300. Quinton Ferrell (Presbyterian) (Last year: 311)
Overall record: 62-122
Ferrell played at Presbyterian in the mid-2000’s and continues on as his alma mater’s head coach. His coaching career actually began on staff with the Blue Hose for several years before a few other stints as a D1 assistant. Ferrell notably served under Earl Grant at Charleston before Presbyterian brought him home as head coach in 2019. The results haven’t been outstanding, but the Blue Hose have been in better shape recently, with Ferrell and company coming off a second straight trip to the CBI.
299. Ali Farokhmanesh (Colorado State) (Last year: N/A)
Overall record: 0-0
The nation learned Farokhmanesh’s name as a player at Northern Iowa thanks to a late 3-pointer against Kansas during the 2010 NCAA Tournament. After finishing his playing career, both in college and overseas, Farokhmanesh spent a decade coaching, including as a staffer at Nebraska and assistant to Niko Medved. After seven years on staff with Colorado State, Farokhmanesh was promoted from associate head coach to the top job and begins his head coaching career trying to maintain this program’s recent upward momentum.
298. Patrick Crarey II (Grambling State) (Last year: 349)
Overall record: 14-17
Crarey begins the next stage of what’s been quite the head coaching career. His earliest days involved work at the high school level before a long stint at Washington Adventist, an NAIA school in Maryland. Crarey won a ton of games at St. Thomas (FL) before producing results with 14 wins in his first D1 season at Florida A&M. However, he found himself on the move again and takes over at Grambling State. He won some games in the SWAC last year and will hope to bring new energy for the Tigers.
297. Phil Cunningham (Louisiana-Monroe) (Last year: N/A)
Overall record: 80-111
Cunningham has been involved in this sport for the better part of forty years, first as a player and assistant at Campbellsville before extensive work at the D1 level. He notably worked under Rick Stansbury for long stints at Mississippi State and Western Kentucky and got his first head coaching shot at Troy in the 2010’s, taking them to the Big Dance in 2017. Cunningham now returns to the top job of a program, leading the Warhawks after serving on staff last season and hoping for better work in his second Sun Belt gig.
296. Dwayne Killings (Albany) (Last year: 309)
Overall record: 51-76
A Massachusetts native who began his playing career at UMass at the turn of the century, Killings has literally made quite a killing in this sport, with recent gigs on staff at Temple, UConn, and Marquette. He also picked up NBA experience as an admin and video coordinator, but his work at Albany has been his first running a program. Killings was named head coach of the Great Danes in 2021 and is fresh off his best season, finishing above .500 and 4th place in the America East.
295. Chris Casey (Fairfield) (Last year: 281)
Overall record: 100-162
Another head coach with an eventful coaching past, Casey has bounced around as a basketball coach mostly in New York and New England in his career. He led Rutgers-Newark and LIU Post earlier in his head coaching career along with many assistant coaching jobs, including with St. John’s in the Big East. Casey previously was head coach at Niagara for six years and assisted Jay Young at Fairfield until assuming the top job in 2023. His first year helming the Stags was excellent but just 12 years came last season.
294. Levell Sanders (Binghamton) (Last year: 301)
Overall record: 55-67
Sanders played point guard at Binghamton back in the 1990’s and build plenty of relationships with more than a decade playing overseas. He even coached overseas, with some time in Czechia until returning to the states for a job on Binghamton’s staff. Sanders was promoted to the program’s head coach in 2021 and has had four average seasons, with middle of the pack finishes in the America East and a 45% winning percentage overall.
293. Mark Montgomery (Detroit) (Last year: 297)
Overall record: 134-203
A player at Michigan State back in the 80’s and 90’s, Montgomery had his brief time playing overseas but has really been involved in this sport as a coach. After a long stint under Tom Izzo with the Spartans, his first head coaching gig at Northern Illinois, where he had mixed results across ten seasons. Montgomery rejoined the Spartans’ coaching staff after his firing but has bounced back with his second head coaching gig at Detroit. Unfortunately, the Titans finished just 8-24 in his first year back in town.
292. George Ivory (Mississippi Valley State) (Last year: 291)
Overall record: 149-354
Ivory has been an important piece of the puzzle in the SWAC in recent years as a former player at Mississippi Valley State and with coaching experience at several other schools. His first head coaching gig came with Arkansas-Pine Bluff, earning a trip to the Big Dance in 2010 and a number of wins across 13 seasons. Ivory has been back at his alma mater since 2022 and was briefly athletic director, but the on court results haven’t been great with three consecutive last place finishes in the SWAC.
291. David Ragland (Evansville) (Last year: 295)
Overall record: 33-66
An Evansville native, Ragland has worked his way up through the coaching ranks after unheralded play at Missouri Southern and Southern Indiana. He wasn’t even 30 yet when he took his first head coaching job at Vincennes, but then spent time on six different D1 staffs, notably aiding Valparaiso, Utah State, and Butler. Ragland returned to his hometown to take over the Purple Aces in 2022, with 17 wins and a CBI run in his second season. Last year wasn’t as successful, though Evansville did nab 8th place in the MVC.
290. Erik Martin (South Carolina State) (Last year: 320)
Overall record: 39-57
Martin played power forward at a few colleges and professionally for a number of teams, but most notably was at Cincinnati with Bob Huggins. Over a decade later, a big step happened in his coaching career when he joined Huggins’ new staff at Kansas State before following him to West Virginia. Martin was an assistant with the Mountaineers for 15 years before getting his first head coaching shot at South Carolina State. Now three years into that position, Martin is coming off his best work, leading the Bulldogs to a tie for the MEAC regular season title and a 20-win campaign.
289. Greg Paulus (Niagara) (Last year: 280)
Overall record: 78-98
Yet another head coach with a unique story, Paulus played point guard at Duke in the 2000’s and even quarterbacked Syracuse for a season before becoming a collegiate coach. He helped lead Ohio State to a Final Four during his time in Columbus and even spent a year with Louisville. Paulus ascended to Niagara’s head coaching job in October 2019 and finished Top 6 in the MAAC in each of his first five seasons, though last year’s efforts were tough in an 11-20 season.
288. Kevin Kuwik (Army) (Last year: 328)
Overall record: 27-38
Kuwik gained significant coaching experience before getting his first head coaching gig at Army back in 2023. He was an operations director under Brad Stevens at Butler and played important roles under coaches like Thad Matta, Archie Miller, and Bob McKillop. Kuwik had actually returned to Butler under Matta before taking the Army job and has had a minor breakthrough with the Black Knights. After just 10 wins in year one, he led Army to a CBI run a tie for 3rd in the Patriot League.
287. Gary Manchel (Mercyhurst) (Last year: 334)
Overall record: 15-16
A native of Vermont, Manchel has more than three decades of head coaching experience under his belt. After early work on Yale’s staff, he led UMass Lowell for several seasons, including a D2 Tourney bid before that program ascended to D1. Manchel took over at Mercyhurst way back in 2003 and is responsible for several D2 Tournament appearances there as well before leading the transition to D1 this past season. The results are certainly acceptable for the Lakers’ first year in the NEC.
286. Ivan Thomas (Hampton) (Last year: 362)
Overall record: 17-16
The work has been pretty solid for Thomas in his coaching career, though much of that came at the high school level. He led a few different high schools in his home state of Virginia before catching on Ed Cooley’s Providence staff back in 2015. Thomas would spend nearly a decade with Cooley, even following him to Georgetown, before Hampton gave them a chance to run his own D1 program last offseason. While the Pirates weren’t exactly relevant in the CAA race, 17 wins was an excellent start.
285. Rick Cabrera (Northwestern State) (Last year: 330)
Overall record: 25-39
Cabrera has truly bounced around a myriad of places as a player and coach, attending three schools and coaching multiple levels of basketball. He’s been a high school assistant, a junior college head coach, and has been on several D1 coaching staffs as well. After phenomenal junior college work leading Tallahassee CC, Cabrera was pegged as Northwestern State’s next head coach in 2023. The first season was a slow burn but his Demons improved to 16 wins and tied for 4th in the Southland.
284. Eric Peterson (South Dakota) (Last year: 324)
Overall record: 43-53
Peterson’s coaching career has been a steady rise, after the Wisconsin native began as a high school assistant in Minnesota. He had a few stints at Williston State, including as head coach of that junior college, before becoming a D1 assistant at South Dakota. He would coach under Craig Smith with the Coyotes and later at Utah State and Utah before returning to Vermillion as South Dakota’s new head coach in 2022. After two mediocre seasons, he made significant progress with 19 wins and 5th place in the Summit in year three.
283. Paul Sather (North Dakota) (Last year: 279)
Overall record: 73-115
The work has been pretty solid for Sather across his coaching career, including now two full decades as a head coach. Briefly a former assistant at Colorado, Sather’s journey leading programs began by taking Black Hills State deep into the NAIA Tournament before spending nine years at Northern State, his alma mater. One year after taking them to the D2 title game in 2018, Sather accepted the job at North Dakota. He hasn’t that breakthrough season quite yet, though he did win 18 games in 2024 before struggles last season.
282. Jonas Hayes (Georgia State) (Last year: 285)
Overall record: 42-57
It’s not a surprise to see Hayes, an Atlanta native, with such a history in his home state. He played forward at Georgia and spent several years on the coaching staff. He aided a number of schools and was recently an important piece of the puzzle at Xavier. He actually won the NIT as interim head coach with the Musketeers just before taking Georgia State’s job in 2022. Three seasons below .500 have tempered expectations for the Panthers, as Hayes has won just 35% of Sun Belt conference games.
281. Shane Burcar (Northern Arizona) (Last year: 300)
Overall record: 75-111
Burcar may have grown up in Michigan and gone to school in Kansas, but he’s built his coaching career in the state of Arizona. He did brilliantly as a high school coach in Mesa before joining Northern Arizona’s staff under Jack Murphy. After just a single season, Murphy left the program and Burcar became head coach of the Lumberjacks. Burcar just finished year six leading the charge and just finished his best effort, winning 18 games and getting into the CBI.