24. Greg Gard (Wisconsin)
7 NCAA Tournaments (7-7)
Gard has spent his entire career in the state of Wisconsin thanks largely to Bo Ryan. He was a high school coach in the state for a few seasons before joining Ryan’s coaching staff at Wisconsin-Platteville way back in 1993. Across the next 22 seasons, Gard would be at Ryan’s right-hand at three different schools, culminating in a pair of Final Four’s with the Badgers. Since January 2015 the program’s been in his control and while they haven’t had a deep postseason run, Wisconsin remains nationally relevant, with a few recent Big Ten titles and now a third straight trip dancing.
23. Brad Brownell (Clemson)
8 NCAA Tournaments (6-8)
He’s not a name you often hear mentioned when talking about great coaches but Brownell has quietly done a really solid job throughout his career. The Evansville native started off with Tourney bids at both UNC Wilmington and Wright State in the first stops of his head coaching career during the 2000’s. Since 2010 he’s been leading the charge at Clemson and it’s been quite prosperous in recent years. His Tigers made the Sweet Sixteen in 2018, the Elite Eight in 2024, and are now dancing for a third straight season.
22. Jamie Dixon (TCU)
15 NCAA Tournaments (14-15)
Suddenly Dixon has been a prominent head coach for nearly a quarter century and the last decade has come at his alma mater. A big part of TCU’s success in the mid-80’s, Dixon got into coaching after a brief playing career, most notably working under Ben Howland. He succeeded him at Pittsburgh and won a ton of games with the Panthers, including an Elite Eight run back in 2009. Since 2016, Dixon has been leading the charge for TCU and in addition to an NIT title has the Horned Frogs dancing for the fifth time in the last ten years, still competitive in a very strong Big 12.
21. Will Wade (NC State)
7 NCAA Tournaments (5-7)
Despite being just 43 years old it’s been a very eventful coaching career for Wade already. He was an assistant on the VCU team that reached the Final Four in 2011 and has had early head coaching success leading Chattanooga and VCU. There were ups and downs before LSU fired him and he really got back into the groove at McNeese State, winning a ton of games in the Southland and a first-round Tourney upset last season. Now in his first year at NC State, his fifth D1 gig, he’s gotten the Wolfpack back in the Big Dance already.