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

280. Greg Paulus (Niagara) (Last year: 280)

Overall record: 67-78

Following a playing career that saw him play point guard at Duke and quarterback with Syracuse, Paulus has been a collegiate coach for the last 14 years, starting with stints at Navy, Ohio State, and Louisville. He originally joined Niagara’s coaching staff in 2019 but was promoted to head coach that same offseason and enters his sixth year. After a tough start, his Purple Eagles have been right around .500 in each of the last three seasons, consistently middle of the pack in the MAAC.

279. Paul Sather (North Dakota) (Last year: 304)

Overall record: 61-94

No stranger to collegiate coaching, much of Sather’s experience has come at levels below D1. He was briefly an assistant at Colorado and picked up his first head coaching gigs at Black Hills State and Northern State, the latter being his alma mater. North Dakota brought him his first D1 head coaching chance back in 2019. After a few rough finishes in recent years, his Fighting Hawks are coming off their best season yet, tying for second in the Summit League in an 18-14 season.

278. Jase Coburn (Portland State) (Last year: 291)

Overall record: 43-51

Early in his career, Coburn’s coaching experience was at the high school and junior college levels. The Arizona State alum was actually brought to Portland State back in 2013 as an assistant and hasn’t left. He was promoted to associate head coach in 2018 and took over the top job three seasons later. After a pair of 7th place finishes in the Big Sky, Coburn took the Vikings over .500 for the first time last season, winning 17 games despite a 6th place league finish.

277. Brian Barone (SIU Edwardsville) (Last year: 279)

Overall record: 64-91

A former guard at Texas A&M and Marquette, Barone’s coaching career saw him work under great names like Porter Moser and Tom Crean. He had several years assisting at Green Bay before landing at SIU Edwardsville. After two seasons as an assistant, he was promoted by the Cougars, beginning his head coaching career in earnest. SIUE just finished above .500 for a second consecutive season, a testament to the work that Barone and his staff have put in across the last five years.

276. Ed Conroy (The Citadel) (Last year: 274)

Overall record: 162-222

The Citadel remains home for Conroy, who played there in the late 80’s and is now in his second stint as the program’s had coach. His head coaching journey began at Francis Marion in the late 90’s and has included numerous assistant coaching stops, like NC State, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Vanderbilt. Conroy manufactured success during his first run with the Bulldogs and had six decent seasons as head coach at Tulane. Stint number two at The Citadel has been less prosperous, with Conroy just 21-43 so far.

275. Todd Phillips (Utah Valley) (Last year: 307)

Overall record: 16-16

Another coach whose entire basketball career has taken place in the state of Utah, Phillips has done solid work across the last two decades, including an 8-year stint leading Salt Lake CC. After that junior college experience, he joined Utah Valley’s staff under Mark Madsen in 2019 and aided him for the next four years. Phillips was promoted last offseason and satisfied early expectations, taking the Wolverines to a 4th place finish in the WAC in his initial season.

274. Jim Engles (Columbia) (Last year: 295)

Overall record: 169-244

Native to New York, Engles has found a home coaching back in his home state, as he’s spent more than a decade working at Columbia. He had long coaching stints on the staffs of Wagner, Rider, and Columbia, before getting his first chance in the head coaching chair at NJIT. After 8 years of rebuilding one of the nation’s worst D1 programs, Engles returned to Columbia as head coach in 2016. The Lions haven’t exactly competed in the Ivy League since his arrival, though this past season’s 13 wins were his best yet, while also escaping the bottom of the league standings.

273. John Jakus (Florida Atlantic) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Quite possibly the latest branch of a successful coaching tree, Jakus begins his collegiate coaching career by inheriting the recent success from Florida Atlantic. He’s coached internationally and at the high school level and also worked under two elite coaches in Mark Few at Gonzaga and Scott Drew with Bayor. Jakus spent the last seven years with the Bears and was an assistant on their recent national championship and will hope to get his own head coaching story off on the right foot.

272. Grant Leonard (Queens) (Last year: 272)

Overall record: 32-34

Leonard grew up in Wisconsin before attending school on the East Coast at William Penn. Much of his initial coaching experience came at lower levels of college ball, save for a brief stint with Texas-Pan American. He originally joined the staff at Queens back in 2013 and was promoted to head coach after nine years aiding Bart Lundy. His first season was also the Royals’ first at the D1 level, resulting in an 18-win campaign. Year two wasn’t as prosperous, but this is still the early stages of his career.

271. Duane Simpkins (American) (Last year: 340)

Overall record: 16-16

A talented player at Maryland under Gary Williams in the 90’s, Simpkins spent his early coaching days at the high school level. His first collegiate job was as operations coordinator at Towson before stints with UNC Greensboro and George Mason. Following eight years on staff with the Patriots, his first collegiate head coaching opportunity came last offseason with these Eagles. American was part of that big tie at 2nd place in the Patriot League, with this program certainly looking better right off the bat.

270. Ed Schilling (Pepperdine) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 75-93

Schilling’s career has been lengthy and eventful and includes previous D1 head coaching experience at Wright State more than two decades ago. He was on John Calipari’s staff at UMass, Memphis, and with the New Jersey Nets and has also led multiple high school programs. Most recently, Schilling was a big part of Bryce Drew’s staff at Grand Canyon before this offseason presented him another head coaching chance. Schilling takes over a Pepperdine program that hasn’t made much headway in recent years.

269. Mike Martin (Brown) (Last year: 276)

Overall record: 148-171

Martin’s entire collegiate career has come in the Ivy League. He actually played at Brown back in the early 2000’s and was back on campus a year later as an assistant to Glen Miller. He followed Miller to Penn for several years before rejoining the Bears as head coach in 2012. This program isn’t one of the juggernauts in the Ivy League, though Martin has made a few postseason appearances and has actually finished in 4th place in four of the last five played seasons.

268. Dwight Perry (Wofford) (Last year: 287)

Overall record: 29-27

Perry got right into coaching after a brief playing career at Kentucky in the late 2000’s, serving as an intern at Stanford and a graduate assistant with VCU. He’s done great work on SoCon staffs, spending time at Furman and Wofford before getting his own head coaching chance. He was actually promoted to interim head coach in December 2022 and was named the full-time coach a few months later. He’s taken the Terriers to a pair of 5th place finishes and has stabilized the program for the time being.

267. Adam Fisher (Temple) (Last year: 285)

Overall record: 16-20

A relatively new head coach with plenty of collegiate experience, Fisher began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Villanova. He worked at several other schools, including a long stint at Miami and as assistant head coach at Penn State, his alma mater. After contributing to the Nittany Lions’ great run in 2023, Fisher began his head coaching career at Temple this past season. His initial season didn’t exactly stand out, tying for 10th in the AAC, but the Owls haven’t exactly been faring great in recent years regardless.

266. Monte’ Ross (North Carolina A&T) (Last year: 255)

Overall record: 139-209

A former head coach at Delaware in the CAA, Ross enters his second season leading North Carolina A&T into that familiar league. He was on the coaching staff of that stellar Saint Joseph’s team more than two decades ago before a ten-year stint with the Fightin’ Blue Hens. Ross took Delaware to the Big Dance in 2014, but was fired two years later. After serving as an assistant at Temple in his hometown, Ross returned to the head coaching seat but went just 7-25 in his first year at North Carolina A&T.

265. Brian Collins (Tennessee State) (Last year: 263)

Overall record: 81-102

Collins played collegiately at Belmont under Rick Byrd and would soon begin his own coaching journey. He was a successful junior college coach at Columbia State CC and also was on staff at ETSU, Illinois State, and a couple other schools. That journey actually began at Tennessee State, the same school that would make him head coach in 2018 over a decade later. His road with the Tigers has had some ups and downs, though this program has finished Top 5 in the OVC for three straight years and just won 18 games for a third time.

264. Matthew Graves (Indiana State) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 65-96

Known for his work at Butler, Graves gets a second shot as a collegiate head coach with Indiana State. He played and coached for the Bulldogs and was part of the staff when Butler made back-to-back national championship games under Brad Stevens. Graves then spent five forgettable years leading South Alabama. He helped Josh Schertz turn Indiana State into a feisty powerhouse and now takes over the Sycamores this season, with expectations certainly higher than they were a few seasons ago.

263. Andy Newman (Cal State Northridge) (Last year: 342)

Overall record: 33-33

A collegiate head coach for more than a decade, Newman just completed his first season as a full-time D1 head coach in Northridge. He previously spent a decade on Cal State Fullerton’s staff and was interim head coach for one year. After that, Newman had success leading UT Permian Basin and Cal State San Bernardino, taking both D2 programs to postseason success. Winning 19 games in his first season with the Matadors was certainly a case of good fortune and putting his best foot forward once again.

262. Tony Pujol (North Alabama) (Last year: 261)

Overall record: 78-103

Pujol worked his earliest days as a high school coach before catching on at Appalachian State twenty years ago as an assistant. He would become a full-time assistant with VCU and Alabama under Anthony Grant before a short stint out west at Wyoming. When North Alabama joined D1 in 2018, Pujol was brought to town as their new head coach. While he did take the Lions to the CBI in his fifth season, the overall record isn’t overly inspiring.

261. Reggie Theus (Bethune-Cookman) (Last year: 266)

Overall record: 132-186

A former NBA All-Star, Theus starred at UNLV in the 70’s before spending 13 years playing in the NBA. In his first collegiate coaching gig, he helped Rick Pitino take Louisville to the Final Four in 2005. He has since led two collegiate programs in New Mexico State and Cal State Northridge and been a head coach in both the NBA and D-League. Bethune-Cookman hired him three years ago and are now reaping those benefits, fresh off a 17-win season and trip to the CBI.