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

6. Sean Miller (Xavier)

Miller played point guard at Pittsburgh three decades ago and immediately began a successful coaching career. An aide at five schools, he actually began his head coaching journey at Xavier two decades ago, taking the Musketeers to an Elite Eight and four separate trips to the NCAA Tournament. Miller would then spend 12 years at Arizona with plenty of accolades, taking the Wildcats to three Elite Eights and plenty of victories.

Miller flamed out at Arizona and was fired in 2021, but has bounced back nicely with the Musketeers. Now in his second stint at Xavier, Miller was brought back to town two seasons ago and immediately led Xavier to a Sweet Sixteen. This past season was a slight step back, though Miller has clearly brought energy back to this program again and boasts more than two dozen Tourney wins.

5. Thad Matta (Butler)

A Butler alum who graduated in the early 90’s, Matta has been a prosperous head coach throughout his career, a journey that began at his alma mater. He spent just a single season with the Bulldogs before a 3-year stint at Xavier. Matta would take the Ohio State job in 2004, spending 13 years making the Buckeyes one of the nation’s top programs. Not only did he win an NIT title but he more important led Ohio State to Final Four runs in 2007 and 2012.

Matta stepped away in 2017 after health issues but returning to full-time coaching five seasons later back at Butler. Year one wasn’t ideal but things are trending upwards in his second season, getting the Bulldogs back to the NIT. Matta has that profound success at Ohio State in this back pocket and does have Butler trending in a good direction two seasons into his second stint.