280. Ed Conroy (The Citadel) (Last year: 276)
Overall record: 167-247
This is Conroy’s third go-round at The Citadel, having played for the school in the 80’s before two separate stints as head coach. Between then he worked many other coaching jobs, including on staff at NC State, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Vanderbilt. He led Francis Marion for several seasons and had a six-year run helming Tulane, taking the Green Wave to the postseason twice. Unfortunately, stint number two with the Bulldogs is not going well, with The Citadel fresh off a winless season in conference play in the SoCon.
279. Anthony Latina (Sacred Heart) (Last year: 290)
Overall record: 156-211
A former point guard as a player, Latina has been in coaching for thirty years, mostly as an assistant in New England. Long stints at Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart preceded his promotion to the top job for the Pioneers back in 2013. He’s put together a few decent seasons, albeit without any postseason appearances or real breakthroughs. Latina did just lead Sacred Heart into the MAAC and finished right at .500 in their first year in a stronger league.
278. Ryan Looney (Idaho State) (Last year: 303)
Overall record: 68-112
Now more than twenty years into his head coaching career, Looney has impacted perhaps hundreds of basketball players on the West Coast. A former guard at Eastern Oregon, his first head coaching job came at the NAIA level with his alma mater before plenty of D2 success at Seattle Pacific and Point Loma. In 2019, he took the latter to the D2 title game before departing for Idaho State weeks later. It’s hard to go crazy over his results with the Bengals, but this past season’s 4th place finish in the Big Sky was a step forward.
277. Ethan Faulkner (Youngstown State) (Last year: 354)
Overall record: 21-13
As a player, Faulkner was a point guard at Northern Kentucky right before the Norse joined the Horizon League. However, that conference is where he’s gathered most of his experience, including on staff with his alma mater. Faulkner joined Youngstown State as an assistant in 2019 and was promoted to the top job five seasons later. The Penguins as a whole have been put in much better shape over the last half-decade with Faulkner on staff and 21 wins in his debut was an excellent result.
276. Chad Boudreau (Western Illinois) (Last year: 259)
Overall record: 33-31
Boudreau was an unheralded assistant at a few minor schools before a long stint under Rob Jeter at Milwaukee. He won a ton of games in his head coaching debut at Highland Community College before rejoining Jeter, this time on Western Illinois’s staff in 2020. Three seasons later, Boudreau was given the top job and promptly won 21 games as a first-year D1 head coach. However, year two was very less fruitful, with the Leathernecks finishing 10th in the OVC while scraping out just 12 wins.
275. Monte’ Ross (North Carolina A&T) (Last year: 266)
Overall record: 146-234
Ross has spent the better part of three decades involved in D1 basketball, including a long successful stint on Phil Martelli’s staff at Saint Joseph’s. After helping that program make history, Ross helmed Delaware for ten seasons, taking the Fightin’ Blue Hens to the NCAA Tournament in 2014. More recently, he took over at North Carolina A&T after a brief stay on Temple’s coaching staff, but the Aggies have struggled. He’s finished just 7-25 in each of his first two seasons and is still hoping to make headway in the CAA.
274. Mike Jones (Old Dominion) (Last year: 302)
Overall record: 15-20
Before his recent work at the college level, Jones was one of the nation’s most successful high school coaches, developing numerous prominent players as DeMatha Catholic just outside Washington DC. The Old Dominion alum jumped to college ball on staff at Virginia Tech and Maryland before his alma mater offered him their head coaching gig last offseason. Progress won’t come overnight, though tying for 8th in the Sun Belt was a decent enough start with the Monarchs.
273. Alex Pribble (Idaho) (Last year: 326)
Overall record: 25-40
Pribble played at California two decades ago before spending time as a high school head coach and collegiate assistant in the San Francisco area. His first collegiate head coaching job was at Saint Martin’s, taking that program to the D2 Sweet Sixteen. Sandwiching that first experience was a pair of stints under Jim Hayford, including four years on Seattle’s staff before Idaho came calling. Pribble just finished his second season with the Vandals, taking a step forward with a 14-win effort.
272. Mo Williams (Jackson State) (Last year: 293)
Overall record: 59-89
After starring at point guard at Alabama, Williams became an NBA Draft pick in 2003 and played in the league for 14 years. Soon after retirement, he got into college coaching and was quickly hired as a head coach at Alabama State. Williams’ record wasn’t outstanding with the Hornets, but he parlayed that into the Jackson State job in 2022 and has been solid with the Tigers. These three years have seen three Top 5 finishes in the SWAC, including a 14-4 mark in conference play last season.
271. Shane Heirman (Incarnate Word) (Last year: 331)
Overall record: 27-40
Following a playing career with Tulsa, Heirman got right into coaching and had success at the high school level in Indiana. The Indiana native then spent time on DePaul’s coaching staff and with Central Michigan before Incarnate Word gave him his first head coaching job in 2023. While Heirman clearly hasn’t yet matched his brilliance from his playing or earliest coaching days, Incarnate Word took a major step forward in his second season, winning 19 games and advancing to the CBI semifinals.
270. David McLaughlin (Dartmouth) (Last year: 325)
Overall record: 76-145
McLaughlin spent his earliest coaching work at a few non-D1 schools before taking over as head coach at Stonehill. He took the Skyhawks to several D2 Tournaments including a pair of Final Fours several years before Stonehill became a D1 school. After brief experience on staff at Northeastern, McLaughlin took over as Dartmouth’s head coach back in 2016. Not exactly a powerhouse program in the Ivy League, Dartmouth has struggled at times, but McLaughlin is fresh off his best season, taking the Big Green to 3rd place in the league.
269. Jonathan Mattox (Morehead State) (Last year: 350)
Overall record: 15-17
Considering he spent nearly a decade of his short coaching career on staff, it was fitting that Morehead State penned Mattox as their head coach last offseason. A former grad assistant, operations director, and eventual associate head coach with the Eagles, Mattox left town for Murray State’s staff before coming back in 2024 to succeed Preston Spradlin. Mattox’s first season with the Eagles went decently well enough as he tries to build more success in the OVC.
268. Kahil Fennell (UTRGV) (Last year: 339)
Overall record: 16-15
Fennell has risen from a high school assistant to D1 head coach across the last decade with a few notable stops in between. His first D1 experience came out at Portland State but he was also an important part of Chris Mack’s staff at Louisville before helping Mark Pope at BYU. UTRGV gave him their top job over last offseason and a 16-win campaign is a solid start for the 43-year old, though Fennell is only just getting going with the Vaqueros.
267. Charlie Henry (Georgia Southern) (Last year: 308)
Overall record: 26-40
Although he played for unheralded Madonna, an NAIA school in Michigan, Henry worked his way into an NBA job just two years after graduation as a video guy with the Indiana Pacers. He soon began working under Fred Hoiberg, first with Iowa State and then with the Chicago Bulls, including two seasons as that franchise’s G League head coach. After extensive work helping Nate Oats build Alabama into a power, Henry took the Georgia Southern job in 2023 and is fresh off a 16-win campaign, nearly doubling his wins from his debut season.
266. Ed Schilling (Pepperdine) (Last year: 270)
Overall record: 88-115
A former point guard at Miami (OH) back in the 80’s, Schilling has coached basketball for nearly four decades starting off as a high school in his home state of Indiana. He spent a season with the New Jersey Nets before a six-year stint as head coach at Wright State. More than twenty years later Schilling took the Pepperdine, hopping back into the head coach’s seat after stops at Indiana, Memphis, UCLA, and other spots. His first season with the Waves wasn’t exactly amazing with a 13-22 mark.
265. David Kiefer (Southeastern Louisiana) (Last year: 289)
Overall record: 86-101
Through Kiefer’s coaching career he bounced around several places, starting off as a student manager for Bob Huggins before taking several high school jobs. He was even a video coordinator at South Carolina before catching on with Southeastern Louisiana. Kiefer aided Jay Ladner for 4 years before ascending to the head coaching spot in 2019. After two tough seasons to start, he’s had the Lions in decent shape, with a postseason big in 2022 and another 18-win campaign this past year.
264. Ryan Pedon (Illinois State) (Last year: 286)
Overall record: 48-52
Pedon spent many years working his way up through the coaching ranks, including a ton of work in the MAC especially with Miami (OH) and Toledo. After working under Chris Holtmann with Butler and Ohio State, Pedon’s first head coaching chance came with Illinois State back in 2022 and his third season proved to be his best. The Redbirds struggled in his first two seasons, but Pedon led Illinois State to a CBI championship and a tie for 5th in the MVC this past year.
263. Aaron Fearne (Charlotte) (Last year: 215)
Overall record: 30-34
It’s been quite a rise for Fearne, a native of Sydney who grew up, played, and coached Australian basketball for most of his life. He came to the states in 2018 on Charlotte’s coaching staff after spending more than a decade as a head coach in Australia. After five years as a top assistant for Ron Sanchez, the 49ers named him interim head coach in 2023 and he produced a 19-win season and 3rd place finish in the AAC. Now the permanent leader, Fearne is coming off a downturn in year two with an 11-22 mark and last place finish.
262. Mike Martin (Brown) (Last year: 269)
Overall record: 162-184
Someone with plenty of Ivy League experience, Martin played for Brown back in the early 2000’s before joining Glen Miller’s coaching staff soon after his graduation. Martin would follow Miller to Penn and get even more experience on that staff before returning to his alma mater as head coach in 2012. Martin has now led the Bears for thirteen years and has a few postseason appearances and solid amount of wins to show for his efforts, including another finish over .500 last season.
261. Alvin Brooks (Lamar) (Last year: 294)
Overall record: 104-160
Brooks has been hard at work at his alma mater, though many things happened between now and his playing career with the Cardinals in the late 70’s. The Houston native was head coach of the Cougars for five seasons in the 1990’s with disappointing results. Brooks was on staff at several schools including a long stint under Kelvin Sampson back with those same Cougars. Brooks got this second chance as head coach with Lamar in 2021 and had a rough start, but this past year saw 20 wins and 2nd place in the Southland with some brilliant work.