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