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

364. Michael Czepil (Sacramento State) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

After a coaching change late in the offseason, Czepil was named Sacramento State’s interim head coach for this upcoming season. He’s an Australian who gained playing and coaching experience back in Australia, though he played his college ball in the states at Nicholls State. Czepil was an assistant previously at UC Riverside before joining Sacramento State but has zero previous head coaching experience at the collegiate level.

363. Doug Gottlieb (Green Bay) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

In what was certainly one of the most unexpected hires of the offseason, Green Bay threw their support behind Gottlieb, a former point guard at Oklahoma State who played briefly overseas. He has zero coaching experience and is more well-known for his podcast in recent years. A native of Milwaukee, Gottlieb returns to his home state, taking over a Phoenix program that had a revival last season but will look very different under his leadership.

362. Ivan Thomas (Hampton) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

While he does have plenty of experience as a high school coach, Thomas begins his collegiate head coaching career this season with Hampton. The Norfolk native led three different Virginia high schools, even winning a state title, before spending nearly a decade assisting Ed Cooley at both Providence and Georgetown. Thomas comes over from the Hoyas and returns to his home state, hoping to lead the Pirates into their first real success in the CAA.

361. Donny Lind (Mount St. Mary’s) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Soon after graduating from Loyola Maryland, Lind got significant experience as video coordinator at VCU and was part of the program’s surprise Final Four run in 2011. He would spend more than a decade as an assistant coach, starting off at Mount St. Mary’s before following former VCU aide Mike Jones to both Radford and UNC Greensboro. Now his own head coaching career gets underway back in Emmitsburg as he takes over this Mountaineers program.

360. Scott Spinelli (Chicago State) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 1-3

The latest in a long line of changes at Chicago State, Spinelli’s first full-time head coaching gig comes in the former of leading the Cougars into the NEC. Himself a former guard at Boston University, Spinelli spent most of the last three decades as a collegiate assistant, working under coaches like Barry Collier, Mark Turgeon, and even as an NBA scout. He was briefly interim head coach at Boston College in 2021, though four games leading an ACC program doesn’t really compare to the hard work ahead at Chicago State.

359. Cleo Hill Jr. (Maryland-Eastern Shore) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

While brand new to D1 head coaching, Hill did actually serve as an assistant at Nebraska, though that was over two decades ago. Since then, he’s picked up head coaching experience at three different schools, with stints at Cheyney, Shaw, and Winston-Salem State. He’s had moderate success throughout his career, though Maryland-Eastern Shore and their recent struggles certainly provide a new challenge.

358. Larry Stewart (Coppin State) (Last year: 361)

Overall record: 2-27

Last season was the very beginning of Stewart’s head coaching career and it didn’t exactly go well. A longtime professional basketball player, he’d been an assistant at a few schools, but coaching in the MEAC has been much harder than playing in it. A former two-time MEAC Player of the Year, Stewart won just two games in his first season leading his alma mater. While the Eagles weren’t in great shape last season, could better days be on the horizon?

357. Paul Corsaro (IU Indy) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

A native of Indianapolis, Corsaro has spent basically his entire life playing or coaching basketball in the state of Indiana. He played both basketball and football at the University of Indianapolis and would later become that program’s head coach in 2020. After briefly serving as a D1 assistant in Fort Wayne, Corsaro took Indianapolis to a pair of D2 Tournaments and now faces a stiffer challenge with a Jaguars program that has been a doormat since joining the Horizon League.

356. Stacy Hollowell (New Orleans) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Hollowell’s basketball career has literally taken him all over the world. The Shreveport native played his college ball at St. Edward’s in Texas but his first head coaching experience came overseas, with experience in China, Qatar, and Bahrain among others. His first collegiate head coaching gig came at Loyola (LA), taking the Wolf Pack to a number of breakthroughs in his eight seasons. After a year each at Ole Miss and Texas Southern, he was hired to lead New Orleans for his first D1 gig.

355. Jeremy Shulman (Tennessee-Martin) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Shulman begins a new chapter in his own career as he takes over at UT Martin this season. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State, most of his coaching experience came during a successful stint leading Eastern Florida State College. The last fourteen years saw him make that program one of the most successful junior college basketball programs in the country, though he obviously faces a major transition as he takes over the Skyhawks.

354. Ethan Faulkner (Youngstown State) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Another brand new coach, Faulkner takes over at Youngstown State without any previous head coaching experience. He played ball and began his coaching career at Northern Kentucky and also coached at a few other non-D1 schools. He joined Jerrod Calhoun’s staff at Youngstown State five years ago and was a major part of their success. Now he’s the leader of the Penguins and has quite the task ahead as one of the nation’s youngest head coaches.

353. Cornelius Jackson (Marshall) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

A Marshall guard back during the turn of the century, Jackson’s head coaching career begins this season at the helm of his alma mater. He’s no stranger to coaching college ball, following multi-year stints with West Virginia State, UT Martin, and Cleveland State. Jackson joined Dan D’Antoni’s staff in 2017 and has been a vital piece of the Thundering Herd program ever since. Now with seven years on campus under his belt, the program is now in his hands.

352. Josh Loeffler (Loyola Maryland) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Loeffler takes over at Loyola for his first D1 head coaching experience, though this is far from the beginning of his own career. He was actually an assistant with the Greyhounds under Jimmy Patsos a decade ago, sandwiched between his two head coaching stints. An aide at Cincinnati last season, Loeffler was a D3 head coach at Stevens Tech and Johns Hopkins, though clearly leading Loyola is a step up in his career.

351. Craig Doty (Houston Christian) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Doty has fared quite well as a head coach over the last decade plus and arrives at Houston Christian for his first D1 experience. A former collegiate guard at Morningside, an NAIA school in Iowa, his head coaching career began at Rock Valley in 2012. He’d lead that school to a pair of junior college national championships and won an NAIA national title with Graceland. Doty spent the last six years coaching D2 ball at Emporia State with decent success and transitions into life leading these Huskies.

350. Jonathan Mattox (Morehead State) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Based on how his coaching career has developed, it’s fitting that Mattox gets his first head coaching shot at Morehead State. After playing and coaching briefly at Emanuel, an NAIA school in Georgia, Mattox got a graduate assistant position at Morehead State. He would spend the next nine years working his way up to assistant head coach while serving under multiple head coaches. Mattox would spend these last two seasons at Murray State before getting called back to the Eagles, hoping to continue their winning ways in the OVC.

349. Patrick Crarey II (Florida A&M) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

While certainly experienced as a head coach, Crarey’s hiring at Florida A&M is quite the jump for his career. He’s spent the last fourteen years as a collegiate head coach, though it came in the NAIA at a much lower level. Crarey was at Washington Adventist for more than a decade, also serving as that program’s athletic director, before a great three-year run at St. Thomas (FL). He had marvelous run and a number of NAIA Tournament appearances, but can that translate with the Rattlers?

348. Andrew Wilson (VMI) (Last year: 350)

Overall record: 11-53

During his playing career, Wilson spent several years as a guard at Florida State, including time under current Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton. He would then become a collegiate assistant for several years, including more than a decade with Mark Byington. His head coaching days began when VMI brought him to town in 2022 and it hasn’t been great in his first two seasons. His Keydet were just 4-28 last season, alone at the bottom of the SoCon standings.

347. Dave Moore (West Georgia) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

While he’s led West Georgia since 2017, this will be Moore’s first season as a head coach at the D1 level. He’s familiar with this level of the sport, having spent more than a decade as an assistant under Mark Schmidt, with much of that experience in rebuilding St. Bonaventure. Moore is coming off his most successful season yet with West Georgia, winning a regular season and tournament title, though adjusting this program up from the D2 level will be the immediate challenge.

346. Clint Sargent (Wright State) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Simply put, Sargent is a Scott Nagy man through and through who now gets his first major opportunity. Sargent played for Nagy at South Dakota State and was operations director for him to begin his own coaching career. He’s spent the last eight years on Nagy’s bench at Wright State and now takes over the program with Nagy off to Southern Illinois. With no head coaching experience in his past, how will Sargent fare in leading this program?

345. Rod Strickland (LIU) (Last year: 348)

Overall record: 10-48

A talented point guard at DePaul back in the 80’s, Strickland played more than a decade in the NBA and has significant experience in the sport of basketball. From a coaching standpoint, his experience is far less, most notably serving as a full-time assistant at South Florida and an aide to John Calipari at Kentucky. His head coaching career began two years ago with Long Island and it’s not been the ideal start, though last year’s 7 wins was actually a drastic improvement.

344. Chris Acker (Long Beach State) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

A former college guard at Chaminade, Acker gets his head coaching career started in earnest this season at Long Beach State. Though he was formerly head coach at West Los Angeles a decade ago, this is Acker’s first D1 position. He’s no stranger to this level of ball, spending recent time as an assistant at Hawaii, Boise State, and San Diego State. Acker was an assistant on some very talented Aztec teams but will start building his own way with the Beach.

343. Kyle Gerdeman (Lindenwood) (Last year: 345)

Overall record: 20-43

Gerdeman was formerly a junior college head coach at Moberly, but his time with Lindenwood has been his first major head coaching experience. He has been an assistant at a number of other schools, including a long run under Keno Davis at Central Michigan. He took over at Lindenwood in 2019 and was decent before the Lions joined the OVC and D1 ball after his third year. His work since then hasn’t exactly been inspiring, taking him to a 38% winning percentage in five seasons.

342. Jon Jaques (Cornell) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

The most notable basketball played at Cornell came when Jaques was a senior, helping the Big Red to that incredible Sweet Sixteen run in 2010. After a briefly playing career, he was back at Cornell just a few years later as an assistant (after a few other stops). Jaques would spend the last 11 years with the Big Red before ascending to the head coaching position this offseason. Few consider Cornell as one of the better Ivy League programs, but perhaps Jaques can change things again in the near future?

341. Dru Joyce III (Duquesne) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

At the high school level, Joyce was a teammate of LeBron James and later played collegiate ball at Akron. Joyce was a point guard who played internationally for more than a decade before returning home to northeast Ohio. His first coaching gig was on staff at Cleveland State before joining his former coach Keith Dambrot at Duquesne. Having helped lead Duquesne to a Tournament upset last year, Dambrot retired and the program is now in Joyce’s hands; his first head coaching gig.