What a cataclysmic winter-into-spring we just had on the college basketball coaching carousel.
While the 2021, 2022 and 2023 carousel tours were plenty noisy/historic in their own rights (reminder: North Carolina, Duke, Villanova, Arizona, Louisville, Indiana, Marquette, Maryland, Texas (twice) and Syracuse all had swaps in the past three seasons), I've gotta say, 2024 tops those years. The cycle is officially one of the most memorable and meaningful we've ever seen. Then, when you factor in the past three years on top of 2024, it's easy to make the case the sport has undergone greater symbolic change in its coaching ranks than ever before in such a short period of time.
A major factor in 2024 being legendary is the change in leadership at Kentucky. When a blue blood suddenly opens up on the eve of the national championship game, it's a kaboom. To think, that was induced because Eric Musselman bolted for USC two days before the Final Four. (Which was its own tempest of a news cycle that has been swallowed up in all that's happened since.) John Calipari's retreat out of Kentucky was an earthquake and overshadowed the build-up to UConn's back-to-back championships in the hours before the Huskies waltzed past Purdue on April 8.
As a result, Calipari's exodus to Arkansas will bring increased intrigue to the sport next season. Spicy stuff in the SEC. Calipari managed to convince Kenny Payne to join his staff as the top assistant, which ups the fascination level in Fayetteville.
Thankfully, Kentucky didn't take long to fill after Scott Drew and Dan Hurley passed on the job. In Cal's place is 51-year-old Mark Pope, who will outdo Calipari's energy in Lexington. Pope left BYU for his alma mater and is yet another alumnus taking over at a high-profile basketball institution. Initial response on Pope's hiring was mixed, but Big Blue Nation quickly flocked to form and filled Rupp Arena to capacity for his introductory press conference Sunday afternoon. An incredible scene that's a testament to that fan base's immeasurable passion.
One of our own. @CoachMarkPope x #BBN pic.twitter.com/YspioVuZbc
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) April 14, 2024
Kentucky taking Pope meant that the final power-conference job to fill was BYU. It didn't take long to fill. Kevin Young, the lead assistant the past three seasons for the Phoenix Suns, is the next coach of the Cougars. A source said Young has a seven-year deal in the vicinity of $30 million — by far the biggest financial commitment in basketball in BYU history. For the full story on why and how BYU got Young to say yes (and doing so while breaking its own traditional hiring rules in the process) check out the details here. I also have more below.
We officially locked up all coaching vacancies over the weekend. Here's an expansive look at the '24 carousel, which had 64 job switches (that's 17.7% of D-I) this cycle.
Major-conference changes
| |  |
| Out: Eric Musselman | In: John Calipari Musselman left for USC after five Fayetteville seasons that included two Elite Eights. An Arkansas coach leaving for USC was unthinkable 10 years ago? But Musselman -- who has SoCal ties -- had been looking for a way out. USC was THE ideal spot for him after coming off a whiff of season (16-17). Pressure would have been on had he stayed. At USC, he gets a new lease on his career and will face significantly less pressure as the program moves to the Big Ten. As for Calipari, his intra-conference move became known the Sunday before the national title game and will go down as an epic Final Four media story years from now. He gets the same kind of reboot as Muss, only his expectations will be higher in Fayetteville because that fan base is going to expect at LEAST one Final Four run in the winter of Cal's career. | |
| |  |
| Out: Mark Pope | In: Kevin Young With Pope in Lexington, Young is going to have a big project in keeping BYU competitive in the Big 12. And there is an abnormal circumstance coming with this hire. Young will remain with the Phoenix Suns until the team's playoff run ends. That could be a little more than a week from now or could be until June. Can't remember anything like that. Young will be hiring three assistants in the coming days, sources said, all of them likely to be people not from Pope's staff. Expect Young to bring at least one other person with an NBA background onto the staff, per my sources. Major changes ahead in Provo. | |
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| Out: Tony Stubblefield | In: Chris Holtmann This is the worst-performing program in a high-major conference this century, but someone has to eventually win here ... right? This year marked the school's 20th consecutive season missing the NCAA Tournament. With Holtmann coming in, DePaul has a window to finally improve its standing in the Big East. But it will not be easy. Holtmann is taking a risk in accepting this job, and he knows it. Holtmann is on a six-year deal and, per sources, he had every contract request/stipulation met. It's a best-case scenario for the Blue Demons. | |
| |  |
| Out: John Calipari | In: Mark Pope The fact we got to where we got with Kentucky opening -- after Calipari didn't leave initially, following the first round tourney loss to 14-seed Oakland -- is incredible. Kentucky and Cal both needed a new start. The star-studded freshman classes might not be as loaded moving forward, but come on: This is Kentucky. Talent will be incoming annually, still. Pope has signed five-year deal at an average of $5.5 million per season, before incentives, and is going to completely change the culture and environment around that athletic department (for the better). The question is: What will Kentucky look like in Pope's image and can emerge as a top-15 team in Year 1? | |
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| Out: Kenny Payne | In: Pat Kelsey To no one's surprise, Louisville cut ties with Payne after two disastrous seasons. Payne was 12-52 in the worst back-to-back seasons in the program's history. It was near-impossible to think Louisville could have been as bad as it's displayed the past two seasons. Kelsey won the gig after a messy, protracted process with nearly a dozen candidates vetted. The Cardinals might have come out clean here, though. Kelsey's 261-122 record equates to a .681 win percentage, which ranks in the top 20 among active coaches. He's the most energetic 48-year-old in college basketball, to boot. If the school wasn't going to pluck a sitting coach at a high-major (which is a bit strange), it got the guy who's won more games than any other mid-major candidate on the board. | |
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| Out: Juwan Howard | In: Dusty May Howard would have been able to hold on to the job if Michigan had been 13-19 instead of 8-24; if it was 7-13 in the Big Ten instead of 3-17. In comes May, and it's a MAJOR shift. The Wolverines bring in a guy with a squeaky-clean image who built FAU into a viable mid-major; the Owls were irrelevant and almost always under .500 on an annual basis prior to his arrival. May was the hottest name on the carousel this season even after the Owls didn't meet preseason expectations, so we'll see how it goes. He's built out a quality staff. Michigan finished last in the Big Ten and will have a huge roster flip. May chose the Wolverines over Louisville and Vanderbilt, accepting a five-year deal that will pay him $3.75 million on average over the life of the contract. | |
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| Out: Chris Holtmann | In: Jake Diebler Diebler did a better-than-admirable job as the interim coach after Holtmann's firing on Valentine's Day, and as a result had the interim tag removed. Diebler, 37, is a Valparaiso graduate who has worked at Ohio State since 2019. He led the Buckeyes to a 6-2 record featuring victories over Purdue and Nebraska while also doing enough to convince his bosses he's worthy of running one of the 20 biggest jobs in the sport without any previous head-coaching experience. This is no doubt a risk, but it's not an expensive one, in terms of Big Ten finances. Diebler's deal is for five years and starts at $2.5 million annually. | |
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| Out: Mike Boynton Jr. | In: Steve Lutz Boynton lasted seven seasons and made one NCAA Tournament. AD Chad Weiberg surprised some by making the move at a time when the school has to rally around $15 million to pay off Boynton, hire a new staff and try to fundraise close to $2 million in NIL. This job fell to the bottom of the pecking order this cycle, though I've been told Weiberg was afforded some aggressiveness in his offers to a few candidates (who passed). The search took longer than desired, but in the end, Lutz is a quality get with a great initial track record (three NCAA Tournaments in three seasons as a head coach). He's on a five-year deal that starts at $2.4 million. | |
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| Out: Rob Lanier | In: Andy Enfield With SMU moving from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC in a few months, this job now qualifies as high-major. Enfield's got the credentials for this gig, no question. What remains to be seen: Can he jump SMU's standing in a new league? SMU is an odd fit in the ACC, completely geographically isolated and lacks appeal for many. Still, the money will exceed north of $4 million annually and it is going be competitive in NIL. | |
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| Out: Jerod Haase | In: Kyle Smith Stanford was a job that many thought should have opened two years ago. It didn't, but it still managed to get a guy who will probably work. The job is extremely tough at the power-conference level in 2024, particularly given Stanford has the odd-bedfellow arrangement in the ACC starting this year, but Smith has won at three places that are traditionally very hard to win at: Columbia, San Francisco and Washington State. Bernard Muir missed by waiting a year or two too long in sticking with Haase. Smith fell onto his doorstep and it could be a godsend for the program. | |
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| Out: Andy Enfield | In: Eric Musselman Enfield's move to SMU was in the wind for more than a week before it became official. Likewise, Musselman becoming the obvious top target for the Trojans seemed inevitable. He brings a track record that includes three straight second-weekend NCAA tourney appearances from 2021-23, including two Elite Eight runs. USC hasn't won't a regular-season conference title since 1985. It needs an injection. Musselman, 59, is going to try and make USC must-see on a national level. Big task, though. | |
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| Out: Jerry Stackhouse | In: Mark Byington Vanderbilt fired Stackhouse after a 9-23 season and five years on the job. Sources told me his buyout is well north of $15 million. Vanderbilt's search had a strange cadence to it, and after a few of its top targets passed, it went all in on Mark Byington (after potentially holding out for Danny Sprinkle) after James Madison beat Wisconsin. Byington is coming off a 32-4 season at JMU and was really good in his four years there. I'm told the deal is for five years; Vandy is private and doesn't disclose financial terms. It took the school way longer to find and target the guy it wound up with, but no coach in the country other than Dan Hurley had a better win percentage this past season. | |
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| Out: Mike Hopkins | In: Danny Sprinkle In the end, it was always going to be Sprinkle. Not even losing its athletic director to Nebraska could slow Washington's pursuit of a guy with ties to the left coast who's made the past three NCAA Tournaments. Some think Washington has sleeping-giant potential. Others believe this school is fated to be just another high-major caught in an 18-school Big Ten with limited upside. Washington's fertile recruiting territory in Seattle helps, in addition to significant NIL support that will align with the school's move to the Big Ten later this year. Sprinkle has a six-year deal that averages out to $3.75 million. | |
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| Out: Josh Eilert | In: Darian DeVries Eilert won the interim job last summer, but after losing key pieces to the transfer portal, he was relieved of his duties at season's end. An interesting job in a faraway footprint of the Big 12, but with a passionate fanbase. Athletic director Wren Baker ultimately tapped the guy he put at the top of the list after the conclusion of West Virginia's season. DeVries has made three NCAA Tournaments in six seasons at Drake and won 20-plus games every year. He heads to Morgantown on a five-year deal. DeVries isn't a flashy name or punch quote, but I really like the hire. | |
Non-Big Six changes
| 1 |  |
| Out: Jared Grasso | In: Phil Martelli Jr. Martelli won the full-time job near the beginning of the season. Bryant's big win came in November at FAU. The 19-12 Bulldogs finished third in the America East. | |
| 2 |  |
| Out: John Smith | In: Mike DeGeorge Smith only managed 30 wins in five seasons. This is a bottom-tier Big West job. DeGeorge spent the past six seasons at D-II Colorado Mesa and averaged 23 wins with five appearances in the D-II NCAA tournament. | |
| 3 |  |
| Out: Reggie Witherspoon | In: Jim Christian The Golden Griffins severed from Witherspoon after eight seasons. The program hasn't danced since 1996 and, before that, 1957. Not an easy spot to lure a good candidate to. Hiring Christian was a pretty good pull. | |
| 4 |  |
| Out: Anthony Boone | In: John Shulman The Bears went 9-23 in Boone's fourth and final season and did not qualify for the ASUN Tournament. Shulman was hired from the University of Alabama-Huntsville after going 112-39 in five seasons. | |
| 5 |  |
| Out: Gerald Gillion | In: Scott Spinelli Gillion spent three seasons with the Cougars. The team's 13-win campaign last season was its best in a decade. But he took a job to join Rod Strickland's staff at LIU. Spinelli was bumped up after being an assistant at CSU last season. Chicago State is leaving its independent status and joins the NEC later this year. | |
| 6 |  |
| Out: Pat Kelsey | In: Chris Mack Mack missed out on Vanderbilt -- but this is a great second option. Charleston is viewed as a top-tier mid-major job. He was overwhelmingly the most qualified candidate interviewed. Mack's career record is 278-133, and though it ended awkwardly at Louisville, his dossier is undeniably solid. Nothing is ever guaranteed in this industry, but we might look up in three years and see Mack as one of the best gets of a LOADED 2024 cycle. Adding ace assistant Chris Harriman will only help matters here. | |
| 7 |  |
| Out: Barclay Radebaugh | In: Saah Nimley The Buccaneers stuck by Nimley -- who was promoted to full-time after a 10-19 season -- and following the retirement of Radebaugh, who spent the past 18 seasons leading the program. The Bucs haven't danced since 1997. | |
| 8 |  |
| Out: Cliff Ellis | In: Justin Gray When Bob Huggins resigned, Ellis became the winningest active coach in the game ... then he opted to retire in December. This line from Coastal Carolina's press release puts his underrated 49-year career into perspective: "With 831 career NCAA victories, Ellis ranks ninth in Division I men's basketball history in wins, trailing only Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Huggins, Jim Calhoun, Roy Williams, Bob Knight, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp." As for Gray, he comes over via Western Carolina, where he went 51-47 in three seasons at a top-two tough job in the SoCon. | |
| 9 |  |
| Out: Brian Earl | In: Jon Jaques The Big Red job opened after Earl took the William & Mary gig following eight seasons in Ithaca, New York. Cornell went through a slow process but hired the right guy. Jaques' candidacy made the most sense. No need to try and outsmart the process. He's the guy. OK, some transparency (and most importantly): Jaques previously wrote for my former independent website, College Hoops Journal, way back when. From a small-time byline to running an Ivy! Cornell is in a good spot moving forward. | |
| 10 |  |
| Out: Mike Davis | In: Mark Montgomery The Titans went 1-31, the worst win percentage in D-I. The lone win? IUPUI, which also fired its coach. Davis lasted six seasons but never won more than 14 games. Montgomery comes over via Michigan State and is yet another Tom Izzo protégé who is getting a shot to run a program. | |
| 11 |  |
| Out: Darian DeVries | In: Ben McCollum The industry fully expected DeVries to move to a bigger job after getting Drake to a third NCAA Tournament. This is historically not a good program. It needs to nail the hire to avoid a plunge in the Missouri Valley -- and McCollum comes with an outstanding track record over the past decade-plus at the Division II level. A lot of eyes will be on him next season to see if his system immediately translates, in part because he passed on multiple prior D-I offers. | |
| 12 |  |
| Out: Keith Dambrot | In: Dru Joyce III Dambrot retired after Duquesne's awesome/unexpected push into the NCAA Tournament, including an upset of 6-seed BYU in the first round, giving the school its first NCAA tourney win in 55 years. Dambrot led the Dukes to their first Atlantic 10 title since 1977 thanks to four wins in four days, culminating in a 57-51 victory over VCU in the A-10 title game. Joyce was the presumed bump up from within the program, and that's exactly what happened. | |
| 13 |  |
| Out: David Riley | In: Dan Monson Riley separated himself as a top-two candidate at Washington State after he won 62 games in three seasons in the Big Sky. How about Monson getting one more gig after the bittersweet Long Beach State ending? Monson's got a cabin in nearby Idaho, so it's really cool for him to return even closer to home after his Gonzaga connection in the 1990s. Mark Few, schedule Monson's Eagles! | |
| 14 |  |
| Out: Jay Young | In: Chris Casey Young stepped down in October under mysterious circumstances that were never clarified by the university. Chris Casey became interim coach and did a good job under duress. The Stags have the facilities to win in the MAAC. Can Casey finally be the guy to do it? | |
| 15 |  |
| Out: Robert McCullum | In: Patrick Crarey II The Rattlers decided not to renew McCullum's contract after going 67-133 in seven seasons in the SWAC. The school last made the NCAAs in 2007. Crarey was pulled up from the NAIA ranks, where he was coach at St. Thomas University. | |
| 16 |  |
| Out: Dusty May | In: John Jakus As expected, May moved on (taking Michigan). Jakus was a surprise pick in that the working theory was FAU would either hiring a sitting head coach or promote lead assistant Kyle Church. Instead, the Owls are getting a highly regarded assistant from Baylor who helped the Bears win a national title in 2021. Jakus previously cut his teeth at Gonzaga. Scott Drew has a strong coaching tree, which boosted his candidacy for the gig. | |
| 17 |  |
| Out: Justin Hutson | In: Vance Walberg This one publicly/officially came open shortly after the Bulldogs lost to Utah State in the MW tourney. Hutson's contract expired and he moves on after six seasons. It's a tough job in this league. Walberg, who specializes in/popularized the dribble-drive motion offense, was an unorthodox choice at a place that will need to stand out in order to move up in the MW. | |
| 18 |  |
| Out: Tim Craft | In: Jeremy Luther The Bulldogs lost Tim Craft, who was courted away by Western Carolina. Luther was promoted from within and has 11 years of experience with the program. | |
| 19 |  |
| Out: Buck Joyner | In: Ivan Thomas After 15 years, a change comes at Hampton, which made three NCAAs under Joyner, the most recent in 2016. The Pirates won nine games this season, their second in the CAA after moving up from the Big South. Thomas is getting the nod and coming over from Georgetown, as he was a longtime assistant under Ed Cooley. | |
| 20 |  |
| Out: Ron Cottrell | In: Craig Doty A major changing of the guard in the Southland Conference. Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) had been led by Cottrell since 1990, when the program was revived as an NAIA school. It went D-I in 2008. Cottrell spent 33 seasons with the program and won 524 games. Doty comes over via Division II Emporia State. | |
| 21 |  |
| Out: Josh Schertz | In: Matthew Graves An amazing 32-win season for the Sycamores (including that entertaining run to the NIT championship game) in Schertz's third season, but his departure to Saint Louis was an open secret for a while. The Sycs did the right thing by bumping up Graves, who is qualified for the job and gives ISU a chance at keeping its footing in the Missouri Valley ... if he doesn't lose all his best players to the portal/Saint Louis. | |
| 22 |  |
| Out: Matt Crenshaw | In: Paul Corsaro Crenshaw managed just 14 wins in three seasons, but this is a cellar job in the Horizon League that is years away from being remotely viable in that conference. From IUPUI's release: "Corsaro, an Indianapolis-native, spent the last four seasons as head coach at nearby University of Indianapolis. The past three years, UIndy has gone 68-25 with back-to-back NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) regular season titles." | |
| 23 |  |
| Out: Mark Byington | In: Preston Spradlin Byington was quickly whisked away by Vanderbilt after leading the Dukes to a 32-4 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance this season, including a win over 5-seed Wisconsin. Spradlin's a young talent who's on the rise. He made two NCAA Tournaments at Morehead State and won a pair of regular-season OVC titles. Quality hire at a high-ceiling mid-major. | |
| 24 |  |
| Out: Dan Monson | In: Chris Acker Just an all-timer. Monson gets fired, makes a mini-miracle run to the NCAAs by winning the Big West as a No. 5-seed, and then his AD tried to take credit for it all by saying the firing was a motivational tactic. Monson deserved better and we can't wait to see where he lands next. Acker was on staff at San Diego State the past five seasons and gets his first crack at running a D-I outfit. | |
| 25 |  |
| Out: Tavaras Hardy | In: Josh Loeffler After six seasons and a 66-110 record, Hardy resigned. The Greyhounds hit a nadir this season under, finishing 7-25. Loeffler spent six years as head coach at Johns Hopkins (2017-23) and was an assistant this past season at Cincinnati. | |
| 26 |  |
| Out: Dan D'Antoni | In: Cornelius Jackson Initially it seemed D'Antoni would get one more season after 10 on the job, but he's been replaced by Cornelius Jackson, who's been with the program since 2017. | |
| 27 |  |
| Out: Greg Gary | In: Ryan Ridder Gary, a former Purdue assistant, coached the Bears for five seasons but hovered around .500 each year in the SoCon, where it's yet to have a 20-win season since leaving the ASUN in 2014. Ridder was hired away from UT Martin. | |
| 28 |  |
| Out: Dana Ford | In: Cuonzo Martin This one was no surprise. Ford lasted six seasons but never broke out of the Missouri Valley to make the NCAAs. The school last made the Big Dance in 1999. Martin -- who had his first shot at running a program with Mo State in 2008 -- makes for an intriguing hire and one that has a very good chance of working again. His career arc is interesting; he's got a lot of stories to tell. | |
| 29 |  |
| Out: Preston Spradlin | In: Jonathan Mattox The Eagles got eight years with Spradlin and averaged 24 wins the past four seasons. Now that he's off to James Madison, they'll need to find another diamond in the rough to stay at the top of the OVC. Mattox spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Murray State but is a Morehead alum who was on staff with the Eagles from 2013-22. | |
| 30 |  |
| Out: Dan Engelstad | In: Donny Lind This is a hard MAAC job and Engelstad's getting a very good raise by leaving The Mount to be an assistant at Syracuse. Makes a lot of sense, frankly. Lind was pulled up from UNCG, where he was an assistant the past few years under Mike Jones. | |
| 31 |  |
| Out: Mark Slessinger | In: Stacy Hollowell This was the final job to fill in 2024. It came open when Slessinger, after a dozen years running UNO, left to become the top assistant at Indiana State. The Privateers hired a local guy with a global track record: Hollowell is coming up from NAIA but has coached everywhere from Bahrain to China to Lithuania. | |
| 32 |  |
| Out: Jeff Jones | In: Mike Jones Jones retired in late February, though he had not been coaching since December due to multiple health issues. ODU wasted little time and hired the hotly rumored replacement. Mike Jones, an assistant at Maryland, has longstanding D.C. area ties after a 19-year tenure coaching DeMatha High School. He's also an ODU alum. An easy choice. | |
| 33 |  |
| Out: Leonard Perry | In: Dave Smart Perry replaced Damon Stoudamire and won 29 games in three seasons. This is regarded as the worst job in the WCC, so getting Smart is a pretty incredible pull for Pacific. He won 656 victories at the Canadian college level, at Carleton University, in 18 years. He comes via Texas Tech this past season. | |
| 34 |  |
| Out: Lorenzo Romar | In: Ed Schilling Romar coached in obscurity for six years and went 117-156. Few campuses have better living than this one, so even despite not making an NCAA Tournament in 22 years, this job attracted a lot of attention. But the Waves made a pluck from an unexpected spot. Schilling, Grand Canyon assistant, got the call-up after GCU made the NCAAs three times (Bryce Drew as the head coach) with Schilling on staff. | |
| 35 |  |
| Out: Scott Pera | In: Rob Lanier Rice sacked Pera after seven seasons in Houston, the high point being 2022-23, when the Owls went 19-16. Lanier deserved to keep a head job after unfairly being forced out at SMU after two seasons. Rice lucked into a best-case scenario. | |
| 36 |  |
| Out: Travis Ford | In: Josh Schertz SLU sacked Ford moments after the team's season ended in the A-10 Tournament. He was there eight seasons and went to one NCAA Tournament. Many in the business believe this program has been an underachiever vs. its potential for decades. Schertz is headed to SLU on a six-year deal that will pay him north of $2 million annually, a source told CBS Sports. Could be a perfect fit for him. | |
| 37 |  |
| Out: Carm Maciariello | In: Gerry McNamara The Saints fired Maciariello, doing so following a 4-28 season that results in the the program finishing 357th out of 362 teams at KenPom. But: He was above .500 in his first four seasons. Tough business, especially considering he may well have taken the Saints to the NCAAs in 2020 had there been a tournament. Since 1994-95, the average Siena coach has lasted 3.4 seasons at that school. The 40-year-old McNamara was an assistant at his alma mater, Syracuse, the past 13 seasons. | |
| 38 |  |
| Out: Bryan Mullins | In: Scott Nagy The SIU alum was pushed out after five seasons and an 86-68 record, but no NCAA Tournament appearances. Nagy comes over from Wright State in the Horizon League, where he spent the past eight seasons. He's been a head coach dating back to 1995, when he was at South Dakota State. Career record: 577-331. The guy knows ball, folks. | |
| 39 |  |
| Out: Luke Yaklich | In: Rob Ehsan Yaklich, who had a stout rep as a defensive tactician when he was hired, is out after four seasons and a 47-70 record. The Flames made the jump from the Horizon League to the Missouri Valley in Yaklich's third year but went 8-32 in league play after transitioning. Ehsan gets a parachute after being on staff at Stanford and getting let go. He previously was a head coach at UAB from 2016-20. | |
| 40 |  |
| Out: Dave Dickerson | In: Marty Richter Dickerson left to serve as an assistant at Ohio State, where he previously worked under Thad Matta. Richter was an assistant the past six seasons under Darian DeVries at Drake. | |
| 41 |  |
| Out: Ryan Ridder | In: Jeremy Shulman Ridder was at UT Martin for the past three seasons, but fled the coop for Mercer. The Skyhawks will be on their fifth coach in 10 seasons, and it's Shulman, who is a junior college coach. Here's the nut graf from the school: "Spent the last 14 seasons as head coach at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Fla. In that span, he became the program's all-time wins leader (346 victories) and elevated the Titans to a national powerhouse." | |
| 42 |  |
| Out: Danny Sprinkle | In: Jerrod Calhoun Sprinkle was hired at Washington after leading the Aggies to an NCAA Tournament appearance this past season. The job is a terrific one, as it's been to the NCAA Tournament under five of its past six coaches. Calhoun left Youngstown State and will look to continue a proud tradition in Logan. | |
| 43 |  |
| Out: Matt Figger | In: Kahil Fennell Figger's out at UTRGV after going 29-65 in three seasons. The Vaqueros were 6-25 this season. This was a quick hook, but it comes just as the program has decided to leave the WAC for the Southland after 11 seasons. Fennell got the gig out of BYU; he won the job even before he knew Mark Pope was going to be the guy at Kentucky. | |
| 44 |  |
| Out: Steve Henson | In: Austin Claunch The Roadrunners are now on the market one year into their AAC residency. The program last made the NCAAs in 2011. Claunch, 34, comes over after being a head coach for five years at Nicholls and earning more stripes on staff at Alabama this past season. | |
| 45 |  |
| Out: Kyle Smith | In: David Riley Smith was hired as the next coach at Stanford after leading the Cougars to an NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time in 16 years. He was a great coach at the right time, and now Wazzu hopes Riley can keep the program above a 20-win threshold in its move to the WCC for the next two seasons. Washington State was a brutally tough power-conference job, but in the WCC, it's a top-six job. He got a six-year deal that starts at nearly $600,000. | |
| 46 |  |
| Out: Justin Gray | In: Tim Craft Job openings create myriad domino effects every year, which is exactly what happened here. Gray left for Coastal Carolina, leading to a change at Western Carolina. Tim Craft comes over after 11 seasons running Gardner-Webb. | |
| 47 |  |
| Out: Steve Lutz | In: Hank Plona It took longer than anticipated, but Lutz is off to Oklahoma State after just one season with WKU, which included making the 2024 NCAAs. Athletic director Todd Stewart wasted little time, opting to bump up Plona, who previously won 87% of his games in eight seasons at the JUCO level (Indian Hills Community College). | |
| 48 |  |
| Out: Dane Fischer | In: Brian Earl Fischer went 55-90 overall as William & Mary's coach. He's replaced by Earl, who went 96-103 in eight seasons at Cornell. | |
| 49 |  |
| Out: Scott Nagy | In: Clint Sergent The Raiders lost Nagy to Southern Illinois, which is a shame, because he was about as sharp of a coach as they could have asked for. Sergeant was promoted in-house, and he's been there almost a decade. | |
| 50 |  |
| Out: Jerrod Calhoun | In: Ethan Faulkner The Penguins had a good one in Calhoun, who opted to take the Utah State job after Tod Kowalcyzk passed and remained at Toledo. Faulkner is one of many assistants who was afforded a shot after their boss left for a bigger job. | |
