The Wolves were coached by Balado for six years and fired him after his buyout fell through in mid-March. The program last made the NCAAs in 1999.
Brennan lasted ten years at American. He made the NCAAs in his first season there. Three names may be in play for this job: Virginia assistant Jason Williford, former Hartford coach John Gallagher and former Siena and George Washington coach Jamion Christian.
Playing under Allen for seven years, the Black Knights were a middle-class Patriot League team for the most part. This job requires a specific kind of coach and, of course, recruits specific kinds of players — guys who want to represent their country and be there for reasons beyond basketball.
James is out less than two years after taking the job. The former Duke assistant was 17 games under .500 over two seasons (21-38), but Austin Peay was a transition job, moving from the OVC to the ASUN this season. Gipson moved quickly to get this job, and I’m told he was able to push for an aggressive salary pool during the negotiation process.
The Falcons hired Southern Utah coach Simon, who was 38-14 for the Thunderbirds the past three years.
Bucknell separated from Davis after eight seasons, including a 129-155 record and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017 and 2018. Bucknell has arguably the best job in the Patriot League and will be competitively pursued. The program has made it to the NCAAs eight times. Villanova’s George Halcovage and Syracuse aide Gerry McNamara are two of the candidates the school identified early in the process.
The Bulls won four NCAA tournaments in five years under Bobby Hurley and Nate Oats, but the momentum couldn’t continue under Whitesell. This search will probably take some time.
Two seasons and done for Oliver, who went 27-37. It wasn’t that long ago that ETSU competed in NCAA tournaments and won the SoCon under Steve Forbes. And so Savage, a former ETSU assistant under Forbes, gets the job on a four-year contract.
The Eagles enlist Henry, an Alabama assistant, to try and inject some life into an Eagles program that may be the worst in the Sun Belt. Henry replaces Burg who was on an oddly short leash and was only given three years by athletic director Jared Benko. The Eagles went 43-45 in three seasons.
The Phoenix hired Sundance Wicks, an assistant coach for Wyoming for the past three seasons. Wicks replaces Ryan, who was fired after going 2-19 this season.
Tubby Smith’s son was promoted to the full-time job a year ago, but was fired after a 14-17 season. Like Bucknell in the Patriot League, High Point is a highly coveted job in the Big South due to its campus environment and facilities.
Nelson went 27-84 in four seasons. The Crusaders, who live in the Patriot League, have hosted one NCAA tournament since 2007. The school will likely seek someone with previous experience as a head coach at the mid-major level.
Pribble, a Seattle assistant, was hired to replace Claus, who went 28-88 with the Vandals. Idaho is an attractive mid-country course in that part of the country now due to new facilities, but it’s traditionally been an underperforming team in the Big Sky.
The 11-16 Jaspers had a sideways campaign after sacking Masiello on the precipice of the regular season. RaShawn Stores has done an admirable job in a very difficult situation and it remains to be seen whether he will be promoted to the full-time position.
Aiken was fired after just two seasons and an overall record of 22-45. Former coach Heath Schroyer is now the AD and decided Wade was worth the risk. Wade is awaiting a ruling from the IRP over his role in the LSU case, in which he was caught wiretapping while talking about paying players. That verdict will be handed down in the spring.
Herrion’s contract was not renewed after he went 227-303 in 18 seasons coaching the Wildcats.
A seven-year run with a season over .500 (2018–19) led to Kennedy’s resignation on March 6. The Highlanders play in the American East and the course is at the bottom of the conference.
A catastrophe of tragedy and abuse poisoned this program, so much so that the school’s chancellor halted the season in February. Days later, Heiar was rightly fired in the middle of his first season. NMSU will pick up the pieces and rebuild in the spring, but the question is, who wants to take this kind of job? Someone will do it, but the task will be hard. The school’s biggest draw to potential applicants is its NCAA Tournament viability as a mid-major: the Aggies have had a tournament-level team eleven times since 2007.
NC A&T is in the midst of a challenging transition from the Great South MEAC to the CAA in the span of three years. Interim coach Phillip Shumpert has kept the Aggies competitive in the league after Jones was fired. A&T went 8-10 in conference play.
The Demons are looking for a coach after Gipson left after just one season to take the Austin Peay job. That’s a whiplash-like twist after having Mike McConathy from 1999-2022.
Simon left after going 65-28 overall and 38-14 the past three years for the Thunderbirds to take over at Bowling Green.
The Bulls had one season over .500 in six years under Gregory, who leaves with a score of 79-107. USF is a tough job in a league (the American) that will attract six more members this summer.
The former Temple star went 52-56 in four seasons and remains on as a special advisor to the athletic department. AD Arthur Johnson said: “Aaron has been a highly decorated student-athlete, dedicated alumnus, husband, father and a dedicated coach to Temple for the past nine seasons, both as an assistant and as a head coach. He has represented the university and the program in the best possible way. We are extremely grateful for his longstanding service to Temple and the men’s basketball program.” Get Matt Langel before someone else does.
Two years, two NCAA tournaments, and now Lutz heads to Western Kentucky. The Islanders gig is in a great location and is probably the best course in Southland right now.
Young was fired in February after less than two years on the job. Turner, who has great recruiting connections all over Texas, arrives after working as an assistant in Kentucky and Oklahoma for the past two seasons. He will be the fifth of the program in seven years. It’s been messed up since Scott Cross’s mock sacking (after winning 72 games in three seasons) in 2018.
Stansbury’s run lasted seven years and included a winning percentage of .610 (139-89), but he is the first coach in program history to fail to reach the NCAA Tournament. This is a good mid-major job with a proud tradition. Lutz comes to restore some roar in a region he knows. This is a good hire and Lutz has a good eye for recruiters.
Brown was an interim coach in 2020-21, taking Wichita State to the First Four and getting the full-time job. The past two seasons: 32-28. The Shockers finished outside the top 100 at KenPom. Former Maryland/Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon is rumored to be interested in opening, as are Furman coach Bob Richey and possibly Houston head coach Kellen Sampson. Wichita State is spreading its net far and wide. This is an important hire at a critical time for the program.
The Terriers had McAuley less than 2.5 seasons; he was pushed out due to internal strife between him and his players. Dwight Perry has coached the team ever since. Wofford went 16-15 in the regular season. Two names associated with this are former assistant/current App State coach Dustin Kerns and former Wofford assistant/current Virginia Tech assistant Kevin Giltner.
