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
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.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: Pat Kelsey
Considered among the top five-or-so mid-major jobs in the country because of its location, there will be ridiculous competition for this gig. Sitting head coaches will be targeted, as they should, but if there is one assistant who might be the pick, UConn’s Luke Murray will be in the mix. Knows the area and has been waiting for the right job. If Charleston chooses to pick a high-major assistant instead of a sitting head coach, he’s going to be as strong a candidate as any.6
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 1997.7
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.8
Out : Brian Earl
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.9
Out: Mike Davis
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.10
Out: Darian DeVries
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.11
Out: Keith Dambrot
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.12
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. He was officially promoted in early March. FU is 24-12 and playing in the CBI.13
Out : Robert McCullum
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 2007.14
Out : Dusty May | In : John Jakus
As expected, May moved on and went to 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. 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.15
Out: Justin Hutson
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.16
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.17
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.18
Out: Ron Cottrell | In : Craig Doty
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.19
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.”20
Out: Mark Byington | In: Preston Spradlin
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. Spradlin made two NCAA Tournaments at Morehead State and won a pair of regular-season OVC titles. Quality hire at a high-ceiling mid-major.21
Out : Dan Monson
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.22
Out: Tavaras Hardy
After six seasons and a 66-110 record, Hardy resigned. The Greyhounds hit a nadir this season under, finishing 7-25.23
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 2017.24
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.25
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 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.26
Out: Preston Spradlin
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.27
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.28
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.29
Out: Lorenzo Romar
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.30
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.31
Out : Travis Ford
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. Josh Schertz is the presumptive guy here.32
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 1997-87, the average Siena coach has lasted 3.9 seasons at that school. The 40-year-old McNamara was an assistant at his alma mater, Syracuse, the past 13 seasons.33
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.34
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 2016-20.35
Out: Dave Dickerson
Dickerson left to serve as an assistant at Ohio State. Andrew Garcia will serve as interim coach.36
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 — piling up 11 conference championships in the last 12 seasons with a pair of Final Four and three Elite Eight appearances in the NJCAA Division I Tournament.”37
Out: Danny Sprinkle
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.38
Out: Matt Figger
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.39
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.40
Out: Kyle Smith
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 is in a spot where it’s got to get the hire right in its move to the WCC. They’ve looked hard at promoting in-house with Jim Shaw, in addition to courting Eastern Washington’s David Riley and Montana State’s Matt Logie. The job will get a big downgrade in the industry with the move to the WCC, and Smith’s coaching tree is one to be considered.41
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.42
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.43
Out: Kyle Smith
Smim Shaw.
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