Breaking Down All 54 College Basketball Coaching Changes

Have you forgotten what happened on the Coaching Carousel last March and April? Well, we’ll give you the rundown of all 54 coaching changes this past offseason, complete with predictions this season for the top eight jobs that turned over.

The guy who took over the best program is Chris Mack at Louisville; he’ll likely be one of the few coaches in new spots with a legitimate chance to get to the NCAA Tournament in his first year on the job.

LOUISVILLE
The New: Chris Mack
The Old: David Padgett (Interim: 22-14)

The Older: Rick Pitino (293-140, 16 seasons, 13 NCAA tournament appearances, one national title)
Pitino was fired just prior to last season and Padgett was unable to get the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament. Mack was the easy choice by new Athletic Director Vince Tyra, as he has taken Xavier to eight NCAA tournaments in his nine seasons at the helm. He has strong recruiting ties in the midwest, his wife hails from Louisville and he takes over a program that has gone through no shortage of issues the last few years. Mack has enough talent to get back to the NCAAs, but probably not much more than that.
Prediction: NCAA tournament

UCONN
The New: Dan Hurley
The Old: Kevin Ollie (127-79, six seasons, 2 NCAA tournament appearances, one national title)

Ollie won a national title in his second season, but the Huskies program has been nationally irrelevant since. Ollie went to just one NCAA tourney in the past four years and couldn’t even crack the top four in a ho-hum American Athletic Conference. Hurley has a rebuilding task on his hands, but he’s a tireless worker who has done the rebuilding thing before at Wagner, URI and even in the prep school ranks at St. Benedict’s. It’ll take some time, but look for Hurley to make UConn relevant again.
Prediction: NIT

MEMPHIS
The New: Penny Hardaway
The Old: Tubby Smith (40-26, two seasons)

The Tubby hiring just didn’t work in Memphis. It’s not that he forgot how to coach, but he just wasn’t the right fit in Memphis. I’m generally skeptical of most ex-NBA guys with millions and millions in their bank account, but not with Hardaway. He starred at Memphis in the early 1990s and also has been a high school and AAU coach in the area the last few years. He has strong relationships with plenty of the top local kids, and that should translate into a major upgrade in talent. But the issue is that Smith didn’t leave him with enough in the cupboard to win right away.
Prediction: No Postseason

GEORGIA
The New: Tom Crean
The Old: Mark Fox (163-133, nine seasons, 2 NCAA tournament appearances)

Fox went to a pair of NCAA tournaments and three NITs, but there wasn’t an NCAA in the past three seasons, so he was let go and replaced by a guy with a near-identical record (166-135) at Indiana in the last nine years. Crean couldn’t get it done in Bloomington — which is considered a far better job than Georgia — so we’ll see what he can do in Athens.
Prediction: NIT

OLE MISS
The New: Kermit Davis
The Old: Andy Kennedy (245-156, 12 seasons, 2 NCAA tournament appearances)

The AK era ended after a dozen seasons, and he was replaced by Davis, who did a tremendous job the last few years at Middle Tennessee State. Despite the new arena built a few years ago, this is still a difficult job, one of the toughest in the SEC. I’m just not sold Davis is going to be able to do much better than Kennedy, who went to two NCAAs and six NITs in his tenure.
Prediction: NIT

PITTSBURGH
The New: Jeff Capel
The Old: Kevin Stallings (24-41, two seasons)

They hardly knew Stallings in Pittsburgh as he was jettisoned after two seasons and just four ACC league wins. The Panthers lost a few key players via transfer, but Capel — who came from his assistant spot at Duke — was able to retain some guys and add a few players late after getting the job. Capel is familiar with the league, has always been regarded as a quality recruiter and has head coaching experience at both Oklahoma and VCU. But this is a major rebuild, and will take time to get this program back close to where it was when Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon took it to the NCAA 10 straight years (2002-11).
Prediction: No Postseason

XAVIER
The New: Travis Steele
The Old: Chris Mack (215-97, nine seasons, 8 NCAA tournament appearances)

Steele was elevated by Athletic Director Greg Christopher after being Mack’s right-hand man throughout his tenure. Steele is just 36 years old and is a proven recruiter who has helped bring in most of the talent in program over the past decade. The difficult aspect is that Steele takes over with brutal expectations due to Xavier’s recent success: an Elite Eight appearance two years ago and a 29-6 campaign last season in which the Musketeers edged out Villanova to finish atop the Big East. Xavier lost three starters, and Steele added three grad transfers that all may have to play significant roles.
Prediction: NCAA tournament

RHODE ISLAND
The New: David Cox
The Old: Dan Hurley (113-82, six seasons, 2 NCAA tournament appearances)

Hurley left for UConn, and Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn ultimately tabbed Cox to slide over a seat and replace Hurley. Cox has been instrumental in the program’s turnaround, and now the William & Mary grad gets his shot. Cox came up through the D.C. Assault AAU program, worked as a high school coach and then as an D-1 assistant at Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Rutgers and URI. The Rams lost a ton, but still return enough talent and bring in quality recruits. Plus, the A-10 is wide open this season.
Prediction: NIT

THE OTHERS (Listed Alphabetically)

ALABAMA A&M
The New: Dylan Howard (Interim)
The Old: Donnie Marsh (3-28, one season)

It was a cup of coffee before Marsh bolted. The former Mike Davis assistant at Texas Southern, Marsh left to become an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast. Howard, a former D-3 head coach, gets a chance to earn the permanent gig with a program that has endured four straight losing seasons.

ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK
The New: Darrell Walker
The Old: Wes Flanigan (22-42, two seasons)

Flanigan took over for Chris Beard after the Trojans went to the NCAA Tournament and won just 22 games in two seasons before being fired. Two seasons probably wasn’t enough to truly evaluate Flanigan, but AD Chase Conque had a quick hook and replaced Flanigan with former NBA guard and Arkansas star Darrell Walker, who comes in following a two-year stint as the head coach at Division II Clark Atlanta.

BRYANT
The New: Jared Grasso
The Old: Tim O’Shea (87-161, 10 seasons)

O’Shea called it a career after 10 years at Bryant. He had a decent run in the middle of his tenure, but went just 3-28 last season. Grasso was brought on board after spending the past eight years as an assistant at Iona, where the Gaels were 182-92 in that span and went to five NCAA Tournaments.


CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
The New: Mark Gottfried
The Old: Reggie Theus (53-105, five seasons)

I’m not quite sure where to start. They got rid of Theus and hired Gottfried, who proceeded to bring Jim Harrick back into college basketball as an assistant coach. Oh yeah, Gottfried was also hired despite allegations that one of his former players at N.C. State was paid $40,000 by an adidas executive, and that an NC State helped arranged the payment.


CHARLOTTE
The New: Ron Sanchez
The Old: Mark Price (30-42, two-plus seasons)

Price was let go last December when the 49ers had a 3-6 record. Houston Fancher took over on an interim basis and new Athletic Director Mike Hill tabbed Sanchez after the season. Sanchez’s credentials are strong, as he’s been with Tony Bennett at both Washington State and Virginia.


CHICAGO STATE
The New: Lance Irvin
The Old: Tracy Dildy (55-200, eight seasons)

This is one of the most difficult jobs in the entire country due to the lack of financial support and stability. Just know that the women’s team lost 59 straight games over a two-year span recently. Irvin has strong local connections and has been an assistant in the D-1 ranks. He was most recently an assistant at Morgan Park High in Chicago, and his family runs the well-known Mac Irvin Fire summer program which produces plenty of D-1 caliber talent.


COLORADO STATE
The New: Niko Medved
The Old: Larry Eustachy (122-81, six seasons, one NCAA tournament)

Eustachy got in trouble again and the school severed ties with him after six seasons and three postseason appearances (one NCAA, two NIT). Medved was an assistant at Colorado State from 2007-13 when the school went to the NCAA tourney in each of his last two seasons. He takes over after two brief head coaching stints — three years at Furman (2013-16) and one at Drake (2016-17) — in which he compiled a 79-88 mark.


DELAWARE STATE
The New: Eric Skeeters
The Old: Keith Walker (43-96, four-plus seasons)

Walker took over with 10 games left in the 2013-14 season and won 18 games the following year. However, the Hornets have won just 20 games over the last three years. Skeeters comes from UMBC, where he helped the Retrievers get to the NCAA tourney and pull off the historic upset over top-seeded Virginia. Skeeters has been a long-time D-1 assistant at George Mason, Towson, Virginia Tech, Youngstown State and Coppin State.

DETROIT
The New: Mike Davis
The Old: Bacari Alexander (16-47, two seasons)

It was a complete mess in Alexander’s two seasons. Now Davis, who went to the national title game in 2002 at Indiana, went to an NCAA tournament and three NITs in six seasons at UAB, and took Texas Southern to four NCAA Tournaments in six seasons, takes over. There’s no reason to question whether Davis can make Detroit competitive.


DRAKE
The New: Darian DeVries
The Old: Niko Medved (17-17, one season)

Medved bolted after one season to return to Colorado State where he was an assistant from 2007-13. DeVries follows Mark Phelps, Ray Giacoletti and Medved. He’s been on Creighton’s staff since 2001, for Dana Altman and then Greg McDermott.


EAST CAROLINA
The New: Joe Dooley
The Old: Jeff Lebo (116-122, seven-plus seasons)

This isn’t an easy job, and Lebo just couldn’t get it done at ECU. Dooley, who enjoyed success at Florida Gulf Coast the last few years, returns to East Carolina where he was actually the head coach from 1995-99. He was 57-52 in that four-year span, but that was also when the Pirates were in the CAA. It’s a much tougher job now.


EASTERN KENTUCKY
The New: A.W. Hamilton
The Old: Dan McHale (38-55, three seasons)

McHale couldn’t get the Colonels over the hump, and Athletic Director Stephen Lochmueller made a change after just three years. Hamilton was a little bit of a surprise pick, given the fact he’d been a D-1 assistant at N.C. State for just one season. Previously, he was the head coach at Hargrave Military Academy from 2011 to 2017, where he was 237-22.

EVANSVILLE
The New: Walter McCarty
The Old: Marty Simmons (184-175, 11 seasons)

Simmons won at least 20 games in three of the last six seasons, but he was fired after more than a decade at the school and still without an NCAA tourney appearance. McCarty, the former Kentucky standout, NBA player and Boston Celtics assistant, takes over the program in the town in which he grew up.


FLORIDA ATLANTIC
The New: Dusty May
The Old: Michael Curry (39-84, four seasons)

New Athletic Director Brian White didn’t waste any time before making a change. He got rid of Curry, the former NBA player/coach who just didn’t achieve the on-court results in his tenure. White hired May, who had been at assistant for White’s brother, Mike, at Louisiana Tech and Florida.


FLORIDA GULF COAST
The New: Michael Fly
The Old: Joe Dooley (114-58, five seasons, 2 NCAA tournament appearances)

Fly was elevated by AD Ken Kavanagh to replace Dooley, who left for East Carolina. The 34-year-old Fly came to FGCU with Andy Enfield in 2011, so he knows the program and has been critical in its success over the past seven years.


FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
The New: Jeremy Ballard
The Old: Anthony Evans (65-94, five seasons)

Evans had success as the head coach at Norfolk State, but was never able to get it going at FIU, where the Panthers weren’t able to crack the top half of C-USA. Ballard was hired after assistant stints at Pittsburgh, Illinois State, VCU, Tulsa and Colgate.


FRESNO STATE
The New: Justin Hutson
The Old: Rodney Terry (126-108, seven seasons, one NCAA tournament appearance)

Terry led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in 2016, and won at least 20 games in four of his seven seasons. He left for UTEP and was replaced by Hutson, who had two different stints as an assistant at San Diego State sandwiched by a two-year spell at UNLV. Hutson is regarded as a big-time recruiter, and now he’ll get a chance to show he can coach.


HIGH POINT
The New: Tubby Smith
The Old: Scott Cherry (146-134, nine seasons)

Cherry wasn’t able to get the Panthers to the NCAA tourney, and now Smith will attempt to return home and do it. Smith attended High Point from 1969 to 1973, and comes back to his alma mater after being jettisoned from Memphis following a two-year stint. At last check, the guy can still coach and that will concern opposing coaches in the Big South.


INCARNATE WORD
The New: Carson Cunningham
The Old: Ken Burmeister (202-138, 12 seasons)

Burmeister took the program from the D-2 to the D-1 ranks, and fared well early on, winning 21 games in 2013-14 and getting to the CIT the following year. However, there was a total of just 19 victories the last two seasons. Cunningham spent the past five seasons (107-52) at NAIA Carroll College, where he won a couple of league and conference tournament titles.


LA SALLE
The New: Ashley Howard
The Old: John Giannini (212-226, 14 seasons, one NCAA tournament appearance)

Dr. John had a 14-year run after coming from Maine, and got the Explorers to the NCAA tourney in 2013. But the last five seasons were fairly mediocre, and now Howard, who has been a key piece in Villanova’s success the last few years, takes over and will try and get La Salle back in the postseason picture.


LONGWOOD
The New: Griff Aldrich
The Old: Jayson Gee (42-120, five seasons)

The Lancers decided to make a move with Gee after a 7-26 record last season. Athletic Director Troy Austin replaced Gee with Aldrich, who was actually in a non-coaching spot on Ryan Odom’s staff at UMBC. Aldrich’s background also includes a 16-year stretch in law and business.

LOYOLA (MD.)
The New: Tavaras Hardy
The Old: G.G. Smith (56-98, five seasons)

Smith was never able to finish with a record better than .500, and was replaced by Hardy after five seasons at the helm. Hardy was always considered more of a midwest guy, having played and coached at Northwestern. But he was also an assistant at Georgetown from 2013-16, and most recently at Georgia Tech from 2016-2018.


MAINE
The New: Richard Barron
The Old: Bob Walsh (24-100, four seasons)

This is one of the most difficult jobs in the country, and now Barron — who was the head women’s coach from 2011-17, gets a chance to see if he can make the men relevant. Barron was 84-89 leading the women’s program with a pair of NIT appearances his final two seasons. Then he took a leave of absence in Jan. 2017 and returned as the special assistant to the athletic director.


MARIST
The New: John Dunne
The Old: Mike Maker (28-97, four seasons)

Maker was fired after a total of 28 wins in four seasons, and replaced with Dunne, who is familiar with the MAAC after spending a dozen seasons at Saint Peter’s. Dunne took the Peacocks to the league title in 2011, and also won the CIT in 2017.


MARYLAND EASTERN-SHORE
The New: Clifford Reed (Interim)
The Old: Bobby Collins (49-92, four seasons)

The Hawks won 18 games in Collins’ first season, but just 31 total over the past three years. Now Reed, who went 125-166 as the head coach at Bethune-Cookman from 2001-10, will try and shed the interim tag.


MCNEESE STATE
The New: Heath Schroyer
The Old: Dave Simmons (154-211, 12 seasons)

The Cowboys made their lone postseason appearance under Simmons back in 2011 when they went to the NIT. Now Schroyer, who has been a head coach at three different spots — Portland State (35-47 from 2002-05), Wyoming (49-68 from 2007-11) and UT Martin (41-28 from 2014-16) — gets a shot to see what he can do at McNeese.


MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE
The New: Nick McDevitt
The Old: Kermit Davis (332-188, 16 seasons, 3 NCAA tournament appearances)

McDevitt takes over for Davis, who really got the program going over the last seven seasons. In that span, the Blue Raiders went to three NCAA Tournaments, two NITs and one CIT. McDevitt will have a rebuilding job on his hands, though, after coming from UNC-Asheville.


MISSOURI STATE
The New: Dana Ford
The Old: Paul Lusk (105-121, seven seasons)

Missouri State was favored to win the Missouri Valley a year ago, and wound up finishing seventh. That was it for Lusk — he was replaced by Ford, who was 57-65 in four seasons at Tennessee State.


MOUNT ST. MARY’S
The New: Dan Engelstad
The Old: Jamion Christian (101-95, six seasons, 2 NCAA tournament appearances)

Christian left for Siena after six years at The Mount, and was replaced by Engelstad, who was an assistant at the school from 2007-10. Engelstad was the head coach at Southern Vermont College for the past five seasons, where he was 104-34 and won a pair of NECC championships.


NICHOLLS STATE
The New: Austin Claunch
The Old: Richie Riley (35-28, two seasons)

Claunch moves over a seat after spending the past two seasons as Richie Riley’s top assistant. Claunch worked for Brad Brownell at Clemson from 2013-16, and was the director of player development for Paul Hewitt at George Mason in 2012-13.

NORTH ALABAMA
The New: Tony Pujol
The Old: Bobby Champagne (245-195, 15 seasons)

UNA Athletic Director Mark Linder made a move after a 15-13 mark last season, just prior to the program’s transition from the D-2 ranks into Division 1. Now it’ll be Tony Pujol who will get that opportunity, a guy who worked for Anthony Grant at VCU and Alabama, and was most recently an assistant at Wyoming.


PEPPERDINE
The New: Lorenzo Romar
The Old: Marty Wilson (91-139, seven-plus seasons)

Wilson was a player, assistant and head coach at Pepperdine. There were a couple of CBI appearances in 2015 and ‘16, but just 15 total wins the last two seasons. Now it’s Romar who gets his second stint at Pepperdine. He was 42-44 from 1996-98 before going to Saint Louis (51-44) for three years and then spending 15 as the head coach at Washington. Romar spent last season on Sean Miller’s staff at Arizona.

SAN DIEGO
The New: Sam Scholl
The Old: Lamont Smith (40-52, three seasons)

Smith resigned after off-court issues and Athletic Director Bill McGillis opted to replace him with Scholl, the Toreros’ top assistant who coached the team in the CIT. The 40-year-old Scholl had two stints as an assistant at San Diego (2000-07 and 2015-18) and was an assistant at Santa Clara in between.

SIENA
The New: Jamion Christian
The Old: Jimmy Patsos (77-92, five seasons)

Patsos was let go following verbal abuse allegations, and replaced with Christian, who took Mount St. Mary’s to a pair of NCAA tournaments (2014 and 2017) in six seasons at the helm. Siena has been considered a quality mid-major program, but the Saints haven’t been to the NCAA tourney since 2010 when Fran McCaffery was in charge.

SOUTH ALABAMA
The New: Richie Riley
The Old: Matthew Graves (65-96, five seasons)

Graves, a former Brad Stevens assistant at Butler, was fired after five seasons and replaced with Riley, who comes over after two seasons at Nicholls State and a first-place finish in the Southland this past season.

SOUTH DAKOTA
The New: Todd Lee
The Old: Craig Smith (79-55, four seasons)

Smith left for Utah State following four seasons with the Coyotes and AD David Herbster tabbed Lee, an alum who came over from his spot as Dan Majerle’s assistant at Grand Canyon. Lee is a native of Huron, South Dakota and graduated in 1986. He was also 154-81 in five seasons as the head coach at Kentucky Wesleyan.

SOUTHERN
The New: Sean Woods
The Old: Morris Scott (15-18, one season)

Scott spent last season as the interim head coach and won 15 games, but was replaced by Woods, who was an assistant at Stetson last season. Woods was the head coach at Mississippi Valley State from 2008 to ‘12, and at Morehead State from 2012 to ‘16. He was let go after an incident in which he was accused of assault during a game, but has been given another chance by Southern AD Roman Banks.

ST. PETER’S
The New: Shaheen Holloway
The Old: John Dunne (153-225, 12 seasons, one NCAA tournament appearance)

Dunne spent a dozen seasons at St. Peter’s before leaving for Marist. He was replaced by Holloway, the former Seton Hall standout who was on Kevin Willard’s staff at both Iona and Seton Hall.


TENNESSEE STATE
The New: Brian “Penny” Collins
The Old: Dana Ford (57-65, four seasons)

Collins was hired by AD Teresa Phillips to replace Ford, who left after four seasons with the Tigers. Collins, a former Belmont standout, is a Nashville native who was an assistant at  Tennessee State and East Tennessee State.


UC RIVERSIDE
The New: David Patrick
The Old: Dennis Cutts (50-87, four-plus season)

Cutts was fired last season just a few days prior to the team’s conference opener with a 5-9 record. Patrick takes over, and while he’s best known for bringing Ben Simmons to LSU, he’s recruited plenty of talented players and has strong overseas ties — especially to Australia. He also recruited Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova to Saint Mary’s when he was an assistant under Randy Bennett. Patrick was most recently an assistant at TCU.


UNC ASHEVILLE
The New: Mike Morrell
The Old: Nick McDevitt (98-66, five seasons)

McDevitt did a terrific job at Asheville and was hired by Middle Tennessee State after three consecutive postseason appearances. Now it’s Morrell, who has been an assistant with Shaka Smart at VCU and Texas, who will try and keep it going for the Bulldogs.


USC UPSTATE
The New: Dave Dickerson
The Old: Kyle Perry (7-25, one season)

Perry and the athletic director were fired at the end of last season, his first as the Spartans head coach. Dickerson, a former Gary Williams assistant at Maryland who was a head coach at Tulane for five years, is a native of Olar, S.C. He was most recently an assistant with Thad Matta at Ohio State.

UTAH STATE
The New: Craig Smith
The Old: Tim Duryea (47-49, three seasons)

This move was a little surprising given the fact that Duryea was a solid 47-49 in three seasons leading the Aggies, but he couldn’t get the program to crack the top six in any of his three years at the helm after taking over for Stew Morrill. Now it’ll be up to Smith, who was 48-21 in the last two seasons at South Dakota, to get the program back in the top half of the league.


UT ARLINGTON
The New: Chris Ogden
The Old: Scott Cross (225-161, 12 seasons, one NCAA tournament appearance)

This one was baffling, as Cross was fired after winning at least 20 games for the third straight year. Ogden, who was an assistant with Rick Barnes at Texas and Tennessee, and with Chris Beard for the past two years at Texas Tech, will try and get UTA back to the NCAA tourney.


UTEP
The New: Rodney Terry
The Old: Tim Floyd (138-99, seven-plus seasons)

Floyd retired six games into the season, and while he’s had success at several college stops — New Orleans, Iowa State, USC and for a few years at UTEP — the last couple years were a struggle. Now, Terry comes from Fresno and will try and will see if he can get the Miners back in the mix for the top of C-USA.

WESTERN CAROLINA
The New: Mark Prosser
The Old: Larry Hunter (193-229, 13 seasons)

In sad news, shortly after Western Carolina parted ways with Hunter, he suffered a massive stroke and passed away. Prosser, the son of the late Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser, takes over after stints as an assistant at Winthrop, Wofford and Bucknell.