Big East Basketball: Ranking all 11 head coaches for 2024-25 season

11. Kyle Neptune (Villanova)

Albeit still relatively new to this head coaching thing, Neptune has been a part of fantastic success at Villanova. A former player at Lehigh, Neptune worked on the Villanova staff under Jay Wright for a decade, winning a pair of national titles as an assistant. He then began his own head coaching career at Fordham in 2021, spending just a season with the Rams before being called back to Villanova.

Two years into his own run with the Wildcats, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan. Neptune has led Villanova to two straight 6th place finishes in the Big East, settling for a pair of trips to the NIT. Not only has he yet to take Villanova back to the Big Dance, his record is barely above .500. With a much tougher Big East than the one Villanova dominated half a decade ago, Neptune has a lot of work ahead.

10. Kim English (Providence)

A shooting guard at Missouri just over a decade ago, English is still relatively young in this profession but has gotten his coaching career off to a nice start. A former assistant at Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee, his head coaching journey started three years ago at George Mason. He led a nice turnaround with the Patriots, winning 20 games in his second season before taking the Providence job in 2023.

A 21-win campaign was a solid start, as the Friars were one of the Big East teams whose bubble was popped on Selection Sunday. His Providence team lived up to any preseason expectations, finishing 6th place and making the NIT in a tough conference. It’s hard to say much after just twelve months with the Friars, though English is certainly heading in a good direction with his career.

9. Chris Holtmann (DePaul)

DePaul made a splash when they brought Holtmann to Chicago this offseason, giving him his fourth head coaching gig. A former assistant at several schools, it began for him at Gardner-Webb before departing for an assistant’s job at Butler. While in the Big East, Holtmann would later become head coach of the Bulldogs and lead them to four NCAA Tournament wins in three years.

After he was responsible for that great success in Indianapolis, he moved east to Ohio State. Holtmann had a somewhat rocky stint with the Buckeyes in the Big Ten, making four trips to the NCAA Tournament in a row before two rough years at the end. Holtmann was fired back in February, giving DePaul a head start to bringing him aboard. He’s back in the Big East, but can Holtmann turn things around at a broken program like DePaul?