After waiting nearly thirty years for his first collegiate head coaching gig, Russell Springmann has been fired by Oral Roberts after just two seasons in charge of the Golden Eagles. He had spent half a decade as an assistant during a glorious time for this program but this program faltered, with the decision to part ways coming very quickly into his tenure.
Oral Roberts University parts ways with Men’s Basketball HC Russell Springmann.https://t.co/QQI1Uf6jYW
— ORU Basketball (@ORUMBB) March 7, 2025
Springmann played collegiately at Salisbury State in Maryland and began his coaching career at his alma mater back in 1990. After spending a few years as a high school coach, he got his D1 start as a graduate assistant for Billy Donovan when he was hired at Florida. This would begin a journey of nearly three decades for Springmann coaching D1 basketball.
After leaving the Gators, Springmann would spend 17 years at Texas under Rick Barnes, first as an administrative assistant before becoming a full-time assistant. He spent some time out at San Diego before joining Paul Mill’s staff at Oral Roberts in 2018. Three years later, Springmann was an assistant as the Golden Eagles advanced to that improbable Sweet Sixteen as a 15-seed.
When Mills accepted the head coaching job at Wichita State in 2023, Springmann was promoted to the top job at Oral Roberts. Unfortunately, his two seasons leading the Golden Eagles weren’t up to snuff based on the recent trajectory of this program.
In Mills’ final campaign, Oral Roberts won 30 games, swept the Summit League, and returned to the NCAA Tournament as a 12-seed. In his two seasons in command, Springmann won just 19 games and watched as the Golden Eagles became a major liability on defense, finishing last place this season in said Summit League.
Whether or not Springmann was given enough of a chance, this program will now commence on a head coaching hunt once again. Eight years ago, the department made a great hire in Mills, who had been an assistant at Baylor for many years. You have to wonder if they’ll look for another talented assistant at a prominent school like that, though this program could also turn to an upcoming coach with experience, perhaps at the D2 level.
All things considered, Springmann just couldn’t live up to the expectations that Mills left behind. Almost nobody expected a Sweet Sixteen and then a 30-win season from these Golden Eagles and that’s not a reasonable expectation moving forward. Instead, Oral Roberts will look for their next leader and hoping he’ll bring stability as they contend for Summit League titles in the future.