Stars are born every year in the college basketball coaching ranks. Last year’s biggest stock-riser: Shaheen Holloway, who blossomed overnight from a MAAC coach doing a nice job at a difficult place to win into the profession’s next star and the darling of fans everywhere. Other young coaches like Todd Golden (San Francisco to Florida), Matt McMahon (Murray State to LSU) and Dennis Gates (Cleveland State to Missouri) were also big risers in the last coaching cycle.
Who are the next names to know who will be in the mix for bigger jobs this spring and beyond? Here’s a look at 10 coaches currently at non-power conference jobs whose names you’ll want to remember.
Drew Valentine, Loyola Chicago
Valentine is the youngest head coach in Division I and already has one 25-win season under his belt. Now, the 31-year-old’s Ramblers team is moving up from the Missouri Valley to the Atlantic 10. If he finishes near the top of the league this year after losing six seniors (including all-time program great Lucas Williamson), Valentine will be mentioned for virtually every big-time job … especially ones in the midwest.
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Jeff Linder, Wyoming
Linder is approaching miracle-worker status after remarkable rebuilding jobs at both Northern Colorado and Wyoming. In Laramie, he has flipped the program from nine to 25 wins in just two years, earned an at-large bid in Year 2 and has a group capable of getting back to the NCAA tournament again this year. Given Linder’s track record, it’s hard to imagine a better coach to start a rebuild with.
Jordan Mincy, Jacksonville
Mincy’s first year as a head coach went extremely well: The former Florida assistant won 21 games (most by any Jacksonville coach since 1985–86), finished 129 spots higher in KenPom than the Dolphins did in the season before he arrived and was one win away from the NCAA tournament. He’s also made a few splashes on the recruiting trail and only turned 36 this month. There has already been a lot of coaching movement down south lately, but he’s a name to watch in Florida and throughout the region.
Grant McCasland, North Texas
Under McCasland’s leadership, North Texas won an NCAA tournament game in 2021 and 25 games in ’21–22, despite graduating an all-time program great in Javion Hamlet following the Big Dance breakthrough. He has won everywhere he has gone (D-II, juco, D-I) and is part of Scott Drew’s impressive coaching tree. But he also has been selective in the past despite reported interest from other jobs, and North Texas is set to move to the AAC after this year. It will take a lot to get him to leave Denton, but ADs in the southwest have to at least make the call.
Shantay Legans, Portland
It’s hard to overstate just what bad shape the Portland program was in before Legans arrived last year. That’s why winning 19 games and going 7–7 in the WCC in Year 1 was so impressive. Those seven conference wins matched the Pilots’ total from the previous five seasons combined. With lots of production back, Legans has a chance to make further headway in this rebuilding job this season. Pac-12 programs (particularly those that need to do more with less) would be wise to consider him.
Niko Medved, Colorado State
Medved has worked (and won) in three different time zones, pulling off impressive rebuilds at Furman and Drake before establishing a Mountain West contender at Colorado State. He took the Rams to the NCAA tournament a season ago and developed a first-round NBA pick in David Roddy in the process. He has spent only one year of his coaching career on a high-major staff (2006–07 at MInnesota) and will likely be picky on destinations, but he’s worth an interview at pretty much any high-major regardless of region.
Austin Claunch, Nicholls State
Still just 32 years old, Claunch now has back-to-back Southland titles under his belt and three straight winning seasons at one of the lowest-resource jobs in the sport. The Southland isn’t presenting the fiercest competition after the league was gutted by realignment, but Claunch is a rising star and a name to know moving forward.
Kim English, George Mason
English had an uneven first season at George Mason, starting strong with four straight wins—including a road upset at Maryland—but finishing just 14–16 after several close losses in league play. Still, English is on the fast track to coaching stardom and has built a talented roster that could climb the A-10 standings this year. A 20-win season would vault English into the conversation for high-major jobs in a hurry.
Bob Richey, Furman
The Paladins are in the midst of the program’s longest sustained run of success since the 1970s, a feat they can thank Richey for. The 39-year-old has won 20 games in four of his five seasons, the lone exception being the COVID-19-shortened 2020–21. He’s proven to be a strong developer of talent and runs a beautiful offense. ACC jobs seem like a natural fit, especially if he can finally break through in the SoCon tournament and get Furman to the Big Dance.
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Entering his 10th season at Norfolk State, Jones has built a consistent winner in the MEAC and reached back-to-back NCAA tournaments. He’s won 75% of his league games over his nine years at the helm and has finished under .500 just once in his career. A recent rise in the rate of Black coaches being hired for head-coaching jobs nationwide has been a positive development, but those improvements haven’t trickled down to MEAC and SWAC coaches getting chances in bigger conferences. Jones is a great example of someone worthy of that opportunity.
