Coaching Carousel 2025

[GMU79]

I truly dont think he would have gone scorched earth IF he were leaving. Its a weird way to do it. I think he's trying to rally the donors and the NIL funds at UMD and fire them up in the midst of an NCAA tourney run.

If he could only sweat like Gary Williams!

 

[Falco]

I was surprised when Iona hired Dan Geriot, but it makes sense. NBA assistants are tired of bouncing around and want stability—something mid-majors can offer. Many also have head coaching experience, making them a great fit for these programs.

That’s why Will Weaver is a name worth watching. He’s been a head coach in the G League and Australia’s NBL, with NBA experience in player development and analytics. His defensive mindset and pro connections would help any program compete and build for the long term.

 

[Pablo]

Armstrong named Head Basketball Coach at McNeese State - HoopDirt

Bill Armstrong, a proven winner and former associate head coach with Will Wade at LSU, has been named the next leader of the McNeese Basketball program, Vice President and Director of Athletics Heath Schroyer announced Tuesday. Armstrong becomes the 13th head coach in school history and replaces...

hoopdirt.com

 

[Walter]

 

[jruby]

View attachment 2688

Will be interesting how St Joes responds to this…

 

[GMU1983]

He is a good hire for vcpoo

 

[NewPatriot]

Will be interesting how St Joes responds to this…

Mike Rhoades hired Jimmy Martelli as a favor to Phil sr. He helped resurrect Jimmy's coaching career after some sort of scandal. Jimmy is now with Mike at Penn state.

This is Phil's payback to vcu.

 

[psyclone]

Mike Rhoades hired Jimmy Martelli as a favor to Phil sr. He helped resurrect Jimmy's coaching career after some sort of scandal. Jimmy is now with Mike at Penn state.

This is Phil's payback to vcu.

Got me curious...more detail:

Rutgers' assistant Jimmy Martelli resigns amid Rice scandal

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) A Rutgers assistant men's basketball coach has resigned amid a scandal over the way his former boss treated players. A Rutgers

www.si.com

 

[Pablo]

Sources: Pitino set to leave Lobos for Xavier job

Xavier is expected to hire New Mexico's Richard Pitino as its next head coach, sources told ESPN on Tuesday night.

www.espn.com

Alabama A&M Men’s Basketball Announces Change in Leadership - Alabama A&M Athletics

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. | Alabama A&M University Director of Athletics Dr. Paul A. Bryant announced a change in the leadership of the AAMU men's basketball program with

aamusports.com

 

[mkaufman1]

I didn't realize Jimmy was involved with the Mike Rice scandal.

Regardless, I crossed paths with Jimmy in the elevator in Fair Lakes Marriott in 2018 and I had a nice conversation with him. I ended up staying at the same hotel as the vcu players...

Either way, hiring Phil Jr and Phil Sr is great for vcu and they'll unfortunately keep on chugging.

 

[Walter]

There are no "can't miss" hires. And Martelli Jr. has only been a HC for two years in the AE; No way to know if that translates success in the A10. Plus, he likely won't be bringing many Bryant players with him as they probably aren't A10-level talent.

Why does he need his pops on the staff with him? How does he not get overshadowed?

I love that the vcu faithful were convinced that Richard Pitano was coming and getting them an invite to the Big East, but they had to settle. Now they have to pretend that Jr. is the best up-and-coming coach out there.

He may work out, but this is a risky hire. The law of averages will eventually catch up with vcu.

 

[mkaufman1]

AE; No way to know if that translates success in the A10. Plus, he likely won't be bringing many Bryant players with him as they probably aren't A10-level talent.

Why does he need his pops on the staff with him? How does he not get overshadowed?

I love that the vcu faithful were convinced that Richard Pitano was coming and getting them an invite to the Big East, but they had to settle. Now they have to pretend that Jr. is the best up-and-coming coach out there.

There is risk to going with Martelli Junior but consider

1) he just made the tournament
2) in his 2 years at Bryant, they had their best Kenpom years in the history of their program.

The A10 isn't the AE and he may need a year to "settle" where his players are going up against coaches like Grant, Skinn, Mooney vs coaches in the America East. But on paper this is another vcu home run hire that will keep them very competitive. Martelli's teams are known to be very physical and tough, which continues the trend of how their program plays. Considering what era we are also going into and the expectation of what vcu will be paying players, he will be fine.

It will be interesting if he brings any of his Bryant guys. I'm sure there will be 1 or 2.

 

[NewPatriot]

There are no "can't miss" hires. And Martelli Jr. has only been a HC for two years in the AE; No way to know if that translates success in the A10. Plus, he likely won't be bringing many Bryant players with him as they probably aren't A10-level talent.

They've got several HM talent level players...especially upfront...the question is whether or not they follow Phil Jr.

 

[Pablo]

40 D-1 coaching changes so far this year - https://hoopdirt.com/3-26-update-2025-coaching-changes-tracker-presented-by-d1-relocation/

Division I (D1) Coaching Changes (2025)

School	Conference	Former Coach	New Coach
Alabama A&M	SWAC	Otis Hughley Jr	TBD
Alcorn State	SWAC	Landon Bussie	TBD
Arkansas State	Sun Belt	Bryan Hodgson	TBD
Bellarmine	ASUN	Scott Davenport	Doug Davenport
Bryant University	America East	Phil Martelli, Jr.	TBD
Campbell	CAA	Kevin McGeehan	John Andrzejek
Chicago State	NEC	Scott Spinelli	Landon Bussie
Colorado State	Mountain West	Niko Medved	TBD
Columbia	Ivy League	Jim Engel	Kevin Hovde
Denver	Summit League	Jeff Wulbrun	TBD
Drake	Missouri Valley	Ben McCollum	TBD
Florida State	ACC	Leonard Hamilton	Luke Loucks
Fordham	A10	Keith Urgo	TBD
Indiana	Big Ten	Mike Woodson	Darian DeVries
Iona	MAAC	Tobin Anderson	Dan Geriot
Iowa	Big Ten	Fran McCaffrey	Ben McCollum
La Salle	A-10	Fran Dunphy	Darris Nichols
Longwood	Big South	Griff Aldrich	Ronnie Thomas
Louisiana Lafayette	Sun Belt	Bob Marlin	Quannas White
Louisiana Monroe	Sun Belt	Keith Richard	Phil Cunningham
McNeese State	ACC	Will Wade	TBD
Miami	ACC	Jim Larranaga	Jai Lucas
Minnesota	Big Ten	Ben Johnson	Niko Medved
Murray State	MVC	Steve Prohm	Ryan Miller
Navy	Patriot League	Ed DeChellis	TBD
NC State	ACC	Kevin Keatts	Will Wade
New Mexico	Mountain West	Richard Pitino	TBD
Oral Roberts	Summit League	Russell Springmann	TBD
Penn	Ivy League	Steve Donahue	TBD
Radford	Big South	Darris Nichols	Zach Chu
South Florida	American	Amir Abdur-Rahim	Bryan Hodgson
Stephen F. Austin	Southland	Kyle Keller	Matt Braeuer
Texas	SEC	Rodney Terry	Sean Miller
UNLV	Mountain West	Kevin Kruger	Josh Pastner
Utah	Big 12	Craig Smith	Alex Jensen
vcu	A10	Ryan Odom	Phil Martelli, Jr.
Villanova	Big East	Kyle Neptune	TBD
Virginia	ACC	Tony Bennett	Ryan Odom
West Virginia	Big 12	Darian DeVries	TBD
Xavier	Big East	Sean Miller	Richard Pitino

 

[Pablo]

Reports: Penn to hire Philly native and former Iowa coach Fran McCaffery as men’s basketball coach

McCaffery, 65, the winningest coach in Iowa history, played for the Quakers from 1979-82 and served a season as assistant coach with the program

www.inquirer.com

 

[jessej]

Reports: Penn to hire Philly native and former Iowa coach Fran McCaffery as men’s basketball coach

McCaffery, 65, the winningest coach in Iowa history, played for the Quakers from 1979-82 and served a season as assistant coach with the program

www.inquirer.com

free article

MSN

Franny is from NE Philly and transferred into Penn after the Final Four Run. As a high schooler he earned the nickname "White Magic" for his playing style.

Players/classmates were canvassed about a week ago as to whether the University should approach him. Considering he has made $25M-$30M as Iowa coach the finances are not the issue. At 65 this could be more of a Fran Dunphy type of situation rather than a resting place until a better offer comes along.

Key will be the Asst. Coaching staff to get the academically qualified students as admission standards have increased since my/our undergraduate days. Lack of scholarships and significant if any NIL are also challenges. The best player on Penn's team last season left for Villanova and $250k at the end of the season.

Personally, i see this as a 4-year max situation, as this is a significant change from Iowa Basketball, and this represents Franny's gift back the Penn

 

[mkaufman1]

free article

MSN

Franny is from NE Philly and transferred into Penn after the Final Four Run. As a high schooler he earned the nickname "White Magic" for his playing style.

Players/classmates were canvassed about a week ago as to whether the University should approach him. Considering he has made $25M-$30M as Iowa coach the finances are not the issue. At 65 this could be more of a Fran Dunphy type of situation rather than a resting place until a better offer comes along.

Key will be the Asst. Coaching staff to get the academically qualified students as admission standards have increased since my/our undergraduate days. Lack of scholarships and significant if any NIL are also challenges. The best player on Penn's team last season left for Villanova and $250k at the end of the season.

Personally, i see this as a 4-year max situation, as this is a significant change from Iowa Basketball, and this represents Franny's gift back the Penn

Yeah completely agree. This is his last role, hes coming back home and it'll only be for a few years.

 

[Falco]

I was a little surprised vcu didn’t go after a more established name, but at the same time, vcu might just be a plug-and-play job. They’ve got better resources than most of the A-10, a strong fan base, and a built-in recruiting pipeline. As long as you don’t completely drop the ball, you’re probably going to win there.

That’s why Martelli Jr. will probably be just fine. vcu’s track record speaks for itself—every coach they’ve had in the last 20 years peaked at vcu. Even Shaka. The job is set up for success, and the infrastructure is there no matter who’s in charge.

That said, after watching Mason’s game against Bradley, I started looking more into Brian Wardle, and the guy deserves a shot at a bigger job. He’s built Bradley into a consistent contender, won multiple MVC titles, and developed a reputation for tough, defensive-minded teams. If a high mid-major is looking for a coach who knows how to win, recruit, and develop players, Wardle should be getting calls.

But vcu? They’ll probably be fine no matter who they hire.

 

[Pablo]

REPORT: West Virginia to hire North Texas' Ross Hodge as new Head Basketball Coach - HoopDirt

According to a Matt Norlander report, West Virginia is expected to hire North Texas Head Coach Ross Hodge as their new head coach. West Virginia AD Wren Baker was the AD at North Texas before taking over at WVA back in 2022. In his two seasons as the head coach at UNT, Hodge has goneContinue...

hoopdirt.com

 

[Walter]

WVU went far down the list before landing on Hodge.

Back to vcu . . . Does anyone think Jr. was in their top 3? Not a chance.