Hiring the right coach during the annual spring college basketball coaching carousel can change a program’s fortunes quickly. Last spring, Louisville moved on from Kenny Payne and plucked Pat Kelsey away from Charleston. In just one year, the Cardinals have gone from the ACC cellar to competing with Duke and Clemson for a conference title. Kelsey’s not the only example of a great hire from the last cycle. Dusty May at Michigan and Mark Byington at Vanderbilt are notable coaches who quickly won and turned programs around in year one. The right coach can make all the difference.
Before the 2024-25 regular season ended multiple coaching positions opened across college basketball. Florida State, Indiana, Miami, Utah, and Virginia were open before the season ended. NC State opened on Sunday.
Utah hired Dallas Mavericks assistant and alum Alex Jensen, who played for former Utes coach Rick Majerus. FSU also took the alum path by hiring Sacramento Kings assistant Luke Loukus — who played for outgoing coach Leonard Hamilton.
Miami tabbed Duke assistant and ace recruiter Jai Lucas, who left the Blue Devils after the 82-69 win over North Carolina on Saturday and has already set up shop in Coral Gables.
Virginia, Indiana, and now NC State are the remaining open jobs, but they are already deep into their searches. More jobs are expected to open in the coming week once conference tournaments conclude.
With the NCAA Tournament on the horizon and the transfer portal opening in less than two weeks, let’s take a look at 13 candidates we expect to emerge during this year’s coaching carousel.
Age: 49
Experience: Princeton | 2011-2025
Overall record: 251–131 (.657)
2024-25 record: 19-10
The case for Henderson: Now in his 13th season with his alma mater, Mitch Henderson has been consistently outstanding throughout the years. He’s won the Ivy League regular season title four times and the conference tournament and earned the league’s Coach of the Year honors in 2017 and 2024. In 2023, he helped to guide the Tigers to the Sweet 16.
Naturally, there will be some questions about whether or not he will be able to recruit at the high-major level. That’s a question for almost any coach moving up. However, Henderson can really identify talent and knows what types of players work in his system. To date, he’s only finished outside of the top three in the Ivy League one time. Henderson’s current star, guard Xaivian Lee, is a potential NBA-level player and has another year of eligibility.
Age: 44
Experience: North Texas 2023-25
Overall record: 42-22 (.666)
2024-25 record: 23-7
The case for Hodge: When Grant McCasland left for Texas Tech, North Texas opted to stay in-house and elevated top assistant Ross Hodge. After leading the Mean Green into the second round of the NIT in year one, Hodge is exceeding expectations in year two.
Picked to finish seventh in the American Athletic Conference this season, Hodge has his squad in second place behind Memphis and in the midst of a six-game winning streak. No, they don’t play particularly fast on the offensive end, but North Texas really defends. After finishing No. 52 overall in defensive efficiency according in year one according to KenPom, the Mean Green rank No. 35 this season.
After successful stints as a junior college coach, Hodge has steadily worked his way up through the ranks. He’s not the flashiest guy and isn’t a self-promoter, but anybody can see that the guy can flat out coach. Given his predecessor’s success, Hodge would be a smart option for the right program.
Getty: John Byrum/Icon Sportswire
Age: 46
Experience: High Point 2023-25
Overall record: 56–14 (.800)
2024-25 record: 29-5
The case for Huss: Now in his second year at High Point, Huss is quickly building a reputation as one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the country. All he’s done is win during his two years on the job.
He has High Point in the NCAA Tournament in his second season after winning the Big South Tournament over the weekend.
In Year 1, Huss led the Panthers to a Big South regular season title and a runner-up finish in the CBI. This year, he’s won another regular season title and run his overall conference record to 27-5. Huss was Big South Coach of the Year in 2024 and 2025. His teams run an efficient offense — No. 36 overall per KenPom in 2024 and No. 26 this season — and there’s no reason to think that trend won’t continue at a major job.
Prior to High Point, Huss was among the most highly thought of assistants in the country. He showed recruiting prowess during stops at New Mexico and Creighton. Huss understands the transfer portal at a high level and has strong international contacts. Prior to entering college coaching, Huss played a huge role in building La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere into a national power in the high school ranks.
Age: 45
Experience: Norfolk State 2013-2025
Overall record: 233–158 (.596)
2024-25 record: 21-10 (.595)
The case for Jones: Now in his 12th season at Norfolk State, Jones has been a model of consistency. The Spartans are about to finish in the top two of the MEAC for the 11th time under Jones’ guidance and the one season that they didn’t (2023), they finished third. He helped guide the program to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2021 and 2022, won the CIT in 2024 and has amassed a beefy 74.9% career winning percentage in conference play.
For his efforts, Jones has been named the MEAC Coach of the Year three times. Even with all of his experience, he is still relatively young (45), and has proven about all that he can prove at his current level. It is somewhat surprising that bigger programs haven’t come knocking on his door, but this should be the year his name picks up some steam.
Ben McCollum, Drake
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Age: 43
Experience: Northwest Missouri State (Division II) 2009-2024 | Drake 2024-25
Overall record: 395-91 (.831)
2024-25 record: 30-3 (.909)
The case for McCollum: Labeled by some as “your favorite coach’s favorite coach,” Ben McCollum has made a big splash during his first Division I season. McCollum led Drake to Missouri Valley regular season and conference tournament titles and lived up to his advance billing as a master tactician.
For those who don’t know, McCollum arrived in Des Moines as a legend on the Division II level. During his 15 seasons at the helm of Northwest Missouri State, McCollum won 11-straight conference titles in the MIAA, was a five-time NABC Coach of the Year and won four National Championships, while winning over 81% of his games.
What has made his 27-3 debut season at Drake even more impressive is that the core of the team, including stud point guard Bennett Stirtz, came with him from Northwest Missouri. His phone is going to be ringing early and often during this upcoming coaching carousel.
Bucky McMillan, Samford
Age: 41
Experience: Samford 2020-25
Overall record: 99-52 (.655)
2024-25 record: 22-11
The case for McMillan: Prior to his leap to the college level, Bucky McMillan won five State Championships as a high school coach at Mountain Brook in Alabama. He’s not looked back since taking the reins at Samford.
A three-time Coach of the Year in the SoCon, McMillan has the Bulldogs in third place this season after winning back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. During Samford’s appearance in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, he pushed Bill Self and Kansas to the brink of elimination in the first round.
McMillan wants to play fast. In three of his five seasons at Samford, his teams have been among the top 30 in offensive tempo. His seamless transition from high school to college and his embracing of modern basketball make him an attractive candidate.
Age: 51
Experience: Furman 2013-2017 | Drake 2017-18 | Colorado State 2018-25
Overall record: 153-91 (.627)
2024-25 record: 22-9
The case for Medved: Medved has steadily moved up the coaching ranks from Furman to Drake and now Colorado State. After being picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West this season, Medved and the Rams have ridden their current five-game winning streak to second place in the league.
The Rams have appeared in two of the last three NCAA Tournaments and made the NIT semifinals in 2021. Medved also runs a very good offense — his teams have been among the Top-60 for adjusted offensive efficiency for four years running.
While Medved isn’t blessed with the best resources in the Mountain West, he has proven that he can assemble a staff that really knows how to evaluate talent. They’ve been able to develop relatively unheralded players like David Roddy, Isaiah Stevens and most likely current star Nique Clifford into high-level performers.
Ryan Odom, VCU
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Age: 50
Experience: Lenoir Rhyne 2015-2016 | UMBC 2016-2021 | Utah State 2021-2023 | VCU 2023-2025
Overall record: 219-126 (.635)
2024-25 record: 25-6
The case for Odom: Odom is on the cusp of leading a third program to the NCAA Tournament. He first appeared on the national radar when he led UMBC to the first-ever win by a No. 16 seed over a No. 1 seed when the Retrievers knocked off Tony Bennett and Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. From there, Odom led Utah State to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and now, in his second year at VCU, the Rams are leading the A-10 and look like a team that could do some damage later on in March.
At VCU, Odom has done excellent work in the transfer portal. He’s built a balanced offense and suffocating defense. After finishing in the top 40 for defensive efficiency last season, VCU is currently ranked No. 20 on KenPom. That comes after Odom fielded top-70 defenses each of his two seasons at Utah State.
Given his track record, the 50-year-old Odom should be on speed dial during this upcoming hiring cycle. He is expected to be one of the hottest names for a major conference job.
Age: 44
Experience: UC San Diego 2013-2025
Overall record: 238–118 (.668)
2024-25 record: 28-4
The case for Olen: If you don’t know about Olen yet, you are probably going to lear a lot over the next few weeks. He will be a popular name for jobs out west, based on what he’s been able to do consistently at UC San Diego over the last 12 seasons.
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At 44 years old, Olen is now in his 12th season at the helm of the Tritons program. Prior to guiding their transition to Division I in the 2020-21 season, Olen led UCSD to three regular season conference titles and four league tournament championships in the CCAA, along with four straight D-II tournament appearances. After taking some lumps early, he’s got things rocking in La Jolla. They were second in the Big West last season and first this year. UC San Diego has cracked the top 35 of both KenPom and the NCAA’s NET rankings. More than likely, he will repeat as the Big West Coach of the Year.
Olen’s teams embrace shooting the ball from deep and high major programs are likely to embrace the thought of him as a coaching candidate for open jobs.
Richard Pitino, New Mexico
Age: 42
Experience: FIU 2012-2013 | Minnesota 2013-2021 | New Mexico 2021-2025
Overall record: 244-184 (.570)
2024-25 record: 25-6
The case for Pitino: At only 42 years old, Richard Pitino is now in his 13th season. Although things ended poorly during his first stint as a high major coach at Minnesota, Pitino did guide the Gophers to two of their three NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 15 years and won Coach of the Year in the Big Ten in 2017.
Now in year four at New Mexico, the son of Hall of Famer Rick Pitino has hit his stride. The Lobos made the NCAA Tournament last season and currently look like a safe bet to do so again this year as they sit atop of the competitive Mountain West. His teams play fast and fearless on the offensive end and have ranked No. 22, No. 17, No. 9, and now No. 4 in adjusted tempo. Because of his ability to find tough and versatile athletes, New Mexico has also become a dangerous defensive squad under Pitino ranking No. 27 this year and No. 23 last season.
It’s pretty clear that Pitino is ready for another shot at the high major level.
Takayo Siddle, UNC Wilmington
Age: 38
Experience: UNC Wilmington 2020-2025
Overall Record: 105–46 (.695)
2024-25 record: 26-7
The case for Siddle: Programs in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic wishing to make a splash with a young, on-the-rise coach would be well served to take a long look at UNC Wilmington’s Takayo Siddle.
Fresh off earning his first bid to the NCAA Tournament, he’s done some really impressive work during his five years in the CAA. He’s got a conference title and Coach of the Year award under his belt, and he has finished in at least the top three of his league each of the last four years. Siddle does a nice job of finding under-the-radar athletes that will show up and compete.
Siddle is a grinder who has worked his way up the ladder from humble beginnings as a prep school assistant. It would be really interesting to see what he could do with some legitimate resources.
Age: 33
Experience: Loyola Chicago 2021-2025
Overall record: 79-49 (.617)
2024-25 record: 21-10
The case for Valentine: Prior to taking over at Loyola Chicago when Porter Moser left for Oklahoma, Drew Valentine was an assistant on a staff that made Final Four (2018) and Sweet Sixteen (2021) runs.
In his first year as coach of the Ramblers, Valentine had them back in the NCAA Tournament. Year two was rough as they made the move from the Missouri Valley to the Atlantic 10. But in year three, Valentine’s squad tied for a regular season title, and this season they are going to eclipse 20 wins and play postseason basketball again.
Still only 33 years old, Valentine is young, brings a ton of energy and has shown to have a keen eye for talent along with an understanding of how to let that talent thrive. While he may still have a bit more to prove at the mid-major level, Valentine is well thought of in administrative circles and could start fielding calls for bigger jobs this offseason.
Will Wade, McNeese State
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Age: 42
Experience: Chattanooga 2013-15 | VCU 2015-17 | LSU 2017-2022 | McNeese State 2023-25
Overall record: 241-104 (.699)
2024-25 record: 25-6
The case for Wade: After temporarily running afoul of the NCAA during his stop at LSU, Wade got a second chance at McNeese State and to say he’s making the most of it would be an understatement.
Wade just won his second straight Southland Conference title and has gone 34-2 in conference and 47-8 overall during his two years in Lake Charles. Based on his track record, he should be among the most heavily sought-after coaches during this cycle.
The NCAA issues are in the past and there won’t be many candidates with Wade’s track record of success. His teams have finished in the top two of their conference in eight of his 11 years, dating back to his time at Chattanooga. He’s now guided three different programs to the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven years.
Wade is an ace recruiter who has built up a strong amount of loyalty at the grassroots level. As long as he has even remotely competitive NIL resources, he’ll quickly turn whichever program gives him his next chance into a recruiting machine. There’s no need to overthink this one for any program looking to change their luck.
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