44. Johnny Dawkins (UCF)
2 NCAA Tournaments (3-2)
Dawkins starred at Duke in the early days of Mike Krzyzewski’s career there and spent nearly a decade in the NBA after he was drafted in 1986. Dawkins then returned to Durham, spending a decade on the Blue Devils’ bench. His own head coaching career goes back to 2008, beginning with time at Stanford that involved two NIT titles and a Sweet Sixteen run. It hasn’t been easy spending the last ten years at UCF, especially with this recent transition to the Big 12, but his Knights are dancing for the first time since 2019 when they almost upset Duke in the round of 32.
43. Josh Schertz (Saint Louis)
0 NCAA Tournaments
No stranger to postseason success, Schertz took Lincoln Memorial on several impressive trips to the D2 Tournament, including three D2 Final Fours. He did have previous D1 experience and has been phenomenal in his first half decade as a D1 head coach. During three years at Indiana State, Schertz built an incredible Sycamores team that nearly won the NIT. Now in year two with the Billikens he fell short in the conference tournament again but has finally reached the Big Dance for the first time, and likely not the last.
42. Bucky McMillan (Texas A&M)
1 NCAA Tournament (0-1)
These recent seasons have been quite the rise for McMillan, the Birmingham native who spent the majority of his early coaching career at the high school level. He was one of the nation’s best high school coaches before making the jump to college ball and Samford in 2020. Over the next five seasons, he turned the Bulldogs into a real competitor, with a trip to the Big Dance two seasons ago. In his debut with Texas A&M, he’s got a fifth-straight 20-win season and has the Aggies program looking solid once again.
41. Dennis Gates (Missouri)
3 NCAA Tournaments (1-3)
After playing at California, Gates cut his teeth on a number of coaching staffs across nearly two decades, including a long stint under Leonard Hamilton with Florida State. His own head coaching career began with Cleveland State in 2019 and included a Horizon League title and a big turnaround for those Vikings. He’s had his ups and downs across four years at Missouri, but this marks a third trip to the NCAA Tournament already, with Gates hoping to grab another Tournament win after getting that first three seasons ago.