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

260. Keith Richard (Louisiana-Monroe) (Last year: 258)

Overall record: 313-388

Owning extensive basketball experience, with much of it in the state of Louisiana, Richard has had quite the coaching career. A Baton Rouge native, he played at Northeastern Louisiana (now known as Louisiana-Monroe) and was an assistant there early on. His first head coaching experience came during a 9-year run at Louisiana Tech. He’s been entrenched as the head coach at his alma mater since returning in 2010 and has taken the Warhawks to several postseason appearances, though they’ve finished below .500 for five straight years.

259. Chad Boudreau (Western Illinois) (Last year: 358)

Overall record: 21-12

Prior to taking over as the Leathernecks’ head coach, Boudreau had previous coaching experience at five other schools, including as head coach at Highland Commuity College. He spent over a decade in the Horizon League at Milwaukee under Rob Jeter and joined Jeter’s staff at Western Illinois in 2020. When Jeter opted to leave last offseason, Boudreau was promoted to the top job to begin his D1 head coaching career. Winning 21 games and faring well as first-year members of the OVC certainly raised his pedigree.

258. Chris Caputo (George Washington) (Last year: 259)

Overall record: 31-33

Caputo played ball at Westfield State, somewhat under the national radar, but has spent more than a decade coaching at the D1 level. All of that bench experience came under Jim Larranaga, including the Patriots’ crazy Final Four run in 2006 during Caputo’s first year as a full-time assistant. He followed Larranaga to Miami and stayed there eleven years before taking over George Washington in 2022. His first head coaching job has gone okay through two seasons, though last year’s last place finish in the A-10 was clearly not exactly ideal.

257. Ross Hodge (North Texas) (Last year: 311)

Overall record: 19-15

Last year was Hodge’s first as a D1 head coach after several years as an assistant, though it wasn’t his first time leading a program. He did well over a decade ago at a pair of junior colleges, with success at both Paris JC and Midland. What followed was prominent work under Larry Eustachy and Grant McCasland across four different schools, including six years at North Texas. Hodge was the promoted to the top job last season when McCasland left and it’s hard to be disappointed by an NIT bid in year one.

256. Brad Korn (Southeast Missouri State) (Last year: 231)

Overall record: 53-73

Korn has garnered experience from talented head coaches, playing and coaching under Bruce Weber and Matt Painter in his career. Much of that came as a player and assistant at Southern Illinois, though he also spent time under Weber in the Big 12 at Kansas State. Southeast Missouri State gave him his first head coaching chance back in 2020 and he rewarded them with a trip to the Big Dance in 2023. Last year was a rough follow-up, winning just nine games while finishing 10th place in the OVC.

255. Brooks Savage (East Tennessee State) (Last year: 326)

Overall record: 19-16

When East Tennessee State was a great program in the late 2010’s, Savage was an assistant. Now he’s trying to get them back on that track, having previous experience coaching at six other schools. A former Tulane aide and Wake Forest assistant, he returned to the Buccaneers last offseason to begin his own head coaching career. While that 7th place finish in the SoCon isn’t exactly inspiring, the 19 wins are a great step forward for his program.

254. Phil Martelli Jr. (Bryant) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 20-13

Martelli played under his father at Saint Joseph’s ad has been in coaching for the last 21 years. He was an aide at several D1 schools, including 5-year runs at Niagara and Delaware. After a brief stint in the D-League, Martelli joined the staff at Bryant and was promoted to head coach last season after Jared Grasso’s dismissal. It’s very hard to be disappointed by a first-time head coach who wins 20 games and ekes out a 3rd place conference finish during a tumultuous season.

253. Matt Logie (Montana State) (Last year: 346)

Overall record: 17-18

No stranger to coaching success, Logie joined Montana State last offseason after great work leading both Whitworth and Point Loma. Logie took Whitworth to many D3 Tournaments in eight years before similar success at Point Loma, including the D2 Sweet Sixteen in 2023. He had actually played and coached at Lehigh beforehand, so the jump to Montanan State wasn’t his first D1 experience. Despite the 5th place finish and below .500 record, Logie actually took the Bobcats to the Big Sky Tournament title and a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.

252. Darrell Walker (Little Rock) (Last year: 288)

Overall record: 82-99

Well-known long before his collegiate coaching career, Walker played a decade in the NBA, winning a title with the Chicago Bulls. He was later head coach of the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards and spent over a decade on NBA benches. After a pair of D2 Tournament appearances while leading Clark Atlanta, Walker was hired to lead Little Rock back in 2018 and has had his moments. This year was his second regular season conference title, getting the Trojans to 21 wins, a CBI bid, and a share of the OVC in year two in the conference.

251. Billy Taylor (Elon) (Last year: 254)

Overall record: 186-211

Taylor is certainly a veteran head coach, with previous experience leading three other schools. He played collegiately at Notre Dame in the early 90’s and coached there early on. He aided Fran McCaffery at UNC Greensboro and Iowa and led Lehigh, Ball State, and Belmont Abbey for several years. Taylor is responsible for an NCAA Tournament while leading the Mountain Hawks two decades ago but is looking to mirror that with Elon. He took over the Phoenix two years ago and is just 21-43, though this past season was an improvement.

250. Justin Gray (Coastal Carolina) (Last year: 275)

Overall record: 51-47

Born in Raleigh, Gray played guard at Wake Forest back in the early 2000’s and later played professionally overseas for over a decade. His return stateside marked the beginning of a coaching career that’s still relatively new. After just two seasons as an assistant at Winthrop he became the head coach at Western Carolina. Gray took the Catamounts to a CBI bid in his second year and a 22-10 mark last season. This offseason saw him jump to Coastal Carolina to accept a new challenge in the Sun Belt.

249. Jim Shaw (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) (Last year: 351)

Overall record: 21-12

A prominent guard at Grinnell College two decades ago, Shaw’s coaching career has taken him on various D1 stops over the years. He worked under Doc Sadler at UTEP and Nebraska before aiding at Texas Tech. Shaw arrived in Corpus Christi back in 2021 on Steve Lutz’s new staff and would succeed him as head coach just two seasons later. While he didn’t quite get the Islanders into the NCAA Tournament again, Shaw had a very solid first season, including a CIT appearance.

248. Landon Bussie (Alcorn State) (Last year: 253)

Overall record: 55-62

Bussie took the head coaching job at Alcorn State in 2020 after spending seven years with Prairie View A&M, coaching on both the men’s and women’s side of the ball. His work with the Braves has been impressive just four years into his head coaching career, taking this program to a pair of regular season titles in the SWAC already. Though his Braves did fall short both times, Alcorn State is 42-12 in league play since 2021 and Bussie is proving his worth as a head coach in this game.

247. Billy Lange (Saint Joseph’s) (Last year: 265)

Overall record: 151-206

Revered as a great basketball mind in Philadelphia, Lange has worked for several institutions in that city; including multiple runs as an assistant at Villanova and a 6-year stint with the Philadelphia 76ers. Though formerly head coach of the Merchant Marine Academy, his first D1 experience was as leader at Navy, with mostly mediocre results with the Midshipmen. He’s been the head coach at Saint Joseph’s since 2019 and is coming off his finest season, taking the Hawks to the NIT to top off a 21-win campaign.

246. Brette Tanner (Abilene Christian) (Last year: 250)

Overall record: 54-46

Tanner has been in coaching for more than 25 years and almost all of that experience has come in Texas. A former junior college head coach, Tanner had long stints as a D1 assistant coach, spending seven years at Stephen F. Austin before eight with Abilene Christian. He was named head coach back in 2021 when Joe Golding left the program. The overall numbers are decent, with Tanner also responsible for a pair of postseason appearances, including a trip to the CIT quarterfinals last year.

245. Marty Simmons (Eastern Illinois) (Last year: 248)

Overall record: 212-241

Now head coach at his fourth different school, Simmons played at Indiana and Evansville back in the 1980’s and has been in coaching ever since. Early head coaching stints were at Wartburg and SIU Edwardsville before his first D1 gig at his alma mater. He was a longtime assistant at Evansville before spending 11 years leading the Purple Aces, including to a CIT title in 2015. Simmons bounced back into the head coaching world at Eastern Illinois and is slowly building progress three years in, finishing 14-18 last season.

244. Ben McCollum (Drake) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 0-0

Quite possibly the nation’s best D2 head coach, McCollum has finally made the jump to the D1 level. A former player at Northwest Missouri State, he became head coach of his alma mater in 2009 and would lead them to four D2 NCAA Tournament titles over the next fifteen years. McCollum won more than 81% of his games with Northwest Missouri State and dominated the MIAA. Now he inherits a Drake program that Darian DeVries built into terrific shape in recent years.

243. Eric Olen (UC San Diego) (Last year: 278)

Overall record: 51-58

After playing collegiately at Spring Hill in his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, Olen has spent his entire coaching career at UC San Diego. He headed to the West Coast way back in 2004 on the Tritons’ staff and was promoted to head coach in 2013. He spent his first few seasons building this program into a contender, including a 30-1 record in the pandemic-shortened season. UC San Diego transitioned to D1 shortly thereafter and after three meek seasons are coming off a 21-win campaign with a postseason trip.

242. John Gallagher (Manhattan) (Last year: 219)

Overall record: 176-230

Gallagher played collegiately under Phil Martelli at Saint Joseph’s and started his coaching career with stints at several East Coast schools. After a brief stint with Boston College, Gallagher took over at Hartford and was their final D1 coach. He spent 12 years leading the Hawks, including a trip to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He bounced back last offseason by landing the gig at Manhattan, though there’s plenty of work to be done ahead with these Jaspers after a 7-23 season.

241. Tevon Saddler (Nicholls State) (Last year: 362)

Overall record: 20-14

Still just 29 years old, Saddler is the nation’s youngest head coach but has already showed signs of brilliance as a leader. A player at Nicholls State just six years ago, he worked on the staffs of four different schools, including briefly at Maryland, before getting this head coaching position last offseason. Saddler had been part of the previous coaching staff for the Colonels, though that 20-win debut and 3rd place finish in the Southland was all on him.