We’re pushing forward in our college basketball coverage with the season on the horizon. This time around is another look at a conference for our coach rankings. We’ve still ranked all 365 D1 head coaches in the country but we’re not releasing those rankings in one big piece. Instead it’s bit by bit, with each conference getting its own focus.
That brings us to the Horizon League and it’s an interesting conference that sometimes gets overlooked. There’s a lot of new or young coaching talent but there’s also a few established veterans, including someone who’s been at their school since Ronald Reagan was President. With a new team in the conference, it’ll be interesting to see how things develop but let’s just run through these coaches for now.
341. Rob Summers (Cleveland State) (Last year: 353)
Overall record: 11-22
Year one for Summers at Cleveland State wasn’t the hottest start, though there’s still plenty of time for him to change his fortunes. A former D2 head coach at Urbana, Summers had spent much of the last decade at D1 schools, including time as Miami-Ohio’s associate head coach as well as at Missouri under Dennis Gates. The former Vikings assistant finished just 10th in the Horizon League in his first year at the helm but perhaps a big jump is coming.
340. Ben Howlett (IU Indy) (Last year: 330)
Overall record: 7-25
Monumental D2 success occurred for Howlett during his work at West Liberty, serving as a player, assistant, and longtime head coach. He won a boatload of games and took those Hilltoppers to the D2 title game in 2023, though progress is slower at the D1 level. His first experience here has been this past season at IU Indy and it is fair to say his Jaguars underachieved, finishing last place in the Horizon League.
328. Matt Majkrzak (Northern Illinois) (Last year: N/A)
Overall record: 0-0
It’s a new beginning for Majkrzak in his first full-time work at the D1 level. A former student assistant at Green Bay, he was a junior college head coach before a nice 7-run at Northern Michigan. That first long head coach stint included four trips to the D2 Tournament in the last four years. Majkrzak takes over at Northern Illinois with hopes of engineering a turnaround for the Huskies in the near future.
295. Doug Gottlieb (Green Bay) (Last year: 358)
Overall record: 22-43
A former guard at Oklahoma State, Gottlieb’s prominence came largely through his playing career and broadcasting in more recent years. He’d been involved in radio and other media for two decades since his retirement before starting his coaching career as Green Bay’s head coach in 2024. Year one made this move look like a mistake with just 4 wins, but his Phoenix surprised a lot of people by finishing 3rd in the Horizon League last year.
280. Ethan Faulkner (Youngstown State) (Last year: 277)
Overall record: 36-30
Faulkner played point guard at Northern Kentucky just before the Norse joined the Horizon League, though just over a decade later he’s a coach in the league. He had a few coaching stints before joining Jerrod Calhoun’s staff at Youngstown State back in 2019. After five solid years, Faulkner was promoted to head coach and finished 21-13 in his head coaching debut, though year two was quite disappointing.
259. Mark Montgomery (Detroit Mercy) (Last year: 293)
Overall record: 151-218
Before his head coaching days, Montgomery played at Michigan State under Jud Heathcote and spent nearly a decade coaching under Tom Izzo. He had some notable moments across a decade as head coach at Northern Illinois but is now hoping to bounce back in Detroit. His Titans understandably struggled in his first season, but last year was a different story, surprising many with a tie for 3rd in the Horizon League.
211. Clint Sargent (Wright State) (Last year: 308)
Overall record: 38-30
A longtime disciple under Scott Nagy, Sargent played for him at South Dakota State and was an operations director before following him to Wright State in 2016. Sargent spent eight years on staff before succeeding him as the new head coach of the Raiders in 2024. After a solid first season, Sargent and his squad burst onto the scene with 23 wins and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, having won the regular season Horizon League title and the league’s Coach of the Year honor.
179. Bart Lundy (Milwaukee) (Last year: 153)
Overall record: 171-145
While his head coaching career has had significant success at the D2 level, Lundy is still looking for that breakthrough at this level. He spent 14 years split across two stints at Queens and took them to a 19-9 mark in the D2 Tournament. Sandwiched between those years was a 6-year run at High Point with mixed results, though Lundy has now been in Milwaukee since 2022. His Panthers won at least 20 games in each of his first three seasons but last year was a disaster at 12-20.
164. Jon Coffman (Purdue Fort Wayne) (Last year: 163)
Overall record: 215-170
He may still be looking for that first trip to the Big Dance but Coffman has quietly done really solid work in Fort Wayne. He did previous work at a number of schools, notably eight years on the Stetson bench before joining IPFW in 2011. Promoted to head coach in 2014, Coffman has survived conference swaps and school name changes, with six postseason appearances and a Horizon League title in 2022, finishing above .500 each of the last five years.
151. Andrew Toole (Robert Morris) (Last year: 165)
Overall record: 274-252
After playing at Elon and Penn and getting early experience on staff at Lafayette, Toole has been entrenched at Robert Morris since 2007. Much of that run has come as the head coach, as he was promoted to the top job back in 2010. His Colonials had a ton of success in the NEC and have handled the transition into the Horizon League, evident by that trip to the Big Dance in 2025. Toole is 48-20 over the last two years after a slow start in the league.
104. Greg Kampe (Oakland) (Last year: 107)
Overall record: 469-407
The longest-tenured head coach at the D1 level, Kampe has been Oakland basketball throughout most of his life, let alone his basketball career. He landed with the Golden Grizzlies way back in 1984, building D2 success before leading their transition to D1 right before the turn of the century. What followed was three trips to the Big Dance from the Summit League and solid work over the years in the Horizon, including that shocking NCAA Tournament upset over Kentucky in 2024.
90. Darrin Horn (Northern Kentucky) (Last year: 92)
Overall record: 305-201
Horn played at Western Kentucky in the early 90’s and started his head coaching career there a decade later. After helping Marquette to the Final Four on Tom Crean’s bench, Horn took the Hilltoppers to the Sweet Sixteen in 2008, though his following stint in the SEC at South Carolina was underwhelming. He’s bounced back nicely since taking the Northern Kentucky post in 2019, with an NCAA Tournament appearance and a pair of Horizon League titles under his belt.
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