NCAA Basketball: 10 best mid-major hires of 2024 coaching carousel

Chris Mack - Charleston Cougars

A familiar face in the college basketball industry, Mack finds himself back in the coaching game after spending two years off following his firing from Louisville in January of 2022. Although his Louisville tenure may not have worked out the way many have envisioned, Mack carries an impressive resume that will surely translate to one of the better mid-major jobs in NCAA basketball.

In Mack’s nine years at Xavier, the Musketeers advanced to the second weekend four times and made the NCAA Tournament in eight of his nine years. Even at Louisville, the Cardinals had an impressive 2019-20 campaign in which they went 24-7 (15-5) and saw themselves reach as high as #1 in the AP Poll, although we will never know just how deep of a run that squad had in them. Mack carries a winning pedigree and is now at a school that has been wildly successful over the past few years. Expect that to continue moving forward.

Ben McCollum - Drake Bulldogs

It was inevitable that Ben McCollum was going to coach at the Division I level at some point in his career, the question was always where? McCollum was rather selective in where he was going to coach next, turning down offers at the Division I level because, after all, he had it rolling at Northwest Missouri State.

While leading the Bearcats, McCollum established a Division II power in Maryville, Missouri, leading his team to four NCAA Division II championships with a .812 career win percentage. This type of winning will surely translate over to a program that has seen six-straight 20+ win seasons under former head coach Darian DeVries, who is now the head coach at West Virginia.