NCAA Basketball: Ranking all 364 D-I head coaches for 2024-25 season

180. Chris Mudge (Sam Houston) (Last year: 347)

Overall record: 21-12

Initially a student manager and graduate assistant to Rick Barnes at Texas, Mudge has spent extensive time at Sam Houston State. The Round Rock native joined the staff as an assistant back in 2010 and would remain for the next 13 years before being promoted to head coach of the Bearkats this past offseason. Suffice to say he exceeded expectations in year one, taking Sam Houston to 21 wins and a regular season title in their first season in the CUSA.

179. Nick McDevitt (Middle Tennessee) (Last year: 156)

Overall record: 181-172

McDevitt arrived at UNC Asheville way back in 1997 as a freshman guard and would remain on campus for the next 21 years. After his playing career, he was a longtime assistant before being named head coach in 2013. McDevitt took the Bulldogs to an NCAA Tournament and pair of Big South titles before leaving for Middle Tennessee in 2018. In his fourth season, he took the Blue Raiders to the title game of the CBI in a 26-win campaign but is coming off a discouraging 14-19 season.

178. Chris Gerlufsen (San Francisco) (Last year: 218)

Overall record: 51-30

Gerlufsen honed his craft as a collegiate coach at several college campuses, serving long stints at The Citadel and Hartford before heading west in recent years. He was briefly interim head coach at Hawaii and also had stints with San Diego and San Francisco. Gerlufsen joined the Dons in 2021 and was named head coach the following season after Todd Golden’s departure. With a pair of 20-win seasons, he’s done his part to continue San Francisco’s momentum, including an NIT appearance this year.

177. Bashir Mason (Saint Peter’s) (Last year: 205)

Overall record: 198-162

Even though he turned 40 earlier this year, Mason already possesses more than a decade of D1 head coaching experience. A former Drexel point guard, he quickly became a head coach when he was promoted to the top job at Wagner after two years aiding Dan Hurley. Mason won three NEC titles and a plethora of games but never reached the Big Dance. In 2022, he took the Saint Peter’s job and is coming off the best season of his career, taking the Peacocks back to the NCAA Tournament, the first trip of his career.

176. Todd Simon (Bowling Green) (Last year: 184)

Overall record: 147-128

A native of Michigan, Green graduated from Central Michigan before heading to the West Coast for his basketball coaching career. He had success in Las Vegas at the high school level and was also interim head coach at UNLV in 2016. Simon then got his first full-time gig at Southern Utah, getting the Thunderbirds to 20 wins in each of his last three seasons. Simon headed back to more familiar ground when he accepted the Bowling Green job last offseason, with 20 wins and a CIT run marking a solid beginning.

175. Rick Croy (Cal Baptist) (Last year: 177)

Overall record: 101-84

Responsible for plenty of success in his coaching career, Croy is a San Diego native whose first head coaching experience came in the late 2000’s at Citrus College. That junior college success led him to join Randy Bennett’s staff at Saint Mary’s. After those formative seasons, he was hired by Cal Baptist in 2013. Croy led the Lancers to five D2 Tourneys in five years before leading the program on their D1 transition starting in 2018. They’ve yet to reach the Big Dance but have sniffed success with decent finishes in the WAC.

174. Tony Skinn (George Mason) (Last year: 303)

Overall record: 20-12

At the end of his collegiate playing career, Skinn was a major factor in George Mason’s shocking run to the Final Four in 2006. After years playing overseas and a few coaching stops, Skinn is looking to pull similar magic as the program’s head coach. He spent several seasons coaching for Seton Hall, Ohio State, and Maryland before the Patriots brought him back home last offseason. Entering a season with low expectations, Skinn led George Mason to 20 wins and put themselves in decent shape for the future.

173. Bill Coen (Northeastern) (Last year: 163)

Overall record: 282-284

After playing and coaching at Hamilton, Coen began a long relationship with Al Skinner spending nearly a decade apiece coaching under him at Rhode Island and Boston College. His own head coaching career began here at Northeastern way back in 2006 and it’s been quite the journey. Coen is responsible for two NCAA Tournament appearances and four CAA regular season titles with the Huskies. Unfortunately, recent years have been far more barren, as the Huskies are just 31-62 over the last three years.

172. Donnie Jones (Stetson) (Last year: 187)

Overall record: 233-207

While he may have flew under the radar as a player and assistant at Pikeville, Jones gained attention for his work with Billy Donovan, helping him take Florida to multiple national titles as an assistant. Jones would kick start his own Head coaching career with solid work at Marshall before fizzling out across six years with UCF. He was back in the head coach’s chair when Stetson brought him aboard in 2019 and just rewarded their patience. Jones just led the Hatters to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

171. Pat Skerry (Towson) (Last year: 178)

Overall record: 213-199

Skerry was briefly a D3 head coach at Curry in the late 90’s but has really found his groove at Towson. He was an assistant at several schools, notably working at Rhode Island, Providence, and Pittsburgh before the Tigers hired him in 2011. After just one win in his debut, he rebuilt this program into contention and has made several postseason trips across his long tenure. Not only did Towson win the CAA and make the NIT in 2022, Skerry has won at least 20 games in three straight years, though he’s still looking for that first Big Dance.

170. Jon Coffman (Purdue-Fort Wayne) (Last year: 183)

Overall record: 179-142

Prosperous across his head coaching tenure, Coffman played and coached at a number of schools, including a long stint at Stetson. He arrived in Fort Wayne back in 2011 and rose to the head coaching spot three years later. His decade of leadership has seen a slew of postseason appearances, with regular season titles in both the Summit League and Horizon League. His Mastodons have fared solidly since joining the Horizon League in 2010 and are coming off a 23-win season that involved a deep CIT run.

169. Rod Barnes (Cal State Bakersfield) (Last year: 168)

Overall record: 382-401

Owning multiple decades of head coaching experience, Barnes actually kick started his basketball career with Ole Miss. After playing for the Rebels in the 80’s and coming back as an assistant, he led Ole Miss for eight seasons, taking them to the Sweet Sixteen in 2001. What followed was a disappointing stretch at Georgia State before arriving in Bakersfield in 2011. Barnes is responsible for the Roadrunners’ first ever trip to the Big Dance back in 2016 but the program has been underwhelming since joining the Big West a few years later.

168. Austin Claunch (UTSA) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 90-61

Claunch returns to the head coaching chair this season after previously serving as head coach at Nicholls State. He had been on Clemson’s staff for a few years before heading to Nicholls and was promoted to head coach at age 28 back in 2018. The record across five years was phenomenal, including a pair of Southland regular season titles. Claunch spent last season as one of Nate Oats’ assistants during a Final Four run for Alabama and now hopes to rejuvenate basketball at UTSA.

167. Keith Urgo (Fordham) (Last year: 152)

Overall record: 38-28

After a fantastic start to his head coaching career, Urgo faced something more of a reality check in year two leading Fordham. Before joining the Rams, Urgo had spent several years on the Villanova staff before a long stretch as an assistant at Penn State, mostly under Pat Chambers. He’d originally joined Kyle Neptune’s Fordham staff before getting the promotion two seasons ago. Year one saw 25 wins and a 2nd place finish in the competitive A-10 before just a 13-20 finish this past season.

166. Tim Craft (Western Carolina) (Last year: 173)

Overall record: 188-166

A graduate from Florida and Tallahassee native, Craft spent several years as a collegiate assistant before really catching at head coach at Gardner-Webb. He aided Jeff Lebo at Auburn and East Carolina before rejoining the Runnin’ Bulldog as their head coach in 2013. The next eleven years saw Craft leading the program to several highlights, including an NCAA Tournament appearance back in 2019. This offseason saw him accept a new challenge, heading to the SoCon as the new leader at Western Carolina.

165. Billy Gillispie (Tarleton State) (Last year: 165)

Overall record: 214-162

A lengthy and eventful coaching career, Gillispie coached high school ball before catching on as a collegiate assistant, working under Bill Self among others. He’s been head coach at six different schools, including five D1 programs. After awesome work at UTEP and Texas A&M, he flamed out in a high-profile stint leading Kentucky before a dreadful stint at Texas Tech. Fast forward and Gillispie has been at Tarleton State since 2020, though he missed most of this past season. Ironically, his Texans won 25 games and made a CIT run, with him merely in an advisory role.

164. Robert Ehsan (UIC) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 76-57

This season marks Ehsan’s return to head coaching, though he’s no stranger to the collegiate game. He worked under Gary Williams at Maryland and spent several years with Jerod Haase at both UAB and Stanford. Ehsan’s first head coaching experience came with those Blazers, taking them to decent results before he was released in 2020. After bouncing back on the Stanford staff, he takes his talents to Chicago, inheriting a program still trying to make their mark in the MVC.

163. Richie Riley (South Alabama) (Last year: 174)

Overall record: 145-111

Riley played very briefly at Eastern Kentucky before getting into coaching, bouncing between half a dozen colleges in his early years. He had solid runs with UAB and Clemson before getting his head coaching career started at Nicholls State. After a Southland regular season title in his second season, he took the South Alabama job in 2018. The breakthrough success hasn’t yet come with the Jaguars, but this program is definitely in better shape, even after another 7th place finish in last year’s Sun Belt race.

162. A. W. Hamilton (Eastern Kentucky) (Last year: 172)

Overall record: 104-88

A highly successful branch of Kevin Keatts’ coaching tree, Hamilton played and coached alongside Keatts at Marshall before a length stint at Hargrave Military Academy. After that success at the high school level, Hamilton would spend a single season on Keatts’ staff at NC State before Eastern Kentucky hired him in 2018. His Colonels did solid work in his initial seasons before transitioning to the ASUN starting in 2021. What has followed is a deep CBI run and more recently a regular season title.

161. Travis Steele (Miami-Ohio) (Last year: 166)

Overall record: 97-87

Steele graduated from Butler and worked as a graduate assistant under Thad Matta at Ohio State early I his career. He was part of Kelvin Sampson’s staff briefly at Indiana but then built his coaching career at Xavier. After a decade assisting Sean Miller and Chris Mack, Steele took over the program himself, with varying results across four seasons. Xavier made a change in 2022, not settling for Steele’s mediocre finishes, but he bounced back at Miami. Last year marked a 3-win improvement for the RedHawks.