NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 362 D-I head coaches for 2023-24 season
By Joey Loose
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.