140. Travis Steele (Miami OH) (Last year: 161)
Overall record: 122-96
After graduating from Butler, Steele’s first real experience came as a graduate assistant for Thad Matta, following him to Ohio State. A few jobs followed, but most of Steele’s time came with Xavier, progressing from director of basketball operations all the way to head coach starting in 2018. Despite three 19-win seasons, he didn’t do enough with the Musketeers and has now been leading Miami for the last three years. He’s fresh off his best season with the Redhawks with 25 wins and 2nd place in the MAC.
139. Adrian Autry (Syracuse) (Last year: 117)
Overall record: 34-31
The eventual choice to succeed Jim Boeheim, Autry played under the longtime coach with the Orange in the early 90’s and returned to Syracuse as an assistant in 2011. He had a few other stops, including with Virginia Tech, but most of Autry’s basketball experience has come in western New York. After twelve years on staff, including a long stretch as associate head coach, he ascended to the top job in 2023. Unfortunately, this program hasn’t taken that step under him and is coming off a 14-19 campaign.
138. Tim Miles (San Jose State) (Last year: 137)
Overall record: 240-282
An experienced leader with nearly three decades of head coaching position, Miles is in the midst of his 6th head coaching gig and his third at the D1 level. He helmed Mayville State, Southwest Minnesota State, and was the final coach at North Dakota State before the Bison jumped to D1. He led both Colorado State and Nebraska to the Big Dance before finding his current standing at San Jose State back in 2021. Rebuilding these Spartans isn’t easy but he has a 20-win season under his belt and took the program to last year’s NIT.
137. Dan Monson (Eastern Washington) (Last year: 146)
Overall record: 455-418
Way back before the turn of the century, Monson was a big part of a Gonzaga program that wasn’t even yet a Cinderella story. He was a longtime assistant for the Bulldogs before becoming head coach and leading them to the Elite Eight in 1999, their first big performance. Monson bounced to Minnesota and had mixed results with the Golden Gophers before a long stint back west at Long Beach State. Despite making the Big Dance in 2024, he was fired but bounced back with Eastern Washington, though year one with those Eagles wasn’t fantastic.
136. Eric Konkol (Tulsa) (Last year: 133)
Overall record: 187-135
Konkol is a Wisconsin native who caught on quickly in the coaching ranks after graduating from Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He had a few early stints before catching the eye of Jim Larranaga, assisting him at George Mason and Miami for over a decade. Konkol’s own head coaching career began with a nice stint at Louisiana Tech, averaging just under 22 wins in seven years. Success hasn’t yet come since jumping to Tulsa in 2022, including a 9th place finish last year’s AAC standings.
135. Marvin Menzies (Kansas City) (Last year: 123)
Overall record: 286-216
There have been stages to Menzies’ coaching career that spans more than four decades, with a lot of experience in his home state of California. He was a high school coach, junior college head coach, and gained experience on staff at San Diego State, USC, and Louisville over the years. In his first D1 head coaching stop he took New Mexico State to five NCAA Tournaments in 9 years before a mediocre stretch leading UNLV. Menzies has been the guy at Kansas City since 2022 but is coming off a tough season, underwhelming with just 13 wins and 8th place in the Summit League.
134. Richie Riley (South Alabama) (Last year: 163)
Overall record: 166-122
Despite nearly a decade of head coaching experience, Riley is still a relatively young head coach at just 42 years old. The Eastern Kentucky alum gained knowledge on several staffs, including under Brad Brownell at UAB, before taking the reins at Nicholls State. After a Southland title with the Colonels in 2018, he took over at South Alabama and has been building something over the last seven seasons. South Alabama is fresh off his third 20-win campaign and a tie for the regular season title in the Sun Belt.
133. Kim English (Providence) (Last year: 116)
Overall record: 67-63
English showcased his talent in Missouri’s backcourt in the early 2010’s before becoming a late NBA draft pick. After a brief playing career, which included time with the Detroit Pistons, he hopped back into the college game as an assistant. He’d put together two-year stints on staff with Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee before George Mason handed him his first head coaching gig in 2021. After winning 20 games in year two with the Patriots, he took on the Providence job and led the Friars to 21 wins and the NIT. However, his second season in Providence was a step backwards and a paltry 12-20 record.
132. Jerrod Calhoun (Utah State) (Last year: 189)
Overall record: 144-114
A former Cleveland State guard, Calhoun had an early association with Bob Huggins, working as a student assistant at Cincinnati before joining his staff with West Virginia. Calhoun’s head coaching career began at age 30 at Fairmont State, coming very close to a D2 title in 2017. Next came his fantastic work turning Youngstown State around in the Horizon League for the next seven years before Utah State brought him out west last offseason. Suffice to say, Calhoun succeeded in year one with the Aggies, with 26 wins and his first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
131. Mike Jones (UNC Greensboro) (Last year: 140)
Overall record: 252-200
After playing his college ball at Howard in the mid-80’s, Jones spent several years bouncing around as a collegiate assistant. After solid work in the SEC at Georgia, he was notably a part of the VCU staff that advanced to the Final Four in 2011. Jones then got his head coaching start and spent a decade building up Radford, with a trip to the Big Dance and a few Big South titles. UNC Greensboro hired him in 2021 and he’s fresh off a third straight 20-win season, making this program a regular contender in the SoCon again.
130. Tod Kowalczyk (Toledo) (Last year: 132)
Overall record: 432-308
The work across several decades for Kowalczyk has been very solid. He worked on staff at schools like Rutgers and Marquette before getting his head coaching start in 2002 at Green Bay in his hometown. He established a winning culture with the Phoenix before departing for Toledo in 2010. He’s since been entrenched with the Rockets and is responsible for five regular season titles in the MAC and a flurry of postseason appearances. Last year was the first time Toledo hadn’t won the regular season crown since the pandemic, though Kowalczyk still hunts for his elusive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
129. Phil Martelli Jr. (VCU) (Last year: 254)
Overall record: 43-25
A former player and assistant under his father, Martelli has carved his own path to coaching greatness over the years. He flew under the radar on staffs like Manhattan and Delaware before success over at Bryant. He worked under Jared Grasso as they reshaped the Bulldogs into a winner before taking over when Grasso was dismissed in 2023. Martelli did everything the last two years to not secure the permanent gig but show he was a coach on the rise, including a trip to last season’s NCAA Tournament. Now he slides over to VCU while hoping to make a significant mark in the A-10 like his father once did.
128. Bryan Hodgson (South Florida) (Last year: 218)
Overall record: 45-28
Certainly another head coach on the rise, Hodgson arrived on the scene in recent years. Few knew about him as an assistant at schools like Fredonia State and Midland, but he worked under Nate Oats both at Buffalo and Alabama, helping rebuild both of those programs. Hodgson’s head coaching start came two years ago with Arkansas State and produced great results, including this past year’s 25-win campaign and tie for the Sun Belt title. Hodgson now slides over to South Florida with hopes to bring great change in the AAC as well.
127. LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central) (Last year: 119)
Overall record: 271-194
It’s easy to see the record and not be blown away, but Moton has done incredible work with the resources at North Carolina Central. A former shooting guard for the Eagles, he’s spent nearly his entire coaching career at his alma mater, arriving as an assistant in 2007 before ascending to the top job two years later. Across his 16 years he’d led North Carolina Central into an actual conference and has four trips to the NCAA Tournament, though the program hasn’t won a MEAC title since before the pandemic.
126. Dave Richman (North Dakota State) (Last year: 130)
Overall record: 211-142
A man who lives and breathes basketball in the state of North Dakota, Richman has spent his entire life involved in basketball in his home state. After playing and working early at the NDSCS, he joined North Dakota State’s staff in 2003 and has never left. He was part of success for more than a decade before was named head coach in 2014 and has built his own success ever since. Richman has two trips to the NCAA Tournament and constantly has the Bison near the top of the Summit League standings, including after last season’s 21-win effort.
125. Earl Grant (Boston College) (Last year: 121)
Overall record: 188-161
In his earliest coaching days, Grant learned plenty on staffs under Gregg Marshall and Brad Brownell before his own head coaching journey began at Charleston back in 2014. He did great work with the Cougars, taking them to the NCAA Tournament and building decent success before Boston College lured him away after seven years. Few things have gone right for the Eagles in recent memory, though Grant is responsible for a 20-win season in 2024. Last year’s 17th place finish in the ACC however was clearly a regression.
124. Eric Olen (New Mexico) (Last year: 243)
Overall record: 81-63
Thanks to his recent work with UC San Diego, Olen has really burst onto the college basketball scene. Before this offseason, the entirety of his coaching career had come with the Tritons, starting as an assistant way back in 2004 before getting the top job 9 years later. Olen built a powerhouse at the D2 level, aided the transition to D1, and then took the Tritons to 30 wins and their first March Madness experience last season. After those achievements, he’s accepted a new challenge with a New Mexico program fresh off their own breakthroughs last year.
123. Johnny Jones (Texas Southern) (Last year: 131)
Overall record: 416-341
Jones has certainly impact many lives across a coaching career that dates back four decades. He’s a former player, assistant, and head coach at LSU who also led Memphis as an interim head coach and had a long run out at North Texas. Jones had taken teams to three NCAA Tournaments before finding his footing at Texas Southern in 2018 and has since matched that success with these Tigers. Alongside those three straight SWAC titles, he’s maintained the program’s footing, even coming off his worst season with 4th place in the league.
122. Preston Spradlin (James Madison) (Last year: 141)
Overall record: 160-121
Spradlin made quite the leap from player at Alice Lloyd College to a graduate assistant for John Calipari at Kentucky, but his career was really made at Morehead State. He joined the Eagles as an assistant in 2014 and ascended to the top job late in 2016 before making the program his own. Spradlin took Morehead State to two NCAA Tournaments and build a top team in the OVC before taking the James Madison gig last offseason. Year one in Harrisonburg went about as well as expected, taking the Dukes to 20 wins and a tie for the Sun Belt crown.
121. Paul Mills (Wichita State) (Last year: 122)
Overall record: 140-118
Following early work as a high school coach, Mills caught on with Scott Drew and helping him reshape Baylor for more than a decade. His first collegiate head coaching work came at Oral Roberts and certainly was full of memories. Mills would lead the Oral Roberts on an incredible Sweet Sixteen run in 2021 and would produce a 30-win campaign two years later. After that hard work, Mills hopped to Wichita State in 2023 and is coming off a 19-win season and NIT trip with the Shockers.