180. Stan Heath (Eastern Michigan) (Last year: 190)
Overall record: 256-285
Heath continues on at Eastern Michigan nearly four decades after attending the school in the mid-80’s. He bounced around as an assistant coach, later winning a national title on Tom Izzo’s staff at Michigan State. His first season as a head coach involved taking Kent State to the Elite Eight before mixed results helming Arkansas and South Florida. Since 2021 Heath has been back with the Eagles and had three tough seasons to start before a .500 finish was a step in the right direction this past season.
179. Darris Nichols (La Salle) (Last year: 234)
Overall record: 68-63
This year marks a new adventure for Nichols as he takes over at La Salle for his second head coaching gig. A former point guard at West Virginia, his coaching career started as a graduate assistant there under Bob Huggins before several other coaching stops. After several years with Mike White at Florida, Nichols became head coach at Radford in his hometown, with a pair of 20-win campaigns with the Highlanders. Now he takes over the Explorers, hoping for a turnaround in the A-10 ahead.
178. Tevon Saddler (Nicholls State) (Last year: 241)
Overall record: 40-27
Still among the youngest head coaches in the nation at any level, Saddler recently turned 30 but begins year three helming Nicholls State. He played there at the end of his playing career and was operations director a few years later. Saddler also gained experience directing personnel for Maryland before taking the Colonels’ job in 2023. What has transpired since is a pair of 20-win seasons and 3rd place finishes in the Southland Conference thanks to his hard work.
177. Steve Donahue (Saint Joseph’s) (Last year: 158)
Overall record: 331-344
A former player at Ursinus, a D3 school in Pennsylvania, Donahue coached many years in his home state and has nearly a quarter century of head coaching experience. He’s spent several decades in the Ivy League, taking Cornell to the Sweet Sixteen as head coach in 2010 while also having long stretches at Penn, both as assistant and head coach. In between, Donahue had a tough stretch with Boston College, but took both those Ivy League programs to the Big Dance. Now he unexpectedly slides into Saint Joseph’s top job after joining the staff a few months back thanks to Billy Lange’s departure.
176. Chris Crutchfield (Omaha) (Last year: 306)
Overall record: 46-54
Crutchfield has had an extensive career in basketball that dates back to his time as a player and assistant with Omaha in the early 90’s. Before returning to his alma mater, he was an assistant at seven D1 schools, and a junior college and D2 head coach. After stints working with Lon Kruger, Eric Musselman, and Dana Altman, he took Omaha’s opening in 2012 and just delivered in a major way. After two rebuilding seasons, Crutchfield took the Mavericks to the NCAA Tournament last season, the first trip in the program’s D1 history.
175. Jamion Christian (Bryant) (Last year: N/A)
Overall record: 147-161
A former guard at Mount St. Mary’s, Christian’s coaching career included a few assistant stops, including with Shaka Smart at VCU, before returning to his alma mater as head coach. Christian took the Mountaineers to two NCAA Tournaments, then spent a decent year at Siena before some lackluster years leading George Washington. He was actually coaching pro ball in Italy before Bryant gave him their head coaching job this past offseason and he’s hoping to keep the momentum for the Bulldogs.
174. Donnie Jones (Stetson) (Last year: 172)
Overall record: 241-231
It’s been a long and winding road for Jones, though the highlight probably came as an assistant at Florida, winning a pair of national titles under Billy Donovan. His own head coaching journey started soon after with stops at Marshall and UCF with mixed results, struggling at the end of his time with the Knights. Jones has bounced back nicely since taking Stetson’s job in 2019 and took the Hatters to the NCAA Tournament in his fifth season. Stetson won just 8 games last season and took a significant step back.
173. Tom Pecora (Quinnipiac) (Last year: 214)
Overall record: 243-255
A New York native with extensive coaching experience, Pecora enters year three of his third D1 head coaching gig, a number that doesn’t include early leadership at SUNY Farmingdale. He worked closely with Jay Wright at Hofstra and succeeded him way back in 2001. Pecora won many games in nearly a decade with Hofstra before failing to launch as head coach at Fordham. After work on the staff at Quinnipiac, he was promoted to head coach in 2023 and has a pair of MAAC regular season titles already under his belt.
172. Rick Croy (Cal Baptist) (Last year: 175)
Overall record: 118-99
In the late 90’s, Croy was a player at San Francisco State and started his career with coaching stints at schools out in his home state. He won a ton of games at Citrus College at the junior college level before joining Randy Bennett’s staff at Saint Mary’s. Since 2013, Croy has been entrenched at Cal Baptist and has helped lead the program’s transition to the D1 level. Earlier in his stint with the Lancers, he made five straight D2 Tournaments and most recently is coming off a 3rd place finish in the Big West.
171. Mike Morrell (UNC Asheville) (Last year: 188)
Overall record: 116-99
One of many branches on the Shaka Smart coaching tree, Morrell starred at the NAIA level at Milligan before spending several years working with Smart. After overlapping on the Clemson bench, Morrell would serve as one of Smart’s assistants for seven years at both VCU and Texas until getting UNC Asheville’s top job in 2018. It’s fair to say his first head coaching gig is going solidly, leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and now fresh off a third straight 20-win season.
170. Tim Craft (Western Carolina) (Last year: 166)
Overall record: 196-188
The earliest days of Craft’s coaching career were at the high school and junior college level, but he caught on the Auburn staff in 2007 and would work under Jeff Lebo for several years, even following him to East Carolina. Craft’s collegiate head coaching work started with Gardner-Webb in 2013 and would include a trip to the Big Dance and several victories across eleven years. Craft jumped to Western Carolina last offseason and still has hard work ahead, winning just 8 games in his debut with the Catamounts.
169. Bill Coen (Northeastern) (Last year: 173)
Overall record: 299-299
Back in the 80’s Coen was a player and later assistant at Hamilton College but his career really took off under Al Skinner. Coen joined Skinner’s staff with Rhode Island and would follow him to Boston College for a total of 17 years of partnership. His own head coaching career started at Northeastern way back in 2006 and he’s nearly two decades into his term with the Huskies. What’s resulted has been a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament and decent success, with Northeastern coming off a bounce back season with 17 wins.
168. Dan Earl (Chattanooga) (Last year: 208)
Overall record: 141-177
Earl was a talented point guard at Penn State in the 90’s who later returned to his alma mater as an assistant. After work under Ed DeChellis both with the Nittany Lions and at Navy, he was called over to VMI in 2015, starting his own head coaching career. Progress didn’t come fast but it was steady and he left the Keydets in solid shape seven years later. Earl jumped to Chattanooga in 2022 and has done great work with the Mocs, leading that program to the NIT championship this past season.
167. Shantay Legans (Portland) (Last year: 159)
Overall record: 132-124
Legans made his mark as a player at California and Fresno State and briefly played overseas, though he’s made a more significant mark at the coaching level. He spent nearly a decade on staff at Eastern Washington before being promoted to the top job in 2017. He averaged nearly 20 wins in four years with the Eagles, including a trip to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Legans took the Portland job a few weeks later but hasn’t had the same success in the WCC, winning just 12 games again last year.
166. Austin Claunch (UTSA) (Last year: 168)
Overall record: 102-80
When Claunch was just 29 years old he got his first head coaching job at Nicholls State. He had done solid work on staff at Clemson and aided the Colonels for a few seasons, but he did not look overmatched at all. He took Nicholls to a pair of Southland regular season crowns before accepting a slot on Nate Oats’ staff at Alabama. Claunch got the head coaching itch again and jumped to UTSA last offseason, though his first year wasn’t any sort of breakthrough with the Roadrunners.
165. Andrew Toole (Robert Morris) (Last year: 196)
Overall record: 252-241
While a player at Penn, Toole made a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament, and he’s finally matched that total as a head coach. After his playing career ended, he had a brief stop at Lafayette before joining the Robert Morris coaching staff in 2007. Three years later he was given the top job and remains in Moon Township. Toole took the Colonials to the Big Dance in 2015 and would’ve been back after winning the 2020 NEC Tournament, but finally achieved success in the Horizon League, taking this team to last year’s NCAA Tournament in a major breakthrough.
164. Jim Christian (Canisius) (Last year: 157)
Overall record: 323-314
Last offseason saw Christian accept what’s become his fifth D1 head coaching position, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. He had many coaching stints early in his career before getting Kent State’s top job back in 2002. He twice led the Golden Flashes to the NCAA Tournament before bouncing to TCU, then Ohio, then Boston College. After a few years out of coaching, Christian returned with Canisius but there’s difficult work ahead, as he ended year one just 3-28 with the Golden Griffins.
163. Jon Coffman (Purdue Fort Wayne) (Last year: 170)
Overall record: 198-155
Coffman has spent more than a decade at Purdue Fort Wayne through many name changes for the school and has put the program in decent shape in the Horizon League. After work at a few other schools, including a long stretch with Stetson, Coffman joined the Mastodons and rose to head coaching 2014. He’s won regular season titles in both the Summit League and Horizon League and is fresh off a 19-win season; he’s done a great job turning a new program into a league contender, though he still hunts that first trip to the Big Dance.
162. Billy Gillispie (Tarleton State) (Last year: 165)
Overall record: 226-182
Newer basketball fans might be surprised to hear about Gillispie’s forgettable stint as Kentucky’s head coach but that’s far from the only stop in his career. He had several years as a high school, worked under Bill Self for several years, and built success as head coach at UTEP and Texas A&M before that time with the Wildcats. Gillispie has had his share of shortcomings and controversy, including his brief stint at Texas Tech, but has been at Tarleton State since 2020 and at least has the Texans competing in the WAC.
161. Damon Stoudamire (Georgia Tech) (Last year: 182)
Overall record: 102-112
A star point guard at Arizona in the early 90’s, Stoudamire spent more than a decade playing in the NBA before beginning his coaching career. He did work on staff with Arizona and Memphis before a 5-year stretch as head coach at Pacific. After legitimate headway with the Tigers in a tough WCC, he had a brief stint on staff with the Boston Celtics before taking Georgia Tech’s head coaching gig in 2023. His Yellow Jackets are still building progress, but he’s fresh off a trip to the NIT and at least a step forward.