College Basketball

Top 100 College Basketball Coaching Rankings: 2025-26 Edition

by
Staff
August 8, 2025

If I were hiring for an average Power 5 basketball program—with typical resources, history, fan support, and NIL/revenue backing—who would I want as my head coach to build for one offseason and one season?

That’s the central question behind these rankings. This isn’t about legacy, salary, or program prestige. It’s a personal, subjective list based on evaluating every current Division I coach and asking one simple thing: who would I trust most to take on a mid-tier, average Power 5 job—one that doesn’t guarantee success —build a roster from scratch, and deliver results over the next year?


1	Kelvin Sampson	Houston Cougars	Revived a dead program that had been to 1 autobid NCAA in the last 20 years. The last 5 years they have averaged a 2nd-place KenPom finish and went to 2 Final Fours and 2 Sweet 16s. It’s probably the most plug-and-play physical system in the country that recruits their type and rolls. What more can you say for a program that was in a ditch to be dominating the Big 12 a decade later.
2	Mark Few	Gonzaga Bulldogs	Built a power essentially from scratch. The last 9 seasons Gonzaga has averaged a 5th-place finish on KenPom, and this isn’t a blue blood. This is a mid-major. Incredible, even if it’s slipped a little lately. You know, to 8th.
3	Matt Painter	Purdue Boilermakers	Question some things he’s done, like playing Edey 19 minutes a game when he was putting up historic stats, and limited portal use, but the results are hard to argue with after this many years. Players stay to play for him, which is underrated at a place like Purdue which isn’t the most resource-rich. I liked that he used the portal a little more last season too. The last decade he’s averaged a 13th-place finish in KenPom and likely has the best team or one of the top 3 at least this year, and was in the national title game 2 years ago.
4	Bruce Pearl	Auburn Tigers	Won at multiple stops in his career—D2 national title, Sweet 16 at Milwaukee (not a fluke one either, finishing 36th, and 62nd and 51st the two years prior)—but has really shined since taking over Auburn and getting them to 2 Final Fours is as elite as it gets. Still strong as ever, finishing 4th each of the last two years, and 32nd and 12th the two years before that.
5	Todd Golden	Florida Gators	Off-the-court aside, he’s already a superstar. I don’t think it’s a flash in the pan either—the way he uses analytics and the portal. Taking San Francisco to 23rd in KenPom is also an impressive feat. Bruce Pearl protégé.
6	Dan Hurley	UConn Huskies	Two national titles in three years could put him at No. 2. But last season was underwhelming, and the reliance on Aidan Mahaney was puzzling. Could become more volatile without his top assistants. You can’t do anything more amazing than back-to-back titles and winning at the rate he did, but the next best finish is 21st—and that’s in 13 years at pretty high-level jobs. “I’m the best coach in the effin sport.” Yeah, not in my opinion. Even if you might have the most impressive two years ever, it’s a strange résumé to quantify and I do wonder about the assistant impact, as much credit as everyone seems to give them.
7	Nate Oats	Alabama Crimson Tide	Love the modern 3-point pace style of outscoring everyone, turning Alabama into a premium job and finishing 6th, 14th, and 4th the last 3 years with a Final Four, Elite 8, and Sweet 16. Took Buffalo to a top-22 finish. It’s all really impressive stuff.
8	Scott Drew	Baylor Bears	Slipping Scott a little the last two years. Maybe with NIL the water is finding its level. From a coaching standpoint, I think he’s still one of the best. To do what he did taking over Baylor where they were is close to unmatched, but last year and this roster do give me some pause. 30, 15, 16, 4, 2, and 3 this decade are the finishes.
9	Brian Dutcher	San Diego State Aztecs	Helped build this as an assistant and carried it on to a new level, although the NIL era seems to be catching up with him some now. 51st last year, but 22nd, 14th, 25th, 30th, and 6th this decade, with a national title game appearance.
10	Rick Barnes	Tennessee Volunteers	Repeatable defensive system and more consistent in the regular season than people give him credit for. His only knock is the tourney results in the aggregate. This is now 4 top-10 teams and the last 3 in the top 6, including two Elite 8s.
11	Rick Pitino	St. John’s Red Storm	For one year, the level of experience and recruiting just about can’t be matched. I’ve always questioned if you can truly maximize the talent with his style, however. He is still a legend that wins. 14th last year.
12	Chris Beard	Ole Miss Rebels	Like him or not, he’s elite. Took Texas Tech to the title game and now has Ole Miss surging. 11th, 5th, 17th, and 21st at Texas Tech in his last 4 years and a championship game. Texas could have become a powerhouse under him.
13	Randy Bennett	Saint Mary’s Gaels	Can’t argue with the results—taking over a 1–27 team and having basically a top-20 program the last decade that plays in a high school arena. Lack of NCAA wins holds him back some. 25th, 20th, 13th, and 17th the last 4 years, and 3 NCAA wins in that period.
14	Will Wade	NC State Wolfpack	Taking a program like McNeese State with a 300+ budget and ranking to top 60 and winning a tourney game is almost one of the most impressive things you can do in coaching. He’s had top-25 and 30 teams at VCU and LSU—places that aren’t as great—and looks to have a top-25 team this year at NC State. Clearly one of the best doing it right now.
15	Greg McDermott	Creighton Bluejays	5 seasons in the top 17 now for McDermott at Creighton, including two of the last three in the top 12 and a Sweet 16. He’s one of the best doing it, but unlikely to for many more years.
16	Mark Pope	Kentucky Wildcats	16th last year at Kentucky and a Sweet 16, but 18th, 20th, and 13th finish at BYU was what I find more impressive—two of those in the WCC. I think his transfer focus is the better build long-term compared to Duke, for example.
17	Brad Underwood	Illinois Fighting Illini	A little more tourney success at a place with the resources of Illinois, given the caliber they have been, would have been expected. The switch to putting together an international starting unit with several Euro pros is interesting and creative. He’s has proven to be an adaptable coach that has won everywhere he’s been including multiple leves and jobs.Winning a game at with a Southland team does check a box as well.
18	Grant McCasland	Texas Tech Red Raiders	Quick rise through the ranks and successful at multiple levels, including JUCO. JUCO, CUSA, the Big 12—the guy just wins. Nearly made the Final Four last year. Need to see a little more before moving him higher.
19	Jon Scheyer	Duke Blue Devils	Duke is the best job in the nation. It probably recruits itself, and I do question building with freshmen, but he’s done everything he needs to do to this point to be ranked this high. I don’t think you could have him lower, and if he went to another job he’s probably established enough to keep it going. How would he do at Wake Forest though?
20	Tommy Lloyd	Arizona Wildcats	Impressed me last year when I didn’t think they would be as good. This is a good job, but he’s been solid basically all 4 years. We know he was helpful at Gonzaga as well.
21	T. J. Otzelberger	Iowa State Cyclones	Really found his identity at Iowa State and hit his stride, but the earlier results at South Dakota State and UNLV don’t hold up as well and leave some questions about how he would do in another job.
22	Dusty May	Michigan Wolverines	Yes, he did build and take a terrible program to the Final Four and a top-17 finish, but he returned them all the next year and went 47th. I don’t think that got nearly as much attention as it probably should have, although he did redeem himself at Michigan. Yes, he’s a good coach who’s done really impressive things, but removing FAU, it was basically no different than Hubert Davis going to the championship game and missing the tourney the next year. He was 16 and 43 and that was viewed much differently even when he lost one of the biggest stars of that run. He also didn’t lose to terrible Bryant, FGCU, and Temple, so until we get farther away from that, it’s hard to forget.
23	Ben McCollum	Iowa Hawkeyes	You win as many national championships in D2 as he did and translate this quickly with a new roster—hard to have him lower. He might be a top 10 coach, but there is a question about how the recruiting looks long term. However, he seems to be a great X-and-O guy and manager of the games. Just got to see more. McCollum won four D2 National Titles in 5 seasons, and it would have likely been 6 if COVID didn’t cancel that tournament, as they were 31-1. He is another coach I have been waiting to see how he would do with this opportunity and will track closely.
24	Bill Self	Kansas Jayhawks	The roster builds really seem antiquated at this point with a lack of three-point shooting and unwillingness to adapt. Even the level of guards he’s recruiting isn’t a Kansas level, and it’s reflected in back-to-back 24 and 27 finishes—and 3 of the last 5 years that low, with a 27th in 2021. Being a new NIL era, free transfer—it’s noticeable that things have changed. The health issues are concerning as well. This roster looks like more of the same 25ish type of rankings this year as well.
25	Tom Izzo	Michigan State Spartans	MSU was 7th last year in KenPom and went to the Elite 8, but this roster looks more like the 37th he had averaged the previous 4 years. The style, no shooting, and lack of transfer recruiting seem like the era has caught up with him overall, and that type of finish was more the anomaly. He hasn’t adapted enough to keep up.
26	Chris Collins	Northwestern Wildcats	Three straight top-45 finishes at a place like Northwestern—he seems to have figured it out. If UNC opened, I think this is a realistic target I would have on my board who would be open to coming back to the area he lived in for so long.
27	Dana Altman	Oregon Ducks	Multiple Sweet 16s, a Final Four, a 27th-place finish last year. He’s probably underrated nationally and had top-30 teams at Creighton before that.
28	Leon Rice	Boise State Broncos	In this new era, he has averaged a 42nd-ranked KenPom finish the last 4 years. In this NIL/free transfer era, he’s looked even better. To do that at a place like Idaho that had never won before him is even more impressive. In 15 years, only 2 finishes outside the top 100. One of the most underrated coaches in the game. The lack of tourney wins in 5 chances is the only knock.
29	Chris Jans	Mississippi State Bulldogs	I question the lack of shooting and style some, but the results are exactly where you would expect. He’s pretty much never had a bad year in 9 years as a coach outside of the one COVID year. Hard to hold that too much against him.
30	Shaka Smart	Marquette Golden Eagles	29, 10, and 13 the last 3 years, and has history taking VCU to the Final Four. I think this year gets him though. If this guy would recruit transfers, he would be much higher. I don’t trust him or even get the adversity. Same guy found an All-American transfer from George Mason.
31	Greg Gard	Wisconsin Badgers	A 17th and 12th finish the last 2 years and another team that looks to be top 20. The lack of NCAA wins the last 8 years is really the only thing holding him back. He does seem to have reinvented the offense some, and those wins might come.
32	Mick Cronin	UCLA Bruins	One year in the wilderness, but it was bad enough, with him being a distraction, to lower him some.
33	Kevin Young	BYU Cougars	Looked good year one and recruiting this roster. Still questions about how good he would be at an average job with average money.
34	Eric Musselman	USC Trojans	Slipped the last couple years, but still seems to be doing well in the portal, and the theory of his builds makes sense. I would look past that. Almost every coach—even the greats—have the occasional bad season. He’s won big and at multiple jobs, taking Nevada to a Sweet 16 and Arkansas to two Elite 8s. He also hits the transfer portal harder than almost any coach in America.
35	Sean Miller	Texas Longhorns	Captain Elite 8 with four—one in the A10. Still, when you were at a job like Arizona for 12 years and can’t break through to the Final Four, that’s noteworthy. He’s someone that can win and keep you top 25 most years and will certainly have that chance with one of the best jobs again in the nation, like Texas. But I don’t ultimately see the championship upside, and he’s had a lot of chances and only 2 teams finish in the top 14 of KenPom.
36	Jamie Dixon	TCU Horned Frogs	Slipped a little recently, but 4 top-30 teams in 9 years, 6 top-45 ones at a place like TCU, says a lot. 83rd last year and likely a similar season this year knock it a little. Between here and Pitt, however, there is a lot of positive history.
37	Fred Hoiberg	Nebraska Cornhuskers	It took a few years, but 30th and 46th the last two years, plus what he did at Iowa State. Doing it at Nebraska—I think you have to give him credit.
38	Brad Brownell	Clemson Tigers	Brownell went from the hot seat to 19th and 23rd finishes, including an Elite 8. There have been a lot of so-so years at Clemson, but he had 5 top-100 seasons at UNCW and Wright State. He still seems to be a winner, perhaps more so in this new pay era, and this is likely more about the job.
39	Buzz Williams	Maryland Terrapins	He wins—finishing 18th last year in KenPom, 35th, 33rd, and 33rd before that. Had a 13th finish at Virginia Tech, which is a minor miracle as well. But overall I think that’s where he caps out and has a ceiling on the style he plays—lack of shooting, etc.
40	Ross Hodge	West Virginia Mountaineers	The roster is a little disappointing but has exceeded expectations before and won big in JUCOs prior. I think I’d take my chances over coaches that have disappointed. Before becoming a head coach, Hodge was an associate head coach at North Texas from 2017 to 2023 and Arkansas State from 2016 to 2017. He also had a dominant junior college coaching career, posting an 83–17 record at Paris Junior College and a 63–7 record at Midland College, where he led the team to NJCAA Division I Runner-Up finishes in 2010 and 2011. Given his track record of success with limited resources, West Virginia might have landed a better coach than they lost in Darian DeVries.
41	John Calipari	Arkansas Razorbacks	Cal squanders a lot of talent with his rotations, but he gets a lot of talent too. Still, the last 6 years at probably two of the highest resource jobs at the time, he has averaged a 28th finish in KenPom. That’s underachieving, and I don’t see a team much better than 25th this year either with massive resources. I think if he was at a school with less, it would look worse.
42	Mark Byington	Vanderbilt Commodores	I really like the build at Vandy, but he didn’t play Edwards or McGlockton enough. I think he actually underachieved, and it was because they were on the bench. The job at JMU was very solid. Clearly a good eye for talent, I do question the rotations some.
43	Kevin Willard	Villanova Wildcats	The results are solid. Going to the NCAA 6 of the last 7 years at Seton Hall is impressive. The top 10 at Maryland last year is as well. I’m not sure I’d bet on him ever having a better year than last year, however. The Nova roster this year is really bad, even compared to the rosters Neptune landed. That’s a problem as well. Really disappointed at Maryland 2 years ago, which knocks him down.
44	Porter Moser	Oklahoma Sooners	He took Loyola Chicago to a Final Four and then had another Sweet 16 and top-10 KenPom finish after. Averaging a 42nd-ranked finish at Oklahoma isn’t great, but it’s respectable. Lots of competition. Pretty clear Sampson inflated the history and expectations in a way they haven’t matched since in the modern era.
45	Chris Mack	Charleston Cougars	I believe Louisville made a significant mistake in firing Mack. He essentially had one poor season, going 13–7 and ranking 59th during the COVID year. Subsequently, he was dismissed after starting 6–8 the following season. Prior to that, he led Xavier to two Sweet 16s while in the A10, and then to an Elite 8, another Sweet 16, and a #1 seed. He didn’t do anything to discredit that in his one season at Charleston.
46	Steve Forbes	Wake Forest Demon Deacons	He used to be a rising star and finished 28th two years ago, but last year’s 72nd-ranked finish and equally questionable roster this year raise questions.
47	Andy Enfield	SMU Mustangs	Enfield has parachuted his way to SMU and did a solid job. USC overall was pretty strong until the last year—3 NCAA’s and an Elite 8 in his last 4 years there. FGCU to the Sweet 16.
48	Ritchie McKay	Liberty Flames	4 top-100 finishes in the last 6 years including a 48 and 64—2 of the last 3—is impressive work at Liberty. Good resources there, but very solid for a program whose best season was nearly 30 years ago at 166th prior to his arrival.
49	Ryan Odom	Virginia Cavaliers	Everyone knows the big upside at UMBC, but overall in 5 years there that was basically the only top-200 finish and NCAA. He’s been at jobs it’s easy to win at since—Utah State and VCU—with several of the same players like Šulga who were left to him. I don’t know, it just seems like he’s solid, but a lot of it was taking the right jobs and having some good players left he retained.
50	Steve Alford	Nevada Wolf Pack	Solid, but not great. 78th last year, looking like another similar-type year. Still, solid history over his career but with ebbs and flows.
51	Bryan Hodgson	South Florida Bulls	A rising star, taking over a 287-ranked team to 133 and 84th two years later. This roster is likely favored to win the American and crack the top 65 or so. His teams reached the CBI semifinals in 2024 and the NIT Second Round in 2025. Basically, he hasn’t been bad yet like some others.
52	Darian DeVries	Indiana Hoosiers	DeVries obviously did a good job at Drake, but I do question how things would have gone without getting off to a good start with an assistant bringing 4 players from his JUCO/their friends and setting him up early on, or having his son who was a bigger recruit than he likely lands for 4 years. I’m not real impressed with the roster Indiana has for the money spent either. It seems like it’s around the 40th-best roster to me, and that’s a problem. The level of proven talent Woodson got was unquestionably better, even if it didn’t fit at all. While his success at Drake was impressive, part of it can be attributed to his son, a high-level recruit who likely wouldn’t have attended otherwise. Additionally, his early success was fueled by an assistant coach bringing in four JUCO teammates. Despite these caveats, DeVries is a solid hire for Indiana, though some risk remains.
53	Richard Pitino	Xavier Musketeers	This Xavier roster looks bad, but what he did at New Mexico with a 41 and 29 season and finding guys like JT Toppin and Dent in the last two years is notable. Even at Minnesota he finished 46th, 27th, and 62nd in his last three, including a win in the tourney. That would get most coaches an extension there now—not fired.
54	Chris Holtmann	DePaul Blue Demons	I’d rather have Holtmann than who Ohio State replaced him with. He’s succeeded at multiple schools, and even during his biggest setback at Ohio State, they still ranked 49th in KenPom. When you are at Ohio State you should do well, but if that’s your biggest failure and you have won at other places, you are still a good coach. Taking a 304th-ranked DePaul to 122 in KenPom in year one is very solid, and over his career he has won at multiple places including 3 top-30s in 3 years at Butler, an 8th-place finish at Ohio State, and the worst being 49th. The guy never had a real bad season.
55	Niko Medved	Minnesota Golden Gophers	Medved did a solid job at Colorado State, finishing in the KenPom top 45 in three of the last four seasons and securing an NCAA Tournament win. While not a flashy hire, he has proven his ability to build competitive programs.
56	Jerrod Calhoun	Utah State Aggies	Calhoun posted a strong record of 124–38 (.765) in D2 and led a team to the national title game there. It took him six seasons to figure out how to win at Youngstown State, but it’s a notoriously difficult job. I appreciate his work in the portal over the last two years, and the first year at Utah State—finishing 61st and making the NCAA tourney—was a success.
57	Mike White	Georgia Bulldogs	It wasn’t really as bad at Florida as you’d think—he made an Elite 8 and finished top 5 once—but had tailed off some at the end. Taking a Georgia team to the NCAA is strong. I think he’s redeemed himself some.
58	Tad Boyle	Colorado Buffaloes	Maybe the money is bad, but last year’s build was unimpressive. He was 24th and made the 2nd round two years ago and was 8th as recently as 2021—which was the weird no-fans COVID year—so not sure you get full credit for that when it’s that much of an outlier.
59	Josh Schertz	Saint Louis Billikens	Last season was uninspiring, but Schertz had a 38th-ranked team at Indiana State and the D2 history. 337–69 in D2 with three Final Fours, followed up by an NIT runner-up finish in year three at Indiana State is still something to believe in—even after the 121 rank last year with the star of that team and the PG. That does knock him some.
60	Russell Turner	UC Irvine Anteaters	In the last 10 years at Irvine, Turner has finished no lower than 147th and has 6 top-100 finishes including a 68th and 82nd the last two years. There may be no more steady coach in America with a higher consistent floor for where he’s at.
61	Eric Olen	New Mexico Lobos	UC San Diego from 2013 to 2025. He compiled a 240–119 overall record and a 158–79 conference record, leading UCSD’s transition from Division II to Division I. His teams made multiple postseason appearances, including NCAA Division II West Region Final appearances in 2015, 2016, and 2017, as well as a Round of 64 finish in 2024. In his final season, UCSD went 30–5 and finished 39th in KenPom.
62	Danny Sprinkle	Washington Huskies	Has succeeded at multiple coaching positions, and he completely rebuilt Utah State despite not having a player who scored a point the previous year. They won a game in the tournament and earned a 6-bid MWC, but their KenPom rank was only 51st. Additionally, he never cracked the top 100 at Montana State, so this seems like the right spot for him. I really like what he did with the roster this year despite a slow start last season.
63	Pat Kelsey	Louisville Cardinals	Before last season, in 13 years as a head coach, he had one top 100 KenPom finish—and it was 71st. This despite being at places that had multiple top 100 finishes before him. He just doesn’t play his best players enough to max the talent, in my opinion. Last year, having some injuries was probably a benefit in that it forced him to play his stars 32 to 35 minutes—for his top three—where most of his career that number is closer to 22 to 25. Does he learn or revert back?
64	Chris Gerlufsen	San Francisco Dons	Yes, he kept what Golden was doing going, but San Fran almost never won at this level prior to those two in the modern era.
65	Bucky McMillan	Texas A&M Aggies	I think he plays a very minimizing style of basketball and way too many players, but he has strong results and has recruited on short order well to Texas A&M. I’m just not a big fan of playing your best players 19 to 22 minutes a game. Sorry.
66	Anthony Grant	Dayton Flyers	Yes, he has a lot of resources at Dayton relative to the league and seems to have a warming seat, but he was 32nd and made the 2nd round just two years ago. Of course, the “what if” of the 2020 top 5 season, but this is a program that has been solid over his tenure and never bottomed out after year 1.
67	James Jones	Yale Bulldogs	Yale has finished 74th, 90th, and 65th the last three years, going to 2 NCAA’s and upsetting a top 4 team in Auburn. Jones has been there many years and is the 3rd longest-tenured coach at the same school. In the last 11 years, he’s had 6 top 100 finishes. I think there is a clear line of demarcation where he started to figure it out and Yale seemed to get serious. This roster appears close to top 100 again as well.
68	Brian Wardle	Bradley Braves	92, 64, 90, and 96 are the last 4 finishes—a very solid mid-major coach with two top 75 finishes at Green Bay prior.
69	Lamont Paris	South Carolina Gamecocks	Paris has finished 54th and 69th the last two years at a harder place to win, and 67th at Chattanooga in 2022. I think he’s a good coach, just in a tough conference.
70	Mike Rhoades	Penn State Nittany Lions	Did you know Penn State finished 58th last year? 77th in his first year. Now, the bottom might drop out, but to be that good at Penn State is noteworthy, and he was fine at VCU—typically between 40–60. Not great, but plenty to believe he’s a solid coach.
71	Tony Skinn	George Mason Patriots	I don’t know how good Skinn actually is, but he’s had a 97th and 79th-ranked finish in his two years for a place that hadn’t finished top 100 since Larranaga in 2011. Seems pretty good, and the teams and portal recruiting mostly make sense.
72	Thad Matta	Butler Bulldogs	Everyone seems to think Matta is doing a poor job, but 75 and 61 the last two years at a lower-resource place like Butler seems solid enough. Yeah, he’s not Brad Stevens wizardry, but given where they were under Jordan, this isn’t a bad recovery.
73	Ben Howlett	IU Indy Jaguars [d ]	217–37 (.854) in eight years in D2 including a national runner-up to his mentor, two other Elite 8s, and a Sweet 16. He plays a system that averages around 100 points per game—something we haven’t seen since VMI 15-plus years ago. It may not work, but I’d be far more interested in taking a chance on this résumé than I would on many of the coaches that have already flopped. The unknown in D1 with lots of D2 evidence here has value. Congrats IU Indy, you took a chance—hope it pays off. I don’t expect it to this year only being hired in late May, but love the hire.
74	Fran McCaffery	Penn Quakers	Yeah, McCaffery didn’t retire and probably has some left in the tank. Iowa might have upgraded, but it wasn’t that long ago he had finishes of 23rd, 7th, and 13th in the 2020s and had a recent National Player of the Year. Yeah, they were 62nd last year, and they don’t play much defense, but all in all, the results at a place like Iowa really aren’t that bad.
75	Wes Miller	Cincinnati Bearcats	The results aren’t catastrophic—55th, 39th, and 50th the last few years—and multiple top 100 finishes at UNCG. It’s just the frustrating style he plays or the lack of adaptability that gets the natives restless. For a Rudy shooter, you’d think he’d give some three-point specialists a chance and try to find shooting.
76	Kyle Smith	Stanford Cardinal	It took 14 seasons to reach the NCAA tournament, but they won a game this year. You can factor in that he was at some difficult places to win. He won a CIT championship at Columbia and also took Washington State to the NIT Final Four. I like that he’s had good teams at three different schools—taking San Francisco to a top 70 finish as well. 81st last year with a player like Reynaud was disappointing, however.
77	Dennis Gates	Missouri Tigers	He was never that impressive at Cleveland State—basically a 169th-ranked 15-seed was the best year, and 197th before he was hired. Despite that, it started decent at Missouri before the bottom fell out on a 0–18 year. He did rebound nicely last year, finishing 19th and making it to the NCAA before losing. Overall, I don’t trust him though. Seems like a decent recruiter at times, but the rotations are the biggest issue. The best players play less than 28 minutes a game. You clearly pay guys like Mitchell—it’s ridiculous not to play them. Grill was one of the best players coming off the bench in the nation last year by multiple advanced metrics. That’s a fail. Still, he finished 19th, so what do you do with him—even if it was a fluke?
78	Bryce Drew	Grand Canyon Antelopes	Drew underachieved last year with a 55th preseason KenPom rank, finishing 101st. The year before was good at 52, but what most don’t consider is the resources at Grand Canyon. Top-80 budget with 100,000+ students gives them massive advantages over their competition. I don’t think he shot par last year given that. The shine isn’t as much as it was.
79	Mike DeGeorge	Cal Poly Mustangs	Lots of D2 success and took a team that most thought would be 345 (not here—they were our top sleeper) and finished 182nd in year one.
80	John Becker	Vermont Catamounts	Last year’s 242 was terrible, but to have no NIL and to build the program he has over 14 years—including 6 top-76 finishes and no worse than 151 before last year—I’ll mostly ignore this as a blip until it becomes a trend. He would have been much higher up the list if NIL or whatever didn’t catch up to him last season. I think College basketball rankings are like a Logarithmic scale or power law distribution. There is really never a good excuse to be 240th.
81	Johnny Dawkins	UCF Knights	People say Dawkins is on the hot seat, but what do they expect honestly taking UCF to the Big 12. He’s finished 67th, 66th, and 56th the last 3 years. That’s about as good as I think you can expect.
82	Hubert Davis	North Carolina Tar Heels	I defended Hubert until last year’s misuse of Lubin. Even with that, a 31st finish wasn’t firable yet. What he’s recruited this year—with reportedly $14 million and one of the most expensive rosters—looks to be in the same range and certainly will be if that’s in fact what he ends up with. Prior to this past year, however, he was a coach that took a team to the championship game, one half from winning, and had a 9th place 1-seed Sweet 16 just 2 years ago. People forget Roy Williams wasn’t killing it at the end but did leave some good players; this is now Hubert with his own players, so we will see what it looks like. It’s really hard to coach a team ot the championship and be that bad IMO.
83	Jeff Capel III	Pittsburgh Panthers	I don’t think Capel is very good, but he’s been decent the last 3 years: 63rd, 33rd, and 59th. Can’t really fire him, but he’s paid like a top-20 coach—ridiculous for what reason I have no clue. There was never anything in his résumé to suggest he was that.
84	Herb Sendek	Santa Clara Broncos	59th last year, 109th, 85th, and 76th the last 4 years playing in close to a high school arena, he seems to have found his way. Is he great? No. But he’s clearly raised the floor here. It just took a long time.
85	Jerome Tang	Kansas State Wildcats	Started hot, but the teams feel more like overpaying for whatever island of misfit toys are left that he can afford.
86	Bob Richey	Furman Paladins	Richey was crushing it, but now the money has been so crazy, he’s really slipped of late—having his two worst seasons by a lot at 141 and 139. The previous 6 years, 92nd was his worst season. Gone are the days of keeping players 4 years, and until recently he was less inclined to hit the portal and adapt, which seems like a problem in this new landscape. Good coach that really needs to make a move and adapt and embrace the portal.
87	Dave Smart	Pacific Tigers	I don’t know what last year was, except this is a brutal job. But I’m still a believer in his coaching and recruiting ability. The way his Canadian teams not just beat but dominated more than a dozen NCAA tournament teams, including multiple top-25 ones with very unimpressive D1 transfers and Canadians, is hard to unsee. We’ve observed him not only defeating but dominating numerous top-25 NCAA teams despite having inferior talent. Some of his top players were former Division I athletes who averaged as little as 4 and 5 points per game at places such as Cleveland State and Loyola Marymount. I’m going to believe in that another year at least.
88	Eric Henderson	Drake Bulldogs	Henderson led the Jackrabbits to multiple Summit League titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. His standout season came in 2022 when South Dakota State went 30-5 and reached the Round of 64 and finished 81st in KenPom. His teams also made tournament appearances in 2021, 2023, and 2024. One of the most impressive aspects of Henderson’s tenure was his ability to recruit talent like Baylor Scheierman to South Dakota. However, in six years, his teams only finished in the top 110 of KenPom once—ranking 80th with Scheierman. While he’s been a solid coach, his ability to build a team that can compete at a higher level remains somewhat a question. Getting them to Des Moines should be an easier ask.
89	Andy Kennedy	UAB Blazers	Would have been higher a couple years ago when he was owning the portal relative to his level. Now the impact portal classes have dried up probably as the money got more crazy, and the lack of success the last two years with Yaxel Lendoborg leave a lot to be desired. The results are still respectable, but this year might knock him off the list completely.
90	Ray Harper	Jacksonville State Gamecocks	Harper finished 108th last year at Jacksonville State, a school with few resources. He has a 110th-ranked finish as well, and what most people don’t know is he was the D2 champion twice and runner-up 4 times. And then won two NAIA national championships and was a runner-up another time in 3 years. It’s not an accident he takes a place like that to near top 100.
91	Steve Lutz	Oklahoma State Cowboys	Three years, two teams, three NCAA tournaments. That is impressive, but these were not high-ranking teams. The KenPom finishes were 245, 176, and 135. He’s still relatively unknown. Follow that up with 97th in year one at Oklahoma State and this roster doesn’t look much better.
92	Mitch Henderson	Princeton Tigers	Things were going great until the 177th last year with two star players returning. Prior to that, it was a 107th, 91st, and 69th finish, including a Sweet 16. He kind of let go of the rope last year it seems. Solid but it raises questions, especially with a POY as well as a primary portal recruit now at the defending national champs slated to start there.
93	Drew Valentine	Loyola Chicago Ramblers	I don’t know what the 253rd finish year was 3 years ago, but he has recovered to respectability—93rd and 107th in the last two years—and had a 29th in his other year. The roster appears top 100 again this coming year.
94	John Groce	Akron Zips	Groce doesn’t have a high peak at Akron, but the range is so consistent and solid. In the last 7 years he’s been between 82 and 122 on KenPom. It didn’t go that well at Illinois, but he did take Ohio to a Sweet 16 before that.
95	Shaheen Holloway	Seton Hall Pirates	Elite 8 with a Metro Atlantic team 15 seed is nuts, but even with the financial problems of last year, I think there is no excuse for a 204 ranked team.
96	Penny Hardaway	Memphis Tigers	For the resources, it’s hard to feel great about the 54th ranked finish, but it was a 5 seed and ranked in the AP top 25. Still, he seems to find players and do enough to keep the mob at bay.
97	Matt McMahon	LSU Tigers	The star has really faded, but it wasn’t that long ago he was winning games in the NCAA in multiple years at Murray State and having top 36 to 51 finishes. The last two years he’s back at 95th and 88th but feels more like he’s on the hot seat than doing a good job at a place that has won a good bit over the years previously.
98	Scott Cross	Troy Trojans	The poster child for dumb firings, he made it to the NCAA and had a 95th ranked team last year.
99	Mark Schmidt	St. Bonaventure Bonnies	Really has helped St. Bonny be a solid program. Not great, but a very solid bet to be around 100th many years now.
100	Jai Lucas	Miami Hurricanes	I don’t know if he can coach, but I was impressed with the talent he brought in. Maybe a wonky fit, but he took good players. And that’s a good sign. Would he get players at Miami Ohio? Probably no but they all have warts in this range. That’s coming from someone who didn’t like the hire at all but the roster has my attention and should be top 45. If he fails he’s out quick.

Other names considered: Brian Earl, Dan Earl, Andy Bronkema, Takayo Siddle, Matt Langle etc

The Resource Nexus

Top 100 College Basketball Coaching Rankings: 2025-26 Edition

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