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

160. Bart Lundy (Milwaukee) (Last year: 170)

Overall record: 138-114

Certainly no stranger to head coaching success, Lundy has more than two decades of experience and has been a winner basically everywhere he’s been. He had two long stints leading Queens to a ton of D2 success before they transitioned to D1. He was briefly part of Buzz Williams’ staff at Marquette after a decent run as High Point’s head coach. More recently, he’s back in Milwaukee as the Panthers’ head coach and has won at least 20 games in each of his first two seasons.

159. Shantay Legans (Portland) (Last year: 140)

Overall record: 120-104

It’s been an interesting journey for Legans, who played at California and Fresno State before beginning his coaching career at the high school level. He’d join the Eastern Washington coaching staff in 2009, helping the Eagles to plenty of success before accepting their top job eight years later. Legans won 75 games across four years at Eastern Washington, including a trip to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Weeks later he was off to Portland, and took the Pilots to the postseason in his first year. The two years since then have been far less impressive, with just a 12-21 mark this past year.

158. Steve Donahue (Penn) (Last year: 157)

Overall record: 323-325

Donahue possesses extensive coaching experience, with a lot of that success coming in the Ivy League. He was actually at Penn on Fran Dunphy’s staff for a decade before getting his head coaching start with Cornell. Over the next decade, he built the Big Red into something special, making three straight trips to the Big Dance including a Sweet Sixteen run in 2010. After four less notable years heading Boston College, Donahue returned to Penn and just finished his ninth year with the Quakers, though last season was by his worst with a 7th place finish in the Ivy League.

157. Jim Christian (Canisius) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 317-273

Back again, Christian takes over his fifth D1 program this season, hoping to turn things around at Canisius. A former assistant under coaches like Ralph Willard and Herb Sendek, Christian’s journey began with a pair of NCAA Tournaments at Kent State in the 2000’s. He’d then bounce to TCU, Ohio, and later Boston College, though he’s never returned back to the Big Dance. He led all three programs to some success, including postseason bids, and hoping to do the same as the new leader of these Golden Griffins.

156. Tobin Anderson (Iona) (Last year: 141)

Overall record: 37-33

Anderson has more than two decades of head coaching experience, with postseason success at D1, D2, and D3. He was solid at Clarkson and Hamilton before building a dynamic D2 program at St. Thomas Aquinas. Many haven’t forgotten that Anderson led Fairleigh Dickinson to that historic upset as a 16-seed in 2023, capping off his lone season with the Knights. Anderson accepted the Iona job and his 16-17 mark in year one wasn’t great, but perhaps it’s just the beginning for his Gaels.

155. Brett Reed (Lehigh) (Last year: 161)

Overall record: 276-240

Born in Michigan, Reed had his earliest basketball experience in his home state but has become almost synonymous with Lehigh basketball. Reed originally joined the Mountain Hawks as an assistant in 2002 and was promoted to head coach five seasons later. Reed notably coached the Lehigh squad that upset Duke during the 2012 NCAA Tournament. His program has finished Top 4 in the Patriot League in a majority of his seasons, but hasn’t returned to the Big Dance in the last twelve years.

154. Chris Victor (Seattle) (Last year: 164)

Overall record: 66-35

After a successful head coaching debut at Citrus College, a junior college in California, Victor got his first D1 coaching experience at Eastern Washington. He joined Jim Hayford’s staff and would follow him to Seattle a couple seasons later. When Hayford was dismissed in 2021, Victor became interim head coach of the Pioneers and led them to a regular season title in the WAC. He was soon give the full-time job with Seattle and has won at least 20 games in each of his three years, including this past season’s CBI championship.

153. Dustin Kerns (Appalachian State) (Last year: 190)

Overall record: 128-102

Kerns worked at a few different schools as an assistant, most notably as a graduate assistant at Tennessee and a longer stint under Mike Young at Wofford. His head coaching debut came with Presbyterian, leading the Blue Hose to a 20-win campaign in his second season. In 2019, he accepted the Appalachian State job and had the Mountaineers in the NCAA Tournament in just his second year there. Even though he didn’t repeat that feat, you can easily argue he’s coming off his best season, winning 27 games, tying for the Sun Belt title, and getting into the NIT.

152. Kevin Kruger (UNLV) (Last year: 171)

Overall record: 58-40

Kruger played point guard at Arizona State for three years before joining his father at UNLV back in the mid-2000’s. After playing overseas, he spent time as a D1 assistant at a few different schools, including under his father again at Oklahoma. Kruger rejoined his alma mater as an assistant in 2019 and was promoted to the top job two seasons later. What has resulted has been three decent finishes, with this past season a marked step forward. While his Runnin’ Rebels missed the Big Dance, they settled for 4th place in a very talented MWC and got an NIT appearance.

151. Joe Gallo (Merrimack) (Last year: 162)

Overall record: 82-64

While he briefly left to work at other schools, the majority of Gallo’s basketball experience has come at Merrimack. He played for the school in the early 2000’s, joined the staff a year after graduation, and came back as head coach in 2016. The Warriors had significant D2 success before transitioning to the D1 level after his third season. While ineligible for the D1 postseason, his Merrimack program won three NEC regular season titles and now transition to the MAAC, hoping to make that first Big Dance in the near future.

150. Griff Aldrich (Longwood) (Last year: 169)

Overall record: 109-86

When you look at his resume, Aldrich doesn’t have a host of collegiate experience, spending much of his career coaching AAU ball while working other jobs. The former Hampden-Sydney player returned to the collegiate game on Ryan Odom’s staff at UMBC and was part of that historic upset over 1-seed Virginia in 2018. That success was enough for Longwood to give Aldrich the keys to run their program and the results have been solid. Not only has Aldrich produced three-straight 20-win seasons and a slew of postseason bids, he took the Lancers to the NCAA Tournament this past year for the second time.

149. Jim Les (UC Davis) (Last year: 158)

Overall record: 349-339

A former NBA point guard, Les starred at Bradley in the mid-80’s before bouncing around professional basketball for nearly a decade. His alma mater gave him his first head coaching position back in 2002 and he led them to the Sweet Sixteen just a few years later. Les fizzled out with the Braves but bounced back quickly, taking the UC Davis job in 2011. He’s responsible for nearly 200 wins with the Aggies, leading them to a pair of Big West titles and an NCAA Tournament bid. Much time has passed since that success, though his Aggies did win 20 games last season.

148. Takayo Siddle (UNC Wilmington) (Last year: 151)

Overall record: 79-39

It’s been a quick rise to prominence for Siddle, a former Garnder-Webb guard who has coached under Kevin Keatts and Chris Holtmann in his career. He actually assisted Keatts at UNC Wilmington, followed him to NC State, and would return in 2020 as the Seahawks’ new head coach. Siddle’s record is impressive, as he’s gotten this program back into solid shape. UNC Wilmington won the CBI title in 2022 and have averaged 24 wins over the last three seasons, with three Top 3 finishes in the CAA.

147. Rob Lanier (Rice) (Last year: 155)

Overall record: 141-135

One of the offseason’s most notable moves (in the long run) came when Lanier was released by SMU. Long before he landed in north Texas, Lanier had coached at a number of schools, working with Billy Donovan, Rick Barnes, and several other good coaches. In his own head coaching career, he had flamed out at Siena in the early 2000’s before making the Big Dance with Georgia State in 2022. Lanier was hired soon after at SMU and had a 10-win improvement this season, but was still fired by the Mustangs. Instead, he’ll hope to build basketball success with Rice.

146. Dan Monson (Eastern Washington) (Last year: 153)

Overall record: 445-396

Many college basketball fans don’t realize that Monson was head coach at Gonzaga during their first Cinderella run, taking them to the Elite Eight back in 1999. A longtime former assistant with the Bulldogs, he now has nearly three decades of head coaching experience, moving to Minnesota and later Long Beach State. He originally arrived back in 2007 and took Long Beach State to success, but was given an ultimatum and fired despite reaching this year’s NCAA Tournament. Fortunately, Eastern Washington trusted him as their new head coach and he’ll look to keep building on his legacy back in his home state.

145. Mark Madsen (California) (Last year: 149)

Overall record: 83-70

After starring at Stanford in the late 90’s, Madsen played nearly a decade in the NBA and later served as a full-time assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers. He left the Lakers bench in 2019 to begin his head coaching career at Utah Valley, though he had briefly been a G-League head coach a few years earlier. His time with the Wolverines was great, with a pair of WAC titles including a 28-9 mark in his final season. Madsen was then hired by California and completed a decent first season, though he now must adjust his program to life in the ACC.

144. Scott Cross (Troy) (Last year: 159)

Overall record: 305-237

Cross transferred to Texas-Arlington back in 1995 and wouldn’t leave the school until he was fired in 2018. A solid guard and longtime assistant, he was the Mavericks’ head coach for 12 years, taking them to one NCAA Tournament and a slew of other solid years before the change was made, even after three-straight 20-win seasons. After a one-year sabbatical on the TCU staff, Cross has bounced back with Troy and has now taken the Trojans to three straight Top 5 finishes in the Sun Belt, all with 20 wins.

143. Eran Ganot (Hawaii) (Last year: 144)

Overall record: 159-104

Ganot’s entire career has come at just two schools, beginning two decades ago as a volunteer for Saint Mary’s. He’d later return to the Gaels’ staff after a stint out at Hawaii, though it was these same Rainbow Warriors that handed him his first head coaching gig in 2015. In his very first season, Ganot took Hawaii not only to the Big Dance but to a first-round upset over California. Since that historic victory, he hasn’t gotten another Big West title, but he has won at least 20 games each of the last two years.

142. Joe Golding (UTEP) (Last year: 146)

Overall record: 186-162

An Abilene Christian guard back in the mid-90’s, Golding coached at the high school and junior college level early in his career. He was an aide both at Little Rock and his alma mater before getting Abilene Christian’s top job in 2011. Across the next decade, he led the Wildcats into D1 and produced their first real success, including an NCAA Tournament upset over Texas in 2021. Weeks later he was off to UTEP and has won 52 games in his first three seasons, though his breakthrough with the Miners is yet to come.

141. Preston Spradlin (James Madison) (Last year: 180)

Overall record: 140-109

After playing NAIA ball in the 2000’s, Spradlin’s first experience came as a graduate assistant and staffer under John Calipari at Kentucky. After winning a national title as an operations director, he became a full-time assistant at Morehead State. Spradlin was named interim head coach for the Eagles in late 2016 and remained there for eight years, taking the Eagles to sustained success. He made two NCAA Tournaments, including last season, and now will hope to succeed out at James Madison as well.