in 2002, leading the program to the NCAA Tournament five times, including a win in his final season. Virginia Tech summoned him back to his home state in 2019 and he’s done pretty decent work, taking the Hokies to the Big Dance twice, though last season ended with an 11th place finish in the ACC and an NIT bid.

44. Brad Brownell (Clemson) (Last year: 47)

• Overall record: 408-262

Entrenched at Clemson for the last thirteen years, Brownell has had a successful head coaching career these last few decades. He spent eight seasons assisting Jerry Wainwright at UNC Wilmington before beginning his head coaching career at the school. He’d lead both those Seahawks and Wright State to the Big Dance in brief stints before landing at Clemson in 2010. Brownell’s tenure with the Tigers has included three trips to the Big Dance, including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2018. Last year was a bounce back season, as the Tigers tied for 3rd in the ACC, though they settled for a trip to the NIT.

43. Andy Kennedy (UAB) (Last year: 54)

• Overall record: 344-194

A player at UAB more than three decades ago, Kennedy is now doing a world of good leading his alma mater. He spent several seasons as an assistant at both UAB and Cincinnati before spending a year as interim head coach of the Bearcats. There were plenty of positive moments across a 12-year stint with Ole Miss, including a couple trips to the Big Dance. Kennedy was brought home to UAB in 2020 and has been impressive, taking the Blazers to the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and the NIT title game last season, with a 78-25 record through three seasons.

42. Hubert Davis (North Carolina) (Last year: 28)

• Overall record: 49-23
• Final Four in 2022

Chosen as Roy Williams’ successor, there’s certainly been pressure on Davis, who played under Dean Smith with the Tar Heels over thirty years ago. He played a dozen seasons in the NBA and was an ESPN analyst before joining Williams’ staff back in 2012. After nine years on the bench, including a national title in 2017, Davis took over the program and immediately led North Carolina on an unexpected run to the championship game. The Tar Heels crashed back down to earth last season, winning 20 games but missing the Big Dance entirely.

41. Mike Woodson (Indiana) (Last year: 64)

• Overall record: 44-26

Woodson played at Indiana under Bob Knight way back in the late 70’s but had no involvement in the college game for over four decades. He spent eleven years playing in the NBA and coached in the league for even longer, including head coaching stints with the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks. Indiana handed him his first collegiate coaching job in 2021 and he’s been effective, getting the Hoosiers back to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first two seasons, including 23 wins and a first round win last season.

40. Juwan Howard (Michigan) (Last year: 32)

• Overall record: 79-48

Yet another former NBA stud having success at the college game, Howard was part of the Fab Five that had immense success at Michigan in the early 90’s. He played nearly two decades in the NBA and was an assistant for several years with the Miami Heat. Back in 2019, he was brought to Michigan for his first head coaching position and has had some breakthroughs. The Wolverines made the Elite Eight in 2021 and the Sweet Sixteen the following season, but they’re coming off a disappointing year where Michigan settled for an NIT despite a very talented lineup.

39. Steve Alford (Nevada) (Last year: 42)

• Overall record: 579-320

Alford starred under Bob Knight at Indiana and won a national championship as a player in 1987. He’d play parts of four seasons in the NBA before beginning a head coaching career that’s going on 30+ years. He was great at D3 Manchester, took Missouri State to the Sweet Sixteen, and had varying success at Iowa. Alford also worked success at New Mexico and UCLA before landing at Nevada back in 2019. Initially, things were going well with the Wolf Pack, but this past season was his best effort, finishing 4th in the MWC and getting Nevada back to the Big Dance.

38. Kevin Willard (Maryland) (Last year: 49)

• Overall record: 292-223

After playing under his father at Western Kentucky and Pittsburgh, Willard was an assistant for the Boston Celtics and at Louisville under Rick Pitino. His head coaching career began with three decent years at Iona before taking the Seton Hall job back in 2010. He transformed the Pirates into a consistent competitor in the new Big East, making five NCAA Tournaments while winning a ton of games. Last offseason saw Willard jump to Maryland and experience great success right out the gate, leading the Terrapins into the second round of the Big Dance after a rough previous season.

37. Greg Gard (Wisconsin) (Last year: 37)

• Overall record: 164-93

A longtime disciple of Bo Ryan, Gard played for him at Wisconsin-Platteville before spending more than twenty years on Ryan’s coaching staffs. It wasn’t just Platteville; Gard worked under Ryan at Milwaukee and for 14 years at Wisconsin, including their two Final Four runs in the mid-2010’s. After Ryan’s retirement, Gard was promoted to the top job in December 2015. He immediately led the Badgers to two Sweet Sixteen’s and has had five trips to the Big Dance. The Badgers won 20 games again last season, but settled for the NIT.

36. Jon Scheyer (Duke) (Last year: 78)

• Overall record: 27-9

An impressive guard at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski, Scheyer won a national title as a senior in 2010 before a brief professional playing career. He got into coaching back with the Blue Devils, joining Coach K’s staff in 2013. Promoted to a full-time assistant and later associate head coach, he won another title on the staff in 2015 and would succeed Coach K as the new head coach last year. Year one at Duke was a solid effort, with the Blue Devils winning the ACC Tournament title before falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

35. Dusty May (Florida Atlantic) (Last year: 202)

• Overall record: 101-60
• Final Four in 2023

Early in his career, May was a lesser-known assistant at schools like Eastern Michigan and Murray State, but everyone in the sport knows him now. He aided Mike White at Louisiana Tech and Florida before getting his head coaching start at Florida Atlantic in 2018. There were solid moments in his first four seasons but this past year broke the mold in a major way. He built a fantastic roster with the Owls, who would finish the year 35-4 and advance all the way to the Final Four. His work in Boca Raton has been masterful and he’s not done yet.

34. Chris Holtmann (Ohio State) (Last year: 27)

• Overall record: 237-160

A standout player at Taylor, an NAIA school, Holtmann got into coaching soon after his playing career ended, working at a few lesser known schools. His first head coaching chance came at Gardner-Webb before catching on at Butler, ascending to the top job in 2014. Holtmann won four NCAA Tournament games in three years with the Bulldogs and departed for Ohio State in 2017, though the results have been very mixed. The Buckeyes have yet to advance beyond the opening weekend of the Big Dance and finished 13th in the Big Ten last season.

33. Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s) (Last year: 38)

• Overall record: 507-208

One of the nation’s most underrated head coaches, Bennett has made himself quite a career out at Saint Mary’s. He worked as an assistant at a number of schools, including a long stint at San Diego and a few stops under Lorenzo Romar. Saint Mary’s handed him their head coaching job in 2001 and hasn’t regretted the choice. In a WCC dominated by Gonzaga, the Gaels have been impressive, with nine trips to the Big Dance, a few conference titles, and a plethora of wins. Saint Mary’s has won a NCAA Tournament game in each of the last two postseason.

32. Andy Enfield (USC) (Last year: 40)

• Overall record: 246-157

A former standout shooter at Johns Hopkins, Enfield actually worked in the NBA as a shooting coach early in his career. He caught on at the college game as an assistant to Leonard Hamilton at Florida State before getting his head coaching shot at Florida Gulf Coast. Unforgettably, he led the 15-seeded Eagles to the Sweet Sixteen back in 2013 before taking the USC job a few weeks later. The Trojans have been in great shape under Enfield’s leadership, finishing Top 3 in the Pac-12 each of the last four seasons, including an Elite Eight in 2021 and a third straight Tourney bid this past season.

31. Jerome Tang (Kansas State) (Last year: 118)

• Overall record: 26-10

Undoubtedly the hottest first-year head coach in the nation this past season, Tang waited for the right head coaching position. A former high school head coach in Texas, he spent 19 years as Scott Drew’s right-hand man in building Baylor, culminating in that national championship in 2021. Last season, Tang departed for Kansas State to begin to build his own legacy and got off to a phenomenal start. The Wildcats finished 3rd in a tough Big 12 and advanced to the Elite Eight.

30. Fran McCaffery (Iowa) (Last year: 31)

• Overall record: 512-353

A former point guard at Penn, McCaffery has been in coaching for a long time and was already head coach at Lehigh back in the mid-80’s. He’d spend a long stretch as an assistant at Notre Dame before successful head coaching stints at UNC Greensboro and Siena, getting a pair of Tourney wins with those Saints. Iowa brought him aboard in 2010 and he’s led the Hawkeyes to the Big Dance seven times, including each of the last four Tournaments. It’s been business as usual recently for a Hawkeyes team that continues to pump out talent.

29. Buzz Williams (Texas A&M) (Last year: 33)

• Overall record: 329-202

A native Texan, Williams fits right in at Texas A&M, but there have been many stops before College Station. He assisted at six different programs, including briefly with the Aggies under Billy Gillispie, before starting as head coach at New Orleans. Later on, he’d take Marquette to an Elite Eight and made history with a Sweet Sixteen bid at Virginia Tech back in 2019. Texas A&M called him back to the Lone Star State weeks later and he’s turned around another program. The Aggies nearly won the NIT in 2022 before finally getting back to the Big Dance this past season, finishing 2nd place in the SEC.

28. Leonard Hamilton (Florida State) (Last year: 25)

• Overall record: 626-475

Hamilton played college ball at Tennessee-Martin way back in the early 70’s and has been a coach for more than 50 years. He won a national championship as an assistant at Kentucky before successful head coaching stints at Oklahoma State and Miami. After flaming out in a brief stint leading the Washington Wizards, Hamilton took over at Florida State way back in 2002. The Seminoles have had great success in the ACC over the last two-plus decades, including an Elite Eight and two Sweet Sixteen’s in the last six years alone. Unfortunately, the Seminoles struggled to a 9-23 record last year.

27. Brad Underwood (Illinois) (Last year: 22)

• Overall record: 223-106

Native to Kansas, Underwood played ball at Kansas State and was a junior college head coach in the state before a long stint on staff at Western Illinois. He was back at his alma mater on Frank Martin’s staff (following him to South Carolina) before head coaching stints at Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State. Underwood’s work with the Lumberjacks remains legendary, but his efforts at Illinois have been iconic as well. Hired in 2017, he’s helped turn around a dormant Illini program, winning Big Ten titles in two of the last three seasons; all of which ended in NCAA Tournament appearances.

26. Ed Cooley (Georgetown) (Last year: 29)

• Overall record: 334-222

There’s plenty of buzz at Georgetown this year since Cooley was hired this offseason. A former player and assistant at Stonehill, he spent a decade assisting Al Skinner at Rhode Island and Boston College before getting his head coaching start at Fairfield. He was hired by Providence in 2011 and is coming off a very solid 12-year stretch with the Friars, taking the program to seven NCAA Tournaments, including a Sweet Sixteen and Big East title in 2022. He inherits a Georgetown program that’s frankly been a mess for years with high hopes of a turnaround.

25. Greg McDermott (Creighton) (Last year: 26)

• Overall record: 449-281

McDermott has spent nearly three decades as a collegiate head coach and has been successful for most of the journey. He had good runs at Wayne State and North Dakota State before getting his D1 start with Northern Iowa. After flaming out at Iowa State, he took over at Creighton in 2010, leading the Bluejays into the new Big East just three years later. He’s won conference titles in both the MVC and Big East, has made eight appearances in the Big Dance, and is coming off his best season: taking Creighton to the Elite Eight this past season with a really talented roster.

24. Brian Dutcher (San Diego State) (Last year: 48)

• Overall record: 151-47
• Final Four in 2023

A graduate of Minnesota and a former grad assistant at Illinois, Dutcher actually starred with a different Big Ten school, spending nearly a decade as an assistant at Michigan, winning the national title in 1989. He was a longtime associate of Steve Fisher, helping him build San Diego State’s program on his bench for nearly two decades. When Fisher retired in 2017, Dutcher inherited the program and has taken the Aztecs to the next level. Their 30-win campaign in the pandemic-shortened season was already profound, but Dutcher took San Diego State to the national championship game this past season.

23. Tommy Lloyd (Arizona) (Last year: 30)

• Overall record: 61-11

Lloyd split his playing career among three non-D1 schools in the Pacific Northwest and wasn’t exactly a known commodity. He joined Mark Few’s staff at Gonzaga back in 2000 and would grow into an incredibly important role as the Bulldogs developed into a national power. After twenty years as a full-time assistant, Lloyd finally got his head coaching opportunity at Arizona. Not only is his record impressive, but he’s won a pair of Pac-12 Tournament titles and took the Wildcats to the Sweet Sixteen in his first season.

22. Shaka Smart (Marquette) (Last year: 34)

• Overall record: 320-162
• Final Four in 2011

Early on, Smart was an assistant coach, spending time at Dayton, Akron, Clemson, and Florida. VCU gave him his first head coaching shot when he was just 31 years old and he delivered, taking the Rams to that insane Final Four run back in 2011. Smart had six-year stints with both VCU and Texas, really struggling with the Longhorns. He’s bounced back nicely since Marquette brought him back to his home state of Wisconsin two years ago, winning 29 games and the Big East title this past season.

21. Thad Matta (Butler) (Last year: 16)

• Overall record: 453-172
• Final Four in 2007, 2012

Matta played college ball at Butler and has had multiple stints with the Bulldogs, while also making waves elsewhere. He began his head coaching career at Butler back in 2000, bolting after just a season for Xavier. After four trips to the Big Dance with those schools, Ohio State brought him aboard and he led the Buckeyes to the Final Four in 2007 and 2012. After retiring from the game, he was lured back to Butler this past offseason and has a rebuild on his hands. Year one was just a 14-18 mark.

20. Chris Beard (Mississippi) (Last year: 8)

• Overall record: 171-73
• Final Four in 2019

Last year’s issues certainly dulled Beard’s star, but he’s back at Ole Miss this season. A long time former assistant and junior college head coach, he lead Little Rock to an NCAA Tournament win in 2016 before a successful half decade leading Texas Tech, including to the national championship game back in 2019. Beard finished 29-13 in his season and a half at Texas before being fired as a result of assault charges. With his name somewhat cleared, he was hired by the Rebels and hopes to bring significant success to Mississippi for the very first time.

19. Dana Altman (Oregon) (Last year: 14)

• Overall record: 731-383
• Final Four in 2017

A fantastic coach with a long history in this game, Altman spent time at a few junior colleges before later starting his D1 head coaching career at Marshall, way back in 1989. He’d depart shortly thereafter for Kansas State before a successful 16-year stretch at Creighton. After a plethora of postseason success with the Bluejays, he accepted the Oregon job in 2010. Between Pac-12 titles and the program’s second-ever Final Four back in 2017, Altman has done fine work in the Pacific Northwest, though the Ducks have underperformed in recent years, finishing just 4th in the Pac-12 this past season.

18. Jim Larranaga (Miami FL) (Last year: 24)

• Overall record: 697-458
• Final Four in 2006, 2023

Way back in the day, Larranaga was a ball player at Providence in the late 60’s before spending time on the Virginia coaching staff back in the days of Ralph Sampson. He’s had three long and successful head coaching stints, starting with a long stretch at Bowling Green before heading to George Mason. In 2006, he took the Patriots to a wild Final Four run as an 11-seed before taking the Miami job half a decade later. These last twelve years with the Hurricanes have been his finest work and he just had the cherry on top, leading Miami to last season’s Final Four.

17. Sean Miller (Xavier) (Last year: 20)

• Overall record: 449-166

Miller’s coaching career has been an interesting journey after playing point guard at Pittsburgh more than thirty years ago. He spent time under Herb Sendek at NC State and Thad Matta at Xavier before starting his head coaching career with those Musketeers. He would lead Xavier to an Elite Eight and earn three more Elite Eight’s before flaming out at Arizona a few seasons ago. Miller was rehired by Xavier last offseason and had a very productive first season, getting a talented Musketeers squad to the Sweet Sixteen in his first year back.

16. Jamie Dixon (TCU) (Last year: 18)

• Overall record: 467-220

A former star at TCU, some of Dixon’s best work has come leading his alma mater, but there’s plenty more to the story. He worked with Ben Howland several times early in his coaching career, spending time with him at Northern Arizona and Pittsburgh. Succeeding him, Dixon led the Panthers for 13 years to begin his head coaching career and was regularly successful. TCU called him home in 2016, with Dixon inheriting a program in lame shape. Instead, the Horned Frogs have become more of a competitor in the Big 12 and are coming off back-to-back trips to the Big Dance.

15. Nate Oats (Alabama) (Last year: 23)

• Overall record: 188-85

Native to Wisconsin, Oats was a college assistant in his home state before coaching high school ball in Detroit for many years. He caught on at the D1 level on Bobby Hurley’s Buffalo staff but really shined in four years as the Bulls’ head coach, getting a pair of Tournament wins. Oats was brought to Alabama in 2019 and has created magnificent success with the Crimson Tide. He’s led the program to a pair of SEC titles and Sweet Sixteen’s, the second of each coming in this past season.

14. Rick Pitino (St. John’s) (Last year: 19)

• Overall record: 834-293
• Final Four in 1987, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2012*, 2013*
• National championships in 1996, 2013*

Pitino played point guard at UMass, was Jim Boeheim’s first hire at Syracuse, and has been a head coach at six different colleges and for two NBA franchises. He led Providence to a Final Four before winning national championships at both Kentucky and Louisville, with the Cardinals’ title obviously vacated. Pitino spent the last three years with success at Iona, including a pair of trips to the Big Dance and plenty of wins in the MAAC. Now he’s back in the Big East, taking over a St. John’s program that seriously needed this kind of boost.

13. Bruce Pearl (Auburn) (Last year: 17)

• Overall record: 418-210
• Final Four in 2019

After serving as a manager at Boston College and an assistant at a few other schools, Pearl’s head coaching career began in style, winning a D2 title at Southern Indiana over two decades ago. The winning didn’t stop there, as he’d lead Milwaukee to the Sweet Sixteen in 2005 before a nice run with Tennessee was broken up by violations. Auburn brought him aboard in 2014, with Pearl building this program into a winner. The Tigers made the Final Four back in 2019 and have been in the Big Dance these last two seasons again.

12. Mick Cronin (UCLA) (Last year: 13)

• Overall record: 464-207
• Final Four in 2021

Cronin was born in Cincinnati and graduated a Bearcat, yet he left the school even after 13 successful years as head coach. He assisted Bob Huggins with the Bearcats and also spent time at Louisville before getting his career started at Murray State. During that decade-plus leading Cincinnati he took the Bearcats to nine straight NCAA Tournaments but has had a breakthrough at UCLA. He bolted for the West Coast in 2019 and had the Bruins in the Final Four in just his second year. He’s coming off a 31-win season, a Pac-12 regular season title, and a third straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen.

11. Eric Musselman (Arkansas) (Last year: 15)

• Overall record: 205-76

Musselman has only been a collegiate head coach for eight years, but he’s been everywhere in this sport. He was a coach in the CBA and NBA, briefly serving as head coach of both the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. His first collegiate chance came as led Nevada to 110 wins and a Sweet Sixteen in four seasons. Since arriving at Arkansas in 2019 the results have been even greater, taking the Razorbacks to two Elite Eights plus a Sweet Sixteen run this past season, with a few gnarly upsets along the way.

10. Rick Barnes (Tennessee) (Last year: 11)

• Overall record: 779-406
• Final Four in 2003

Barnes has worked in college basketball for nearly half a century, getting his D1 start as an assistant at Davidson back in 1978. His first head coaching work came with stints at George Mason, Providence, and Clemson before settling in at Texas. Across 17 years he’d lead the Longhorns to numerous NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four in 2003. After his questionable firing, he landed at Tennessee and has been a steadying force for the Volunteers. Tennessee is coming off a Sweet Sixteen and a fifth straight appearance in the Big Dance.

9. Dan Hurley (Connecticut) (Last year: 36)

• Overall record: 255-160
• Final Four in 2023
• National championship in 2023

This was the special breakthrough year for Hurley, who cut down the nets with the Huskies and won his first national championship. Formerly a point guard at Seton Hall, he was a high school coach for nearly a decade before head coaching stints at Wagner and Rhode Island. His success with the Rams led UConn to hire him in 2018 and the results are clear. Hurley led Connecticut back into the Big East three years ago and has made the Big Dance in each of those seasons, culminating in this past season’s rise to the top of the college basketball world.

8. Matt Painter (Purdue) (Last year: 10)

• Overall record: 438-203

Painter bounced around as a collegiate assistant early in his career and even spent a year as head coach at Southern Illinois. He was called back to Purdue to assist Gene Keady, his college coach, and would succeed him in 2005. These last eighteen years have seen Painter secure the Boilermakers as one of the best basketball programs in the Big Ten. The journey has included 14 trips to the NCAA Tournament, an Elite Eight in 2019, and last season’s conference title; though Fairleigh Dickinson ended their hopes far earlier than expected.

7. Tony Bennett (Virginia) (Last year: 5)

• Overall record: 410-158
• Final Four in 2019
• National championship in 2019

Bennett played under his father at Green Bay and played professionally briefly before beginning his coaching career in earnest at Wisconsin, again under his father. His first head coaching chance came at Washington State, taking the Cougars program to a Sweet Sixteen in 2008; their most recent trip to the Big Dance. Virginia hired Bennett in 2009 and has never regretted that choice. The obvious headline is the Cavaliers’ national title in 2019, but Bennett is also responsible for six ACC titles and several other trips to the NCAA Tournament, with last year earning them another regular season banner.

6. Kelvin Sampson (Houston) (Last year: 7)

• Overall record: 657-301
• Final Four in 2002, 2021

Who expected a guard at UNC Pembroke in the 1970’s to have this kind of coaching career? Sampson had success as head coach at Montana Tech, Washington State, and Oklahoma, leading the Sooners to the Final Four in 2002. Scandal erupted early at Indiana, but he’s bounced back in a major way since Houston hired him in 2014. After a few rebuilding seasons, he’s taken the Cougars to the last five NCAA Tournaments, including a Final Four in 2021 and at least the Sweet Sixteen in the four Tourneys. After back-to-back AAC titles, he’ll lead Houston into the Big 12 this season.

5. Scott Drew (Baylor) (Last year: 6)

• Overall record: 442-244
• Final Four in 2021
• National championship in 2021

Few would have expected that Drew would cut down the nets as a national champion when he left Valparaiso for Baylor way back in 2003. He had assisted father Homer for nearly a decade before taking the Crusaders to the NIT in his lone season as head coach. The Bears beckoned him to revitalize a program completely broken by scandal and Drew went above all expectations. He head Baylor in the Elite Eight twice in the first decade and clearly cemented his status with their national championship back in 2021. Baylor recently won a pair of Big 12 titles and have been in the last four NCAA Tournaments.

4. Mark Few (Gonzaga) (Last year: 3)

• Overall record: 689-135
• Final Four in 2017, 2021

It’s hard to believe but Few really has spent his entire collegiate coaching career at Gonzaga. He arrived as a graduate assistant in 1989 and ascended to the head coaching job in 1999. Since then, the Bulldogs have advanced far beyond the Cinderella label they were given in the late 90’s. Not only have his Bulldogs dominated the WCC, winning 22 of 24 regular season titles, but they’ve also made the NCAA Tournament in every single season. Few made national title games in 2017 and 2021, has led Gonzaga to at least the Sweet Sixteen for eight straight Tourneys, and had a sweet Elite Eight run last year.

3. Tom Izzo (Michigan State) (Last year: 4)

• Overall record: 687-280
• Final Four in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2019
• National championship in 2000

After briefly coaching at a few other places, Izzo has been at Michigan State for the last forty years. He assisted Jud Heathcote for over a decade before being promoted to head coach back in 1995. During a Hall of Fame career he’s led the Spartans to the national championship in 2000 and eight trips to the Final Four. Michigan State has appeared in each of the last 25 NCAA Tournaments and is a constant force in the Big Ten, even if they finished just 4th this past season; though a Sweet Sixteen run did result.

2. John Calipari (Kentucky) (Last year: 2)

• Overall record: 832-253
• Final Four in 1996*, 2008*, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015
• National championship in 2012

Known as an elite recruiter, Calipari has had success everywhere he’s gone, except maybe his stint with the New Jersey Nets. He led both Massachusetts and Memphis to Final Four runs that were later vacated before he was hired by Kentucky back in 2009. In his first six years he led the Wildcats to a national championship (2012) and four trips to the Final Four. Success has been sparser in recent years, especially as the SEC has gotten stronger, but Kentucky still won 22 games and won an NCAA Tournament game this year.

1. Bill Self (Kansas) (Last year: 1)

• Overall record: 787-237
• Final Four in 2008, 2012, 2018, 2022
• National championships in 2008, 2022

An incredibly successful college coach, Self still sits atop the list after continued success with the Jayhawks. He got his start with solid work at Oral Roberts before leading both Tulsa and Illinois to Elite Eight runs. He took over at Kansas in 2003 and has never missed the Big Dance, winning national championships in 2008 and 2002. What’s followed has been a slew of Big 12 titles, winning 17 regular season titles and 9 tournaments. While his Jayhawks were upended in the second round last year, he’s constantly building championship-level teams in Lawrence.