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.
Smith only managed 30 wins in five seasons. This is a bottom-tier Big West job.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Big Red job has come open after Earl took the William & Mary job following eight seasons in Ithaca, New York. There’s an obvious move here: promote alum/associate head coach Jon Jaques from within.
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.
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.
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. We await to see if associate head coach Dru Joyce III is promoted to the full-time gig.
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. He was officially promoted in early March. FU is 24-12 and playing in the CBI.
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.
As expected, May moved on. One serious candidate for this job is Kyle Church, who was May’s top assistant at FAU and would make ideal sense to promote in-house in order to prevent an outright purging of the roster. But I expect Brian White to take a tour around the mid-major level and get a few sitting head coaches to interview before making a decision. I doubt anything is done before Tuesday or Wednesday.
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 comparatively to the rest of the league right now.
The Bulldogs are on the clock after Tim Craft was courted away by Western Carolina.
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.
A major changing of the guard in the Southland Conference. Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) has 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.Â
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.”
Byington was hired on Monday as next coach at Vanderbilt after leading the Dukes to a 32-4 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance this season. Extremely good mid-major job that will have a fierce competition to succeed Byington.
Just an all-timer. Monson gets fired, makes a mini miracle run to the NCAAs by winning the Big West as a 5-seed, and then his AD tries to take credit for it all by saying the firing was a motivational tactic. Dan Monson, you deserve better and we can’t wait to see where you land next.Â
After six seasons and a 66-110 record, Hardy resigned on Friday. The Greyhounds hit a nadir this season under Hardy, finishing 7-25.
Initially it seemed D’Antoni would get one more season after 10 on the job, but he’s been replaced by Cornelius Jackson, according to a report from The Field of 68.
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.
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 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.
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.
This was was expected for months. Perry replaced Damon Stoudamire and won 29 games in three seasons. This is regarded as the worst job in the WCC. The Tigers will hope to land a young, aggressive assistant from the high-major ranks.
Another West Coast Conference job is open. 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 will attract some talent. Eastern Washington coach David Riley is circulating heavily around this job; sometimes that can be a smokescreen for another candidate.
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.
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. With no hire yet, it’s only fair to assume SLU is waiting on a coach whose season is still ongoing.
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 1997-87, the average Siena coach has lasted 3.9 seasons at that school.
Dickerson left to serve as an assistant at Ohio State. Andrew Garcia will serve as interim coach.
Noise increased in the past month that Mullins could be coaching for his job in March. After falling to UIC in the first round of the Missouri Valley Tournament, that proved true. The SIU alum is out after five seasons and an 86-68 record, but no NCAA Tournament appearances. Who’s getting this one? Some interesting names have been floated. It’s a solid MVC gig.
Ridder was at UT Martin for the past three seasons, but per multiple reports, he’s left for the vacant Mercer job. The Skyhawks will be on their fifth coach in 10 seasons.
Sprinkle was hired on Monday as next coach 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.
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.
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.Â
Figger is 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.
Smith was hired on Monday as 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 is in a spot where it’s got to get the hire right in its move to the WCC. They will look hard at promoting in-house with Jim Shaw.Â
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.
Fischer went 55-90 overall as William & Mary’s coach. He’s replaced by Earl, who went 96-103 in eight seasons at Cornell.