The condensed offseason calendar in men’s college basketball means NCAA tournament time is also the peak of the coaching carousel. This has been an active cycle at the high-major level, with the Miami Hurricanes and Utah Utes moving quickly to hire new coaches in-season and several other big jobs currently open. The activity has been more muted at lower levels, which can be attributed in part to the financial uncertainty brought about by the House settlement and the looming pivot to revenue sharing.
Here’s a look at the latest intel and developments on all the top open jobs right now.
Indiana Hoosiers
West Virginia coach Darian DeVries was announced as the next coach on Tuesday. DeVries won 20-plus games in all six years at Drake and took the Bulldogs dancing three times before being snubbed from this year’s Big Dance. That snub may have sped up the process here with DeVries now available before the first round of the NCAA tournament. Current Drake coach Ben McCollum’s name also was connected in recent days and weeks after a 30-win Year 1.
Iowa Hawkeyes
McCollum and DeVries are both Iowa natives and have long been speculated about as the co-favorites for the Hawkeyes gig. With IU hiring DeVries, that leaves McCollum as the clear favorite for the Iowa vacancy. On paper, it’s a slam dunk, landing the hottest name of the cycle and bringing home an Iowa City native. But McCollum could have better options than Iowa either this cycle or down the line, and there have been concerns about the financial support there. Iowa had below-average NIL for basketball under Fran McCaffery, and the new head coach will be competing for revenue share dollars with football as well as two huge sports at Iowa in women’s basketball and wrestling. It’s conceivable that Iowa could miss out on McCollum too if the financial package isn’t appealing enough, and Iowa has conducted early interviews with several other coaches. Among the names to watch: Bradley’s Brian Wardle, Loyola Chicago’s Drew Valentine, Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun and Atlanta Hawks assistant Ronald Nored.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Gophers parted ways with Ben Johnson in the dead of night the same day Minnesota’s season ended, with AD Mark Coyle having to work around his responsibilities with the NCAA tournament selection committee to make the move. From the moment this was announced, the expected name to replace Johnson has been Colorado State head coach Niko Medved. Medved is a Minneapolis native and Minnesota alum who has done incredible work at Colorado State, taking the Rams to three of the last four NCAA tournaments. Little can get done until Medved’s season ends, but most in the industry are operating under the belief that Minnesota is his job to turn down. The key to turning around Minnesota will be resources: Johnson was armed with one of the worst budgets for player acquisition and retention in high-major basketball last season, per sources.
Villanova Wildcats
Villanova parted with Kyle Neptune over the weekend after three ill-fated years as Jay Wright’s successor. New AD Eric Roedl is expected to first target a handful of sitting high-major coaches, and could have enough money at his disposal to woo even coaches with significant buyouts to leave their current situations. Among those who have been speculated about: New Mexico’s Richard Pitino, UCLA’s Mick Cronin ($16 million buyout through the end of March), Northwestern’s Chris Collins, Oklahoma’s Porter Moser and Maryland’s Kevin Willard, who is reportedly working on an extension in College Park.
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia’s long-running search is likely close to a conclusion. VCU head coach Ryan Odom is the leading candidate to follow Tony Bennett in Charlottesville after interim coach Ron Sanchez was not retained. Things could move quickly here once the Rams are eliminated from the NCAA tournament. Odom famously beat Virginia with No. 16 seed UMBC in 2018 and has since taken Utah State and VCU dancing.
North Carolina State Wolfpack
NC State has been considered a potential landing spot for McNeese and former LSU head coach Will Wade since the school parted with Kevin Keatts earlier this month. Wade comes with baggage from his involvement in the infamous pay-for-play scandal that rocked college basketball in the late 2010s, but is a proven winner at the highest level and one of the top recruiters in the sport. If AD Boo Corrigan can’t stomach Wade’s past, top Tennessee assistant Justin Gainey is believed to be another name in play.
West Virginia Mountaineers
DeVries leaving for Bloomington adds insult to injury in what has been a brutal week for the Mountaineers after being left out of the NCAA tournament Sunday night and opens the West Virginia job for the third time in less than two years. Last spring, AD Wren Baker also strongly considered Mark Byington (now at James Madison) and Medved (potentially headed to Minnesota). He could circle back to Medved here, but it might be tough to beat the CSU head man’s alma mater. Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun is a name to watch after taking the Aggies to the NCAA tournament in Year 1. Calhoun is a former Bob Huggins assistant with deep ties in the state. Baker’s former school, North Texas, has a rising star head coach of its own in Ross Hodge who could be a name of interest. And don’t rule out McCollum here: Baker spent time as his boss at Northwest Missouri State more than a decade ago.
Jobs That Could Still Open
Texas Longhorns
Rodney Terry’s hot seat might have cooled slightly when the Longhorns heard their name called on Selection Sunday, but it’s still very possible AD Chris Del Conte could elect to make a move after a middling season in Austin, especially with a quick NCAA tournament exit. Terry’s buyout of just over $5 million is manageable, and Texas has championship-level expectations despite rarely reaching that standard in the program’s history. If the job opens, expect the Longhorns to court several big names, including multiple sitting high-major coaches.
UCF Knights
This is one of the tougher jobs in the Big 12 and lacks the tradition of its conference counterparts, but Johnny Dawkins finished 17–16 for a second straight season and hasn’t taken the Knights to the NCAA tournament since 2019. His contract runs through ’26–27, but he’s one of the lowest-paid high-major coaches and would only be owed a little over $1 million if UCF elected to move on. If they do, this could be a landing spot for New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino, who has been involved with several jobs this cycle.
Mid-Major Search Notes
- Iona is expected to hire New Orleans Pelicans assistant Dan Geriot to replace Tobin Anderson, who was fired after just two seasons and less than 48 hours after losing in the MAAC championship game. Geriot, 36, is expected to be armed with significant resources for player acquisition. He has limited college experience and only one year as a head coach, going 12–34 with the Cavaliers’ G League team in 2021–22.
- The focus of the Columbia search is Florida assistant Kevin Hovde, a former Columbia assistant under Kyle Smith who’s now the Gators’ de facto offensive coordinator.
- Another Florida assistant, analytics guru John Andrzejek, is in the mix for the head job at Campbell. Another name to watch there is former Miami assistant Kotie Kimble.
- South Florida is one of the better non-power jobs on the market. One name that has consistently come up there is UNCW head coach Takayo Siddle, though Siddle could opt to wait out this cycle and see if a high-major job materializes in 2026.
- UNLV is relatively early in its search process, but is believed to be targeting sitting head coaches. Out west, that list includes names like UCSD’s Eric Olen and Grand Canyon’s Bryce Drew, though both could be difficult to coax from their current situations.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde and Bryan Fischer contributed to this reporting.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Men’s Hoops Coaching Carousel: Indiana Hires Darian DeVries, Latest on Top Open Jobs.