The hype is definitely building for what should be another exciting year of college basketball action and that’s true around the nation. We’re continuing our yearly tradition here with the national rankings of every D1 head coach, though things are a bit different this time around. We’re giving out that information one conference at a time, and this time it’s the Big Sky that gets our attention.
You’re not finding household names and a ton of familiar faces in the Big Sky but that doesn’t mean there aren’t notable coaches in this league. We’re presenting these coaches with their national rankings, so don’t be surprised by the strange numbering scheme below. It’s also interesting to notice the new coaches in the Big Sky, especially with recent conference realignment moves.
349. Kaleb Canales (Weber State) (Last year: N/A)
Overall record: 0-0
While he’s a former interim head coach at the NBA level, Canales takes quite the step by taking over at Weber State. The Laredo native has coached at the high school and college level but did most of his work in the NBA, spending 15 years with several franchises, including that brief work leading the Portland Trail Blazers. Canales was back in the college game on staff with Troy last season and now will be running his own show in Utah.
293. Shane Burcar (Northern Arizona) (Last year: 281)
Overall record: 85-133
After coaching a lot of winning basketball at the high school level in Arizona, Burcar jumped to the college game on Northern Arizona’s staff in 2018. Just one season later he was made interim head coach and remains the program’s leader seven years later. There have been good moments despite that record, including a CBI appearance in 2025, though his Lumberjacks eked out just a 10-22 record this past season.
290. Ryan Looney (Idaho State) (Last year: 278)
Overall record: 81-132
Before getting his shot at the D1 level Looney spent twenty years in coaching, including 15 years as a head coach. He was great at the NAIA level leading Eastern Oregon before additional success in D2, helming Seattle Pacific for seven years before nearly winning a D2 title at Point Loma in 2019. Just after that he made the jump to Idaho State and has successful somewhat initially, though the Bengals sunk to 9th place in the Big Sky this past season.
289. Jon Judkins (Utah Tech) (Last year: 307)
Overall record: 72-111
We’ve seen Judkins in a leadership role for more than thirty years, though much of that work didn’t come at the D1 level. He spent twelve years as head coach at Snow College before landing at Utah Tech (then called Dixie State) back in 2005. He led the Trailblazers to a number of D2 Tournaments before leading the transition to the D1 level in 2020. Since then, there hasn’t been that same type of success, though Utah Tech did win 19 games and finish 3rd in their final year in the WAC.
242. Alex Pribble (Idaho) (Last year: 273)
Overall record: 46-55
The initial work in Pribble’s coaching career should have told us that the Vandals were getting a pretty solid new leader. He’s a former high school who had great D2 success as head coach at Saint Martin’s, making a Sweet Sixteen at the D2 level. Pribble worked a few years on the Seattle staff before arriving at Idaho in 2023 and just took the Vandals to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 36 years.
236. Jase Coburn (Portland State) (Last year: 255)
Overall record: 82-75
An alum of Arizona State and great high school coach early in his career, Coburn has worked at the junior college level but his entire D1 career has come with Portland State. He originally joined the Vikings as an assistant way back in 2013 and was promoted to the top job some eight years later. His work building a solid program has been steady, culminating in a 20-win campaign and a Big Sky regular season crown last year.
226. Matt Logie (Montana State) (Last year: 260)
Overall record: 50-50
After playing a significant role as a coach at Lehigh, his alma mater, Logie has shown promise as a college head coach at all three levels. He won a flurry of postseason games at the D3 level with Whitworth before four great years in D2 with Point Loma. Montana State hired him in 2023 and was immediately rewarded with a trip to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. He hasn’t replicated that success but just had his best regular season with a 2nd place finish in the Big Sky.
187. Rob Jeter (Southern Utah) (Last year: 185)
Overall record: 255-277
Jeter spent much of his early basketball career under Bo Ryan, playing and assisting him at Wisconsin-Platteville before following him to Milwaukee and Wisconsin. Jeter’s own head coaching career began by winning an NCAA Tournament game in his first season at Milwaukee in 2006. He’d have over a decade leading the Panthers and then a solid stint later leading Western Illinois before being hired by Southern Utah in 2023. The 32-62 record doesn’t jump off the page, though his Thunderbirds were 5th in conference last year.
181. Steve Smiley (Northern Colorado) (Last year: 190)
Overall record: 109-83
A Denver native with two decades of coaching experience, Smiley got his first taste of head coaching at the junior college level with six great seasons at Sheridan College. After a brief stint on staff at Weber State, he joined Northern Colorado in 2016 and was promoted to the top job four years later. His six years as a D1 head coach have been relatively successful and including a Big Sky regular season title in 2025 and a third 20-win season this past year.
128. Dan Monson (Eastern Washington) (Last year: 137)
Overall record: 469-437
The man who helped start the magic at Gonzaga, Monson’s first head coaching gig involved taking the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight back in 1999. Soon after that, he landed at Minnesota though his time in the Big Ten was an up and down affair across eight seasons. Monson spent 17 years at Long Beach State and made a few trips to the Big Dance before landing with Eastern Washington in 2024. He’s just 24-41 with the Eagles but did just notch a 3rd place finish in the Big Sky.
109. Travis DeCuire (Montana) (Last year: 104)
Overall record: 244-150
After brilliant work as a player at Montana in the early 90’s, DeCuire has built quite the coaching career with his alma mater. Before that he did solid work at the high school and junior college levels and spent six years on Mike Montgomery’s staff in the Pac-12 with California. DeCuire became Montana’s head coach in 2014 and has won four Big Sky titles and made three trips to the NCAA Tournament, with the most recent appearance just two seasons ago.
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