Hughley spent the past three seasons with the Bulldogs, who in hiring Jackson away from Grambling State, have made their sixth coach since moving to Division I in 1998.
After five seasons in the SWAC, Bussie was offered the Chicago State job and left to head north. The Braves last won the SWAC in 2002.
After going 45-28 in two seasons, Hodgson became a buzzy name and was expected to take a bigger job. He’s off to South Florida and the AAC. Pannone is the second straight former Alabama assistant to get this job. And for Arkansas State, it’s a nice development in this sense: Pannone is a grinder’s grinder of a coach. He will completely embrace moving to Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Scott Davenport was an institution at Bellarmine, guiding the program from D-II to D-I in recent years. He won a national title in 2011 and went to four D-II Final Fours in total, in addition to 426 games across 20 seasons. In total, he spent more than four decades coaching basketball in Louisville. A fixture in that city. With his retirement, Bellarmine has allowed Scott to hand the job to his son, Doug, who has been on staff for nine years.
Bryant is on its third coach in three years’ time, as Martelli is off to VCU. The program just made the NCAAs and is solidly positioned in the America East. Christian previously coached six seasons at Mount St. Mary’s, one year at Siena and three at George Washington. He’s made the NCAA Tournament twice.
McGeehan lasted 12 seasons with the Fighting Camels but was fired following a 15-17 campaign. He went 184-199 and couldn’t bring Campbell to the NCAAs during his dozen years. The school moved from the Big South to the CAA two years ago and will seek a reboot under Andrzejek, who arrives under rare and exceptional circumstances. Andrzejek just helped Florida win a national title. This is a huge PR boost for the Fighting Camels.
Chippewas AD Amy Folan fired Barbee on April 3. He was there for four seasons and went 49-75. The program last made the NCAAs in 2003 and it’s looking up at a lot of teams in the single-bid MAC right now.
A one-year experiment gone awry under Spinelli. Chicago State went 4-28 and finished 362 at KenPom in its first season in the NEC. Truly one of the five toughest jobs in all of Division I. Bussie was previously the coach at Alcorn State for five seasons.
The Vikings got three years and 65 wins under Robinson, who is off to North Texas. Cleveland State has appeal at the mid-major level, thanks to Dennis Gates stabilizing the program prior to Robinson doing a really nice job with it. Summers was part of that: he was an assistant under Gates from 2019-22, and was hired back after spending the past couple of seasons at Missouri.
Medved had a great situation in Fort Collins, but home is home and Minnesota was one he couldn’t turn down. CSU went through a brief search to replace him, but made the smart choice to promote from within. Farokhmanesh is a name forever attached to the NCAA Tournament for the shot he hit against Kansas in 2009, but he’s paid his dues as a GA and assistant coach for more than a decade at this point. He was critical in helping Medved build tournament teams at CSU. Good work here.
Engles was with the Lions for nine years but never wound up with a season above .500. This is a tough gig, but it is in a great part of New York City. Florida assistant Kevin Hovde was the favorite from the start and officially accepted the job during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Then … he helped Florida win the whole damn thing. What a coup for Columbia. Hovde was previously an assistant there under Kyle Smith during the 2010s.
Four years and out for Wulburn, who was put on leave mid-season for actions not disclosed publicly. Denver is in the Summit League and has never made the NCAAs dating back to its Division I start in the late 1990s. Assistant Shammond Williams was a name with some traction in recent days.
Drake’s done well for itself. Consider: McCollum, Darian DeVries and Niko Medved are its three former coaches. They were all hired to Big Ten jobs in this year’s cycle. If Drake had to lose McCollum to anyone, Iowa is the softest blow. The perception of this job has altered drastically in the past decade. Henderson is a worthy next man up in Des Moines after the job he did at South Dakota State.
This opening had been rumored about going back to January. Fordham made it official on the first weekend of the NCAAs. Urgo went from 25-8 in Year 1 to 13-20 and then 12-21 this year, including a last-place finish in the A-10. Magpayo is coming from UC Riverside, but he spent time in the NYC area as an assistant under Kyle Smith more than a decade ago. Could wind up being a really good hire. He’s an extremely smart coach.
Jackson was here since 2017 but left for Alabama A&M. The Tigers made the 2024 NCAA Tournament under his watch and stabilized in the SWAC after some really dark times earlier this century.
Huss is leaving after two seasons and a stellar 56-15 record to be the coach-in-waiting at his alma mater, Creighton. This is the top job in that conference. Athletic director Dan Hauser will have a big decision to make: promote from within or try to recruit a sitting mid-major coach or power-conference assistant?
Iona administration is getting dragged for how poorly it treated Anderson, who was fired after just two seasons, including a run to the MAAC title game. This is the coach who led FDU to the 16-over-1 upset of Purdue in 2023. Anderson went 33-34 with the Gaels. Expectations in the post-Rick Pitino phase in New Rochelle got really high, really fast, but still: pretty harsh stuff. New Orleans Pelicans assistant Dan Geriot, who played at Richmond, is yet another NBA-to-college hire, which has become the trend in this year’s cycle.
The 76-year-old Philly legend retired after nearly 50 years in college basketball coaching. Dunphy won more than 600 games and is among the most well-liked and accomplished coaches in the storied history of Philadelphia basketball. La Salle’s program is among the more cash-strapped at the multi-bid-league level. Nichols got the nod after a few low-major coaches from the northeast were heavily looked into. La Salle has made one NCAA tourney in the past 33 years.
The Bisons are on scurrying after Acuff was hired by Samford, which opened because Bucky McMillan got a chance at Texas A&M. Lipscomb won the ASUN this season and was a 14-seed.
The Lancers promoted Thomas after Aldrich left after seven seasons (and two NCAA tourney appearances) to be the top assistant under Ryan Odom at Virginia.
After a 15-year run that included two Sun Belt auto bids (2014, 2023), Marlin was fired in December. After some wait-and-see and a few tussles with contract negotiations, Louisiana got White to the finish line. He’s 44 and been ready to run a program for a few years now after spending the past eight with Kelvin Sampson. A huge get for the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Richard began his time as coach of the Warhawks in the Sun Belt in 2010, but he was never been able to break through and make the NCAAs. Program last made the Big Dance in 1996. Cunningham was hired from within; he previously was a head coach at Troy from 2013-19.
With Wade off to NC State, Baylor assistant Bill Armstrong was next in line to coach these Cowboys. The program will look to keep the momentum it built over the past two years and stay atop the Southland.
Prohm’s second go-round with the Racers wasn’t fruitful. He resigned following Murray State’s loss to Bradley, leaving with a 45-52 record in three years. Word in the Missouri Valley is Murray State is ready to invest more money into its program than any other school in that league for the 2025-26 season. Miller, a Creighton who has been in the running in recent years at a number of jobs, beat out a litany of power-conference assistants.
DeChellis announced his retirement on March 19, stepping away from Navy after 14 seasons and 196 wins. DeChellis was also a head coach previously at East Tennessee State and Penn State, totaling for 29 seasons and 415 wins, making him one of just seven coaches active this past season with at least 100 wins at three schools. Perry was promoted from within. He’s spent the past 12 years with the school.
Pitino leaving was inevitable. He had too much interest from too many jobs, and importantly, New Mexico will soon be in a Mountain West that includes the likes of Hawaii, UC Davis and UTEP. The program has good tradition, a great home environment and supportive community. But its league affiliation is set for a downgrade. This is still a quality job, but it will be interesting to see if it can remain on the same tier. Olen is a really nice get after what he did at UC San Diego in the program’s switch to D-I.
The Mean Green lost Hodge to West Virginia, and prior to that, Grant McCasland. Now Robinson will try to keep UNT as a top-four program in the American Athletic Conference. The logo will change for him, but his primary wardrobe color scheme won’t.
A semi-surprise, as Springmann only made it two seasons before getting sacked. The Golden Eagles went 7-23 this year and sunk to the bottom of the Summit League. Barnett most recently was on Darian DeVries’ staff at West Virginia, but served under Steve Alford at Nevada and UCLA prior to that.
It was a decade for Donahue in Philly, with the Quakers making the NCAAs in 2018. This year was the worst yet, with Penn going 8-19 and finishing 292 at KenPom. Fran McCaffery is an alum, and at 65, is the guy in Philly. That’s an interesting late-career stop for the former Iowa coach.
The Highlanders had four years with Nichols (off to La Salle), which totaled a 68-63 record at the Big South program. The school has made three NCAA Tournaments since 1998. Chu is a head-turning hire; he wasn’t even considered to be in the initial list of finalists for the job. The 34-year-old SMU assistant previously spent time in the analytics departments of the Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks.
David Patrick resigned last May (and eventually joined Matt McMahon’s staff at LSU), which led to Czepil being the interim. The Hornets finished the regular season 7-24. Bibby, the longtime Sacramento Kings guard, has accepted the job. Completely out of left field.
Pretty good work here by AD Martin Newton, who lost a good young coach but replaced him with a guy who just took Lipscomb to the NCAA Tournament. Samford is getting Acuff after three straight seasons of 20-plus wins, too.
Henderson spent the past six seasons with the Jackrabbits and took SDSU to the NCAAs in 2024 and 2022. With him going to Drake, the program promoted his long-time assistant, Petersen, to run the show in Brookings.
Keller coached SFA for nearly nine seasons and won 18 or more games in six of those years. He was fired in January. He also was responsible for one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history, when his Lumberjacks team upset No. 1 Duke in November of 2019 . Braueuer comes via Texas Tech, but his ties within Texas date back to being on Grant McCasland’s staff at North Texas as well.
After five seasons and 89 wins in the Big West, Magpayo is moving cross-country to take a job in the A-10 at Fordham. UC Riverside is one of the least-funded schools in the West. Tough gig at a place that’s been D-I since 2000 but never made the NCAAs.
With Olen going to New Mexico following a 30-5 season and Big West title, Allard was the pick to promote from within. He’s an alum to boot. UCSD was something of a revelation this season and it’ll be interesting to see if the Tritons can continue to be a mid-major force, post-Olen.
The Runnin’ Rebels went 18-15 this season, falling in the Mountain West quarterfinals to Utah State. Vegas never made an NCAA Tournament under Kruger’s watch, and beyond that, never had a season where it finished better than 73rd at KenPom. The school is not in a good financial situation, and sources said a few candidates involved walked away not that enthused, given the challenges ahead. Pastner was pushing for this job for a few weeks, and his experience running Memphis and Georgia Tech gave him an edge.
A sad inclusion to the tracker, as Abdur-Rahim tragically died in the preseason at 43 , leading to Ben Fletcher serving as the interim head coach over the past four-plus months. Abdur-Rahim was a rising star. The American Athletic Conference named Abdur-Rahim its Honorary Coach of the Year for 2024-25. Hodgson comes over on a six-year deal after two years with Arkansas State. If he continues on his trajectory, USF will be in the top three of the American in no more than two years.
VCU is one of the best mid-major jobs in the country, and because it’s that, it’s prone to coaching turnover at a rate that’s more volatile that most other schools. But this is a really good job with one of the strongest home-court environment and fan bases you’ll find in college hoops. With Odom gone, VCU AD Ed McLaughlin picked his 1b option after his 1a (Richard Pitino) went to Xavier. Martelli Jr. went 43-25 the past two seasons with Bryant in the America East.
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