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

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.