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

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.