By Aidan Joly
The college basketball coaching carousel was full speed ahead this off-season. It brought a record 68 changes across Division I.
Many struggling programs made moves, including Louisville, Washington, Michigan, Stanford and DePaul. Additionally, high profile moves occurred at Kentucky, Arkansas, USC, BYU and West Virginia. All-around, there are significant changes coming to who is patrolling the sidelines in 2024-25.
The list of coaches on the hot seat heading into the new season feels thin, probably due to the sheer number of moves made last year. However, there are still a handful of programs who may make a move if things go south. Here are seven of them.
Kyle Neptune, Villanova
Neptune was given an unenviable task of replacing Jay Wright at Villanova in 2022.
His first season was a rocky one, but with injuries to key pieces in Justin Moore and Cam Whitmore made a 17-17 season a little more forgivable.
Villanova started 6-1 and won the Battle 4 Atlantis at the beginning of last year but then things unraveled, finishing with an 18-16 record and a second straight season of 10-10 in Big East play. Needless to say, that was not good enough to make the NCAA tournament in either year. Neptune has now missed two tournaments in two years. Before that, Villanova had only missed twice in 18 years and won two national titles in that time.
Patience is already wearing thin on the Main Line. If Villanova misses for a third straight year, it will likely be the end of the road for Neptune. The program can’t, and shouldn’t, put up with that.
Mike Woodson, Indiana
Some thought Woodson should have gotten the axe this past spring, especially with alumnus and now-Michigan coach Dusty May ready to make the move up from Florida Atlantic.
Woodson went 21-14 in year one and made the NCAA tournament, but that was largely in part due to the presence of Trayce Jackson-Davis, who was recruited by the previous regime. The Hoosiers went 19-14 and 10-10 in Big Ten play last year and missed the tournament.
His resume is solid, with a Round of 64 win in 2023 and two NCAA appearances to boot, but this is Indiana. Expectations are sky-high. The conversations will get louder if Indiana misses again, especially with one of the top incoming transfer classes.
Dennis Gates, Missouri
Gates has had a VERY different two seasons at Missouri.
In year one, the Tigers went 25-10 and 11-7 in the SEC, spent time in the top 25 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed.
In year two Missouri completely bottomed out, going 0-18 in the SEC and 8-24 overall. It only won one game after Dec. 3. It was a stunning drop off after a wildly promising first season.
Which season is the outlier here? It’s tough to tell right now. Gates does bring in a great freshman class as well as some talented transfers in Mark Mitchell from Duke and Tony Perkins from Iowa.
Gates won’t have to win 25 games and appear in the top 25 to keep his job, but he certainly needs to avoid going winless in league play again.
Bobby Hurley, Arizona State
Hurley has led Arizona State to be a consistent program over the past nine years and has a record of 155-131.
However, the Sun Devils have only reached the NCAA tournament three times in those nine years, all as a No. 11 seed, and has not been to advance past the Round of 64. Last year’s mark of 14-18 was the worst season of his tenure in Tempe.
On top of that, the program will play its first season in the significantly more challenging Big 12 this year. He brought in a good recruiting class featuring Jayden Quaintance, but the pressure will be on for him to finish above .500 and reach the NCAA tournament. That feels like a tall task in year one in the Big 12.
Mike Young, Virginia Tech
Young has brought the Hokies to a pair of NCAA tournaments in five years at the helm but has not yet won a game.
Since then he has had back-t0-back 19-15 seasons after a surprising ACC title in 2022. It’s not bad, but Buzz Williams had four straight 20-win seasons in Blacksburg before departing for Texas A&M. By comparison, Young has won 20 games just once in five years.
Virginia Tech has had good guard play over the years, but the results have been pedestrian. If it’s another below-average season, it may be the end of the road.
Earl Grant, Boston College
Grant’s seat is certainly not scorching, especially after bringing Boston College to its first 20-win season since 2010-11 and its first postseason appearance of any kind since 2018.
Still, Grant is under .500 overall and in ACC play in three seasons. There has been marginal year-to-year improvement.
However, if there is a drop-off, the seat could get a little warmer.
Porter Moser, Oklahoma
You would think Moser’s record in three seasons in Oklahoma would be better, but he is 20-35 in Big 12 play across three seasons and 54-45 overall.
He has not made the NCAA tournament yet after Oklahoma only missed the tournament once between 2013 and 2021 under Lon Kruger.
Couple this with a move to the SEC this season, it feels like Moser will have to guide Oklahoma to the NCAA tournament in order to keep his job. Oklahoma fans should not tolerate a fourth straight miss.
Bonus: Tom Izzo, Michigan State
This very likely won’t be Izzo’s last season in East Lansing. But the criticisms of Izzo have started to get louder the past year or two, with some saying the game is beginning to pass him by.
There are at least a few fair criticisms in there, and it feels reminiscent of people starting to criticize Jim Boeheim towards the end of his run at Syracuse. MSU hasn’t won more than 11 Big Ten games since 2019-20, but there hasn’t been an NCAA tournament miss.
He won’t be fired. You absolutely cannot fire Tom Izzo. But could he retire? He will turn 70 years old during the 2024-25 season. That is certainly a possibility within the next couple years.
AJ Hoops 