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

240. Jeremy Ballard (Florida International) (Last year: 228)

Overall record: 88-101

Ballard has been the head coach at FIU since 2018 but gained significant coaching experience before joining the Panthers. An Atlanta native, he played and coached early in his career at Colgate before stints under Shaka Smart at VCU and Kevin Stallings at Pittsburgh among others. His first two seasons at FIU were really solid, and included a postseason bid, though things haven’t been as fruitful since the pandemic. His Panthers won just 11 games last year and finished 9th in the Conference USA standings.

239. Joe Scott (Air Force) (Last year: 236)

Overall record: 274-318

A Princeton point guard under the great Pete Carril, Scott has been in coaching for more than 30 years, including early stints on that Tigers coaching staff. He has extensive D1 head coaching experience, previously leading Air Force, Princeton, and Denver, taking the Falcons to their second-most recent NCAA Tournament appearance back in 2004. Scott returned to Colorado Springs in 2020 for a second stint leading the Falcons, but he’s just 39-78 with a flurry of 10th place finishes in the MWC.

238. John Shulman (Central Arkansas) (Last year: N/A)

Overall record: 145-146

Shulman is back at the D1 level as the new head coach at Central Arkansas after previously spending nine years leading Chattanooga. He has extensive experience as a D1 assistant, with time at Wofford, East Tennessee State, and Tennessee Tech earlier in his career. Shulman took the Mocs to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and had great success most recently leading Alabama-Huntsville to five D2 Tourneys in five years. Can he rebuild that kind of success in the Atlantic Sun?

237. Jim Ferry (UMBC) (Last year: 230)

Overall record: 268-309

Possessing more than two decades of head coaching experience, Ferry is certainly among the veterans of the coaching world. That journey began in 1998 at Plymouth State and Adelphi before finally catching on at the D1 level. He spent a decade at Long Island, taking the Blackbirds to consecutive NCAA Tournaments before a quieter 5-year run leading Duquesne. After spending a year as Penn State’s interim coach, Ferry caught on at UMBC in 2021, though he’s coming off a tough 11-win season.

236. John Dunne (Marist) (Last year: 252)

Overall record: 229-325

Native to Queens, Dunne has spent most of his basketball career working in New York and New Jersey. He had coaching stints at several of those schools, working under Louis Orr at Siena and Seton Hall in the early 2000’s. His first head coaching opportunity came during a 12-year run at Saint Peter’s, taking the Peacocks to the Big Dance in 2011 and a CIT title a few years later. He jumped to Marist in 2018 and is still hunting for that breakthrough season, though the Red Foxes did claim 3rd in last season’s MAAC race.

235. Mark Prosser (Winthrop) (Last year: 239)

Overall record: 92-94

Considering his father was a great head coach in his own right, it’s no surprise to see Prosser continuing the family business at his third college. Formerly an assistant at Wofford, Winthrop, and a few other schools, Prosser spent a single season as head coach at Brevard before later beginning his D1 head coaching career at Western Carolina in 2018. Prosser built decent success with the Catamounts before jumping to Winthrop three years later. He’s led the Eagles to 4th place finishes in the Big South in each of the last two seasons but still hunts for the postseason.

234. Darris Nichols (Radford) (Last year: 220)

Overall record: 48-50

A point guard at West Virginia in the 2000’s, Nichols worked as a graduate assistant there for Bob Huggins before beginning his own coaching career just over a decade ago. He was an assistant at four different schools, working for Mike White at both Louisiana Tech and Florida. After six years on that SEC bench, Nichols got his first head coaching gig at Radford in his hometown. His first two seasons were prosperous, but his Highlanders struggled last season, finishing under .500 in a tie for 8th in the Big South.

233. Kevin McGeehan (Campbell) (Last year: 234)

Overall record: 169-182

A former D3 and high school had coach, things really took off for McGeehan as an assistant under Chris Mooney. He’d originally join Mooney at Air Force in 2004 before spending nearly a decade on his bench at Richmond. McGeehan landed at Campbell in 2013 and has had some memorable seasons with the Fighting Camels, including three straight postseason appearances. He led this program into the CAA with a mediocre finish last season as he continues to hunt for that first trip to the Big Dance.

232. Johnny Tauer (St. Thomas) (Last year: 269)

Overall record: 49-47

Tauer’s entire basketball career has taken place at St. Thomas, helping build this program from relative unknown to the D1 level. He played for the Tommies back in the early 90’s before earning his doctorate. He rejoined St. Thomas as an assistant coach in 2000 and was promoted to the top job eleven seasons later. Tauer led the Tommies to the D3 title in 2016 and a plethora of wins and helped this program transition to D1 since 2021. That kind of success doesn’t come overnight, though St. Thomas just won 20 games and claimed 4th place in the Summit League.

231. K. T. Turner (UT Arlington) (Last year: 319)

Overall record: 20-14

A longtime collegiate assistant, Turner worked at nearly a dozen colleges before finally getting his head coaching shot last offseason. He worked for several smaller schools before jumping between D1 colleges over the last decade, including a long run at SMU and one-year stints with Wichita State (during their Final Four season), Texas, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. Suffice to say, year one at UT Arlington went pretty well, as Turner took the Mavericks to a 3rd place finish in the WAC with potential for more in the future.

230. Steve Smiley (Northern Colorado) (Last year: 249)

Overall record: 64-61

Smiley has been at Northern Colorado for eight seasons and just finished his fourth year as the program’s head coach. He previously had junior college head coaching success leading Sheridan College and was an assistant at Northern State, his alma mater, and Weber State. After helping Jeff Linder rebuild this Bears program, he’s done a decent job maintaining that momentum since taking over in 2020. The Bears were in the CBI for a second time this past season, capping of a 19-win season and one of Smiley’s best efforts after losing Dalton Knecht.

229. Byron Smith (Prairie View A&M) (Last year: 225)

Overall record: 123-134

Smith arrived at Prairie View A&M more than a decade ago before becoming head coach in late 2015, though there were plenty of other stops early in his career. He was an assistant at Houston, Texas A&M, and even worked for the Harlem Globetrotters before settling in with these Panthers. He was an assistant, then interim head coach, and then took the program to the Big Dance back in 2019. Recent years have been less fertile, as Prairie View A&M ended up 10th in the SWAC in 2024.

228. Tony Barbee (Central Michigan) (Last year: 247)

Overall record: 166-185

A proud member of the John Calipari coaching tree, Barbee played under Calipari at UMass in the early 90s and assisted him at UMass, Memphis, and Kentucky. Before joining the Wildcats, Barbee had a pair of 4-year stints as head coach at UTEP and Auburn. He took the Miners to the 2010 NCAA Tournament but flamed out as an SEC head coach with less than 50 wins in four full seasons. Central Michigan offered him a new opportunity and Barbee is coming off his best season with the Chippewas, with 18 wins and a surprising 4th place finish in the MAC.

227. Eric Duft (Weber State) (Last year: 244)

Overall record: 38-27

Prior to his promotion to head coach, Duft’s only head coaching experience had come at a Kansas junior college in the late 90’s. Duft had been on Randy Rahe’s Weber State coaching staff for his entire 16-year tenure before being named his successor in 2022. His time with the Wildcats has been Duft’s only D1 experience but that hasn’t mattered much to this point. Year two saw Weber State win 20 games and finish Top 4 in the Big Sky for a second straight season.

226. Geno Ford (Stony Brook) (Last year: 243)

Overall record: 192-200

An Ohio guard in the mid-90’s, Ford has been head coach at five different schools, with solid work at Shawnee State, Muskingum, and Kent State before flaming out in the MVC at Bradley. He won 68 games and made two NITs in his first D1 head coaching experience at Kent State but was very unsuccessful with the Braves. After riding the bench at Stony Brook for a few years, Ford became the Seawolves’ head coach in 2019. There have been ups and downs in this job as well, though last season’s 20-15 record was a step in the right direction again.

225. Jordan Mincy (Jacksonville) (Last year: 226)

Overall record: 50-43

Mincy is another young head coach who worked his way into this opportunity. A former player at Kent State, he assisted at several D1 schools and was another Mike White apprentice, aiding him at Louisiana Tech and Florida. Jacksonville gave him his first head coaching position in 2021 and Mincy has repaid them for their faith. He won 21 games in his first season before his Dolphins struggled a bit in year two. This past year wasn’t ideal, with a 10th place finish in the ASUN, but the overall record still sits in decent shape for Mincy with this program.

224. Brian Earl (William & Mary) (Last year: 242)

Overall record: 96-103

Earl jumped to William & Mary this offseason and it’ll be his first college basketball experience outside of the Ivy League. He played at Princeton during a prosperous stretch in the 90’s and was an assistant at the school for many years. Earl was hired as head coach at Cornell back in 2016 and was successful over the next eight years. The former Ivy League Player of the Year finished in the top half of the league in five of his seven seasons, including 22 wins and an NIT bid this past year. Can he translate that to a successful rebuilding effort with the Tribe?

223. Michael Schwartz (East Carolina) (Last year: 227)

Overall record: 31-35

East Carolina afforded Schwartz that opportunity he was looking for when they hired him in 2022. He’s been a longtime D1 assistant, working under Rick Barnes and Frank Haith for much of his career. He joined East Carolina after six years assisting Barnes at Tennessee and has tried his best to turn the Pirates into a solid program in the AAC. Neither of his first two seasons has stood out, with both right under .500 and not really in contention in this league.

222. Donald Copeland (Wagner) (Last year: 256)

Overall record: 32-29

A former point guard at Seton Hall in the 2000’s, Copeland played overseas for nearly a decade before returning stateside for a coaching career. He settled in on Staten Island as a graduate assistant at Wagner and worked with the Seahawks for six seasons. Copeland briefly returned to his alma mater as an assistant under Kevin Willard before accepting Wagner’s head coaching job in 2022. After a fine first season, Copeland is coming off a surprise NEC Tournament title and his first trip to the NCAA Tournament as head coach.

221. Ryan Ridder (Mercer) (Last year: 238)

Overall record: 96-92

Ridder takes over at Mercer this upcoming season after showing success in each of his first three head coaching stops. He previously won a series of league titles at Daytona State, a junior college in Florida, and had three solid seasons leading Bethune-Cookman, including to a MEAC title in his first season. A similar success story followed at UT Martin, as Ridder spent the last three years building the Skyhawks from bottom feeder to a regular season title in the OVC. Can he continue that trend in the SoCon with Mercer in the coming years?