By Aidan Joly
As the NCAA tournament roars on, as does the college basketball coaching carousel for the teams no longer alive.
Some of the biggest jobs on the market have been filled, some others remain open, while other hires have created domino effects for other schools. Let’s take a look at the power conference openings, plus a few more.
Florida State
Out: Leonard Hamilton | In: Luke Loucks
After 22 years at the helm in Tallahassee, Leonard Hamilton has retired. Hamilton won more than 450 games in his time with the Seminoles, but the program has slipped in recent years. It has not finished above .500 in ACC play since the 2020-21 campaign. It just finished a season where it went 8-12 in ACC play and 17-15 overall.
In his place is Luke Loucks, an alum of the program who will turn 35 next week. He was previously an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings.
Indiana
Out: Mike Woodson | In: Darian DeVries
A middling 41-39 in the Big Ten and 82-53 overall across four seasons was enough for Indiana to make a move off of Mike Woodson. Indiana is now on its sixth coach in 25 years with Darian DeVries, the former Drake coach who spent the 2024-25 season at West Virginia.
The other big name here was Ben McCollum, who Indiana was very interested in before going back to DeVries. DeVries went 150-55 in six seasons at Drake and made the NCAA tournament three times between 2021 and 2024, before a 19-13 campaign at West Virginia this year.
Iowa
Out: Fran McCaffery | In: Ben McCollum
The McCaffery era at Iowa came to an end after 15 seasons. McCaffery won nearly 300 games with the Hawkeyes, but back-to-back years missing the NCAA tournament was enough to prompt a change. He led them to the tournament seven times but never got to the second weekend.
In his place is the aforementioned McCollum, the Division II savant who spent spent a year at Drake, going 31-4, winning the Missouri Valley as well as an NCAA tournament game. A phenomenal hire in Iowa City.
Miami
Out: Jim Larranaga (Bill Courtney interim) | In: Jai Lucas
Larranaga announced his retirement the day after Christmas with his team sitting at 4-8. Interim coach Courtney didn’t do any better, going 3-16 as the team finished 7-24, one of the worst seasons in program history. A Final Four appearance two years ago feels much longer ago than that.
Duke assistant coach Jai Lucas, 36, takes the program over. A massive roster flip has begun as Lucas tries to right the ship in Coral Gables.
Minnesota
Out: Ben Johnson | In: Niko Medved
Johnson struggled in his four years with Minnesota, going 22-57 in Big Ten play, never finishing higher than tied for ninth in the league, and 56-71 overall. The program needs better financial backing in order to get top talent to compete in the Big Ten.
In his place is former Colorado State coach Niko Medved, a Minneapolis native and an alum of the program. He was the clear-cut favorite for the job and had been for some time. He went 143-85 in seven years with Colorado State and 78-50 in Mountain West play. He reached the NCAA tournament three times and was a buzzer beater shy of going to the Sweet 16 this year.
NC State
Out: Kevin Keatts | In: Will Wade
Keatts and NC State went on a miracle run to the Final Four one year ago, now he is out in Raleigh after a 12-19 season that saw the Wolf Pack go 5-15 in ACC play.
Wade, the exiled former LSU coach who returned to the game with two years at McNeese that culminated with a round of 32 appearance this year, is next up for the job. He was looking to get a power conference job and had been a candidate for just about every one that opened up. NC State wins those sweepstakes.
Texas
Out: Rodney Terry | In: Sean Miller
It never truly felt like Terry was going to be a long-term solution in Austin, but forced the school’s hand after going 22-8 and going to the Elite Eight as an interim head coach two years ago. Overall, he went 62-37 overall and 27-27 in Big 12 and SEC play over his time in Austin.
Replacing him is former Xavier coach Sean Miller. Now in the SEC, the program’s goal should be to be a top 10 program in the sport and compete for national championships. We will see if Miller, who went to the Elite Eight three times at Arizona, is able to make that happen.
Utah
Out: Craig Smith (Josh Eilert interim) | In: Alex Jensen
Smith was fired with four games remaining in the regular season with Utah sitting at 15-12 overall and 7-9 in the Big 12. The timing of the move was certainly strange.
However, in the end, it helped Utah get a head start on hiring Alex Jensen, a member of the program’s 1998 national title team. He was previously an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. This is another program that does not have a great NIL situation and will need to get that up in order to compete in the Big 12.
Virginia
Out: Ron Sanchez | In: Ryan Odom
Ron Sanchez took over for the season following the sudden retirement of Tony Bennett in October weeks before the season began. It did not go well, with Virginia finishing 8-12 in ACC play and 15-17 overall.
Odom was a fairly obvious choice. His father was an assistant coach for the program in the 1980s and Odom has had success at fellow Virginia school VCU. Overall, he has a record of 201-117 as a Division I head coach between Charlotte, UMBC, Utah State and VCU. You’d also be remiss if you didn’t mention that he was the coach of UMBC when he shocked Virginia, becoming the first 16-seed to beat a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament.
Xavier
Out: Sean Miller | In: Richard Pitino
Miller departs for Texas, marking the end of his second tenure with Xavier. His second stint, three seasons, came with two NCAA tournament appearances and a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2023.
Replacing him is former New Mexico coach Richard Pitino, it was reported on Tuesday night. Pitino returns to the power conference ranks after struggling at Minnesota, but rebuilding his reputation at New Mexico, where he went 88-49 across four seasons and went to the tournament twice, including getting to the second round this year.
This also means we get Rick Pitino vs. Richard Pitino conference games.
Power jobs still open
Villanova
Out: Kyle Neptune
Villanova did what had been inevitable since November or December, moving on from Jay Wright’s successor after three seasons. It was the right hire at the time, but it just never worked out. Neptune went 54-47 overall and 31-29 in Big East play during his tenure.
Reportedly, this seems to be down to two names: Maryland’s Kevin Willard and New Mexico’s Richard Pitino. Maryland is still playing, which might delay a hire for at least a few more days.
West Virginia
Out: Darian DeVries
DeVries left West Virginia for Indiana after just one season in Morgantown. The Mountaineers went 19-13 and 10-10 in the Big 12 before surprisingly missing the NCAA tournament.
Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun was seen as an obvious candidate, but that speculation was seemingly put to bed on Tuesday as he signed a big contract extension keeping him with Utah State. I’ve seen North Texas’ Ross Hodge thrown around as a backup plan.
Hopefully, this hire will bring some much-needed stability for the program. The new coach will be the fourth coach in four years at WVU.
Other notable changes
Colorado State: Niko Medved is done at CSU after taking the job at Minnesota. Associate head coach Ali Farokhmanesh is the obvious pick here. He was a major part of Colorado State’s success and is ready for a head coaching gig.
Drake: Another program looking for a new coach after its coach departed for a power conference gig. Drake is a very good job and its last three coaches (McCollum, DeVries, Medved) are all coaching in the Big Ten. The new coach will need to keep that goung.
Fordham: Keith Urgo is out after just three years on the job. Fordham went 25-8 in his first season at the helm in 2022-23, but the Rams plummeted to 12-21 and 3-15 in the Atlantic 10 this season. Fordham is a very hard job, deep down in the Atlantic 10 pecking order.
Iona: The school’s administration was blasted for moving on from Tobin Anderson after just two seasons and a trip to the MAAC title game this season. Expectations are sky-high at that program, but moving on after just two seasons is tough to justify. Replacing him is Dan Geriot, a former New Orleans Pelicans assistant.
La Salle: Philly legend Fran Dunphy has retired at the age of 76. Dunphy won more than 600 games in a coaching career that lasted half a century, one of the most accomplished coaches at his level. Replacing him is former Radford coach Darris Nichols, who went 68-63 in four seasons with that program.
McNeese: After Will Wade departed after two seasons, Baylor assistant Bill Armstrong is the new head coach in Lake Charles. He will look to keep the program’s momentum going after back-to-back Southland conference titles.
Sacramento State: This one came out of nowhere. Fourteen-year NBA veteran Mike Bibby is the new coach of Sacramento State. Bibby’s only coaching experience came at a Phoenix-area high school from 2014-2019. We’ll see how he does. He replaces Michael Czepil, who went 7-24 in his lone season after taking over for David Patrick, who left to take an assistant job at LSU.
South Florida: This is a sad one to include. Former Arkansas State head coach Bryan Hodgson is the new coach at South Florida after the untimely death of Amir Abdur-Rahim in October. Abdur-Rahim was a rising star and went 16-2 in the AAC and 25-8 overall in his only season there. Ben Fletcher ran the team this year and went 13-19. Hodgson went 45-28 in two seasons with Arkansas State.
UNLV: Josh Pastner is back in the game after taking two seasons off. The former head coach of Memphis and Georgia Tech has been to the NCAA tournament five times and has an ACC title to his name dating back to 2021. He replaces Kevin Kruger, who was underwhelming in four seasons. The Runnin’ Rebels went 18-15 this season.
VCU: The Rams have another hire to make after Ryan Odom departed for Virginia. The job is consistently one of the top mid-major jobs in the country.
AJ Hoops 