70. Herb Sendek (Santa Clara) (Last year: 76)
Overall record: 574-415
Many things have changed in the game of basketball since Sendek served under Rick Pitino at Providence and Kentucky. Sendek has spent more than 30 years as a D1 head coach, with his stops at Miami (OH), NC State, and Arizona State. He won NCAA Tournament games at all three schools and has many postseason appearances, but has now been with Santa Clara since 2016. The work isn’t easy out in the WCC, but Sendek has now taken the Broncos to three NIT berths in four years and is regularly winning 20 games a season.
69. Tad Boyle (Colorado) (Last year: 66)
Overall record: 364-246
Boyle played under great coaches at Kansas but has more recently made his mark coaching in The Centennial State. His earliest work came at the high school level, though he also had stints on staff with Oregon, Tennessee, and Wichita State. As a collegiate head coach, he turned things around for Northern Colorado before accepting the Colorado job in 2010. His Buffaloes were largely successful in the Pac-12, with six trips to the Big Dance and regular contention. Their first season back in the Big 12 wasn’t quite as bright with just 14 wins and dead last in the standings.
68. Ben Jacobson (Northern Iowa) (Last year: 68)
Overall record: 374-246
After very solid work as a guard at North Dakota in the early 90’s, Jacobson’s coaching career began right there with his alma mater. It was Greg McDermott who took him to North Dakota State and Northern Iowa. In 2006, Jacobson was promoted to head coach and has spent nearly two decades shaping this Panthers program. Northern Iowa has several memorable moments, including four NCAA Tournament victories during his tenure. The Panthers are coming off a 3rd place finish in the MVC and a trip to the NIT.
67. Danny Sprinkle (Washington) (Last year: 53)
Overall record: 122-68
To this point the work in Sprinkle’s head coaching career has been largely fantastic. After playing at Montana State, he gained valuable experience on several staffs before returning to the Bobcats 20 years later as head coach. Sprinkle helmed Montana State to a pair of NCAA Tournaments before jumping to Utah State in 2023. His lone season with the Aggies was outstanding with 28 wins, an MVC titles, and a win in the Big Dance. Sprinkle landed at Washington last offseason and is only just getting started, but his team finished dead last in the program’s first ever season in the Big Ten.
66. Dennis Gates (Missouri) (Last year: 102)
Overall record: 105-86
He’s only been a head coach for six years but Gates has already had quite the eventful coaching career. While he had several stops early on, he spent nearly a decade with Leonard Hamilton at Florida State before leaving for Cleveland State’s gig in 2019. He truly manufacturing a turnaround for the Vikings with a pair of Horizon League titles before accepting Missouri’s opening a few years later. Gates’ three years in Missouri have bounced between great, lousy, and great, getting a pair of trips to the Big Dance, including a 22-12 mark last year.
65. Ryan Odom (Virginia) (Last year: 88)
Overall record: 201-117
It’s a full circle moment for Odom as he takes over the program against whom he had his most brilliant moment. A former Hampden-Sydney point guard, Odom was the son of a coach who bounced around at several jobs, including a long stint on staff at Virginia Tech. That aforementioned brilliance came when he led UMBC to that historic upset over 1-seed Virginia in 2018. Odom proceeded to create success and postseason prominence leading Utah State and VCU and now takes over a Cavaliers program looking for new, positive direction.
64. Kyle Smith (Stanford) (Last year: 79)
Overall record: 279-207
Despite growing up in El Paso, Smith has made his name coaching on the west coast, though his first head coaching experience did come at Columbia. He spent many years under Randy Bennett at Saint Mary’s before that opportunity with the Lions, winning a CIT title. Smith then laid the groundwork for a revival at San Francisco before a 5-year stint at Washington State, taking the Cougars to the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Smith hopped to Stanford this past offseason and nailed the Cardinal’s landing to the ACC, winning 21 games and making the NIT.
63. Chris Collins (Northwestern) (Last year: 64)
Overall record: 194-190
Yet another successful former Duke player and assistant, Collins starred at guard back in the mid-90’s and was on the staff for more than a decade. After a few national titles as an assistant, Collins’ own head coaching journey started at Northwestern close to where he grew up. He’s become the icon of Northwestern basketball, leading the program to its first three trips to the NCAA Tournament in program history. Two of those trips came in the last three years, though Northwestern struggled a bit with a 12th place finish in the Big Ten last season.
62. Niko Medved (Minnesota) (Last year: 99)
Overall record: 222-173
This new opportunity just felt right and the natural fit for Medved, who graduated from Minnesota in the late 90’s and was briefly an assistant with the Golden Gophers. He’s had plenty of coaching stops, including three successful head coaching gigs. He manufactured a turnaround at Furman, laid brilliant groundwork in one year at Drake, and resurrected Colorado State basketball, taking that program to an NCAA Tournament victory this past season. Fresh off three trips to the Big Dance in four years, Minnesota is hoping he can build a Big Ten contender in the near future.
61. Richard Pitino (Xavier) (Last year: 94)
Overall record: 247-186
Now possessing 13 years of head coaching experience, Pitino hasn’t been in his father’s shadow for some time, even if he worked under Rick at Louisville earlier in his career. The younger Pitino was fantastic as head coach at FIU before stalling at Minnesota, getting that Big Ten team to an NIT title and two trips to the Big Dance. Pitino’s bounce back at New Mexico was brilliant, winning 88 games in four years including last year’s trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Now he’s taking over a Xavier program with plenty of potential for the future.