12. Rick Barnes (Tennessee)
29 NCAA Tournaments (33-29)
Nowadays an elder statesman in coaching circles, Barnes has had an eventful run through college basketball across nearly a half century. He’s been a head coach dating back to his brief stint at George Mason in the late 80’s and followed that up with stops at Providence, Clemson, and Texas. Barnes notably took the Longhorns to the Final Four in 2003, though he hasn’t quite matched that with Tennessee. He’s led the Volunteers since 2015, with his program reaching each of the last two Elite Eight’s.
11. Dusty May (Michigan)
3 NCAA Tournaments (6-3)
May was a student manager at Indiana during Bob Knight’s final years leading the Hoosiers and that really kick started his basketball career. He jumped around several schools as an assistant, notably working under Mike White at Louisiana Tech and Florida. The first head coaching call came from Florida Atlantic and May proceeded to take the Owls to a surprise Final Four run in 2023. A year later he was off to Michigan and has more than resurrected the Wolverines program, with a Sweet Sixteen last season and an even better team this year.
10. Todd Golden (Florida)
3 NCAA Tournaments (6-2)
The Phoenix native achieved quite the bit of history last season and it’s been quite the rise for Golden. A former player at Saint Mary’s, he had early positions on staff at Auburn and San Francisco before getting the head coaching gig with the Dons. Three solid seasons led Florida to taking a chance on him in 2022 and the rest has been history. While the Gators stumbled in their first trip to the Big Dance, Golden took Florida to the national championship last season and has another team looking to make some modern history.
9. Nate Oats (Alabama)
8 NCAA Tournaments (13-8)
The job that Oats has done already in his coaching career has been fantastic and he’s only just getting started. The Wisconsin native had great success at the high school level before turning Buffalo into a great mid-major, winning NCAA Tournament games in consecutive seasons. Oats arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2019 and has transformed Alabama into a legitimate basketball contender, making four Sweet Sixteen’s, including the Final Four two years ago. He’s had a ton of success both in the regular season and postseason with the Crimson Tide and is looking for another deep run.