As expected, the next job to come open popped on Saturday morning when Villanova split with Kyle Neptune. In the afternoon, UNLV cracked with the anticipated firing of four-year coach Kevin Kruger. You can read that story here. I've got a little more on both openings in the capsules below.
The big headline from Friday: Iowa sacking longtime coach Fran McCaffery after 15 seasons leading the program. The winningest coach in Hawkeyes history failed to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season, and now there's a fairly prominent opening in the Big Ten that could be enticing for an up-and-coming coach.
Early names: West Virginia's Darian DeVries is high on Iowa AD Beth Goetz's list, I'm told, in addition to Drake's Ben McCollum. Mississippi State's Chris Jans and Colorado State's Niko Medved are also potential targets. Iowa got to work preliminary feelers on Saturday, sources said.
What I'm monitoring/hearing:
• UCF continues to be wait-and-see. One source speculated the school could be working with Johnny Dawkins to determine the framing of a change, if it's to happen. Many in the industry are expecting movement there, but it's been the toughest read at the power-conference level for the past month-plus
• Texas is considered a lock to open unless Rodney Terry makes a huge run into the NCAA Tournament, even with UT potentially playing its way into the NCAAs after beating A&M in dramatic fashion on Thursday. Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Snyder was a rumored candidate in recent weeks, but that's not happening. The potential list is filled with sitting power-conference coaches
• Elsewhere, NC State AD Boo Corrigan flew out to Houston on Thursday to interview Will Wade in person, according to my sources. The school was arranging another meeting with a sitting head coach on Saturday, one source added. Wade's candidacy seems to be gaining some steam, but New Mexico's Richard Pitino, Tennessee assistant Justin Gainey and others are still under consideration, including the alleged mystery candidate.
Two headlines from Thursday were a firing and a hiring. The former: Ben Johnson's overnight dismissal at Minnesota. He's out after four seasons. I've got more on the situation in Minneapolis in the capsule below. The latter: Murray State hired Creighton assistant Ryan Miller. He interviewed in NYC this week with school leadership and accepted the offer Thursday morning, sources told CBS Sports, and added that Ja Morant had a voice throughout the process, including supporting another promising candidate in Dayton assistant James Kane. Morant is represented by Miller's brother, NBA player-turned-agent Mike Miller.
Remember to check back in here every morning, afternoon and evening; this story will get frequent updates.
We're at 24 job openings right now and that number is going to increase Friday. We'll almost definitely hit at least 40 coaching moves in this cycle — and 50-plus wouldn't be a surprise at all. That said, I don't expect 2025 to hit the levels of absurdity that 2024 did, when there was a record 68 job swaps. Be sure to bookmark this page. It will get daily updates moving forward.
Major-conference changes
| 1 | |
| Out: Leonard Hamilton | In: Luke Loucks After 22 seasons, Hamilton, 76, is leaving his post in Tallahassee. He won more than 450 games at FSU and molded nine first-round NBA picks. But the program slipped in recent seasons and a reboot is in order. Hamilton is also being sued by five of his former players over disputed non-payments tied to NIL opportunities from the 2023-24 season. Loucks is an FSU alum and most recently worked as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings. | |
| 2 | |
| Out: Mike Woodson | In : TBD The Hoosiers may well play their way into the NCAAs during Woodson's lame-duck run in Year 4, but Thursday's loss to Oregon will have the Hoosiers sweating all the way up to the 6 p.m. ET hour on Selection Sunday. If IU makes it, that will mark three Big Dance showings in four years under Woodson. Big picture, the program failed to hit the upper echelons of the sport, and thus, IU will be hiring its sixth coach in a quarter century. The leading names as of Thursday were Drake's Ben McCollum and Clemson's Brad Brownell, though one source cautioned that it's still very possible AD Scott Dolson has a target that's floating off-radar. (That target isn't Creighton's Greg McDermott, FWIW.) | |
| 3 | |
| Out: Fran McCaffery | In : TBD After 15 seasons, the Fran McCaffery era has come to an end for the Iowa Hawkeyes. The 65-year-old coach was fired Friday by athletic director Beth Goetz, one day removed from the Hawkeyes' 106-94 second-round loss in the Big Ten Tournament to Illinois. The Hawkeyes are 17-16 and will miss the NCAAs for the second straight season. McCaffery took Iowa to the NCAA tourney seven times, and it would have been eight if there had been a 2020 tourney. But Iowa didn't make the Sweet 16 once under McCaffery; the school last advanced that far in 1999 under Tom Davis. | |
| 4 | |
| Out: Jim Larranaga | In: Jai Lucas When Larranaga retired the day after Christmas, it sent a bad Miami team skidding into trouble full-on off the cliff and into an all-time plunge. The 7-24 Hurricanes had one of their worst seasons in program history. It's wild to look back at this program now vs. where it was less than two years ago when it made the Final Four. Lucas has left Duke for good; ultimately, it was decided it would be best to not have too many distractions for him to stay on. The portal opens March 24, so Lucas has time to build out his staff behind the seasons. A massive roster flip will be underway in Coral Gables in no time. Highly respected ace player development coach Andrew Moran (who has deep ties around Miami) will be joining Lucas' staff, sources told CBS Sports. | |
| 5 | |
| Out: Ben Johnson | In: TBD Four years and out for the Minnesota alum, who was fired overnight Thursday by AD Mark Coyle. Coyle left Indiana and his selection committee duties to fly back to campus and dismiss Johnson in person, which I believe is a first in college hoops history. This is an OK job with a solid ceiling that is desperate for a lot more financial support. Names to keep an eye on include Colorado State's Niko Medved, Denver Nuggets assistant Ryan Saunders, Grand Canyon's Bryce Drew, Loyola Chicago's Drew Valentine and Saint Louis' Josh Schertz. | |
| 6 | |
| Out: Kevin Keatts | In: TBD What a year for Keatts and NC State. From nearly being fired in 2024, then reeling off nine straight win-or-go-home games to make the Final Four ... to being fired Sunday, after falling to lowly Miami and ending the season 12-19. State will play nearly $8 million to send Keatts packing. Asking around, this job has a lot of varied opinions on its viability moving forward. ACC ties are good, home arena not so much. Fan base needs a name to really rally some optimism. Will Wade has a lot of support from NC State fans, but it's not yet clear how much traction he has with AD Boo Corrigan and school president Randy Woodson. The smoke suggests Wade has the lead as of this weekend. | |
| 7 | |
| Out: Craig Smith | In: Alex Jensen Utah AD Mark Harlan's awkwardly timed firing of Smith didn't do him any favors in the industry; a lot of people around college athletics panned Harlan for how he handled it. Turns out, that timing enabled him to convince Jensen to take the job and get a head start on the inevitable portal purge. Utah's NIL situation is near the bottom of the Big 12. Will this hire create a surge of financial support? With fellow former Ute Andre Miller in the mix to join Jensen's staff, that would only help the cause. More big changes in the Beehive State. | |
| 8 | |
| Out: Kyle Neptune | In: TBD The school did the inevitable on Saturday and moved on after Neptune's Wildcats went 19-14 this season and finished well off the bubble cutline went. The standard on the Main Line is clear-cut: NCAA Tournaments every year, and competing for Final Fours often. The search is underway. The names that have been murmured about with this in recent weeks include Ryan Odom (VCU; he might already be in too deep with Virginia), Porter Moser (Oklahoma), Richard Pitino (New Mexico) and Chris Collins (Villanova). I'm wondering if McCollum isn't a long-shot potential. Also, given the way Villanova does things, I think it's very possible an off-the-board name could emerge over the next week. | |
| 9 | |
| Out: Ron Sanchez | In: TBD On Wednesday, Virginia officially moved on from Sanchez, who served as the interim after Tony Bennett's abrupt retirement in October. Sources said a search firm working on behalf of Virginia has been in touch with multiple candidates. One of them is local and obvious: VCU coach Ryan Odom. The Rams are atop the A-10, and Odom's father Dave coached in the league (Wake Forest and Virginia for more than 20 years). He's not the only one in play here, though. Richard Pitino is one to watch, especially given the outstanding job he's done at New Mexico this season. Re: my previous note here on the mystery candidate. It was a sitting head coach outside the Power Five, but they are no longer involved. I'm told UVa expects to have around $7 million to provide in NIL and anticipated revenue sharing for the 2025-26 season. I think the hope in Charlottesville is to have the coach signed by next weekend. | |
Non-Power Five changes
| 1 | |
| Out: Scott Davenport | In: Doug Davenport Scott Davenport was an institution at Bellarmine, guiding the program from D-II to D-I in recent years. He won a national title in 2011 and went to four D-II Final Fours in total, in addition to 426 games across 20 seasons. In total, he spent more than four decades coaching basketball in Louisville. A fixture in that city. With his retirement, Bellarmine has allowed Scott to hand the job to his son, Doug, who has been on staff for nine years. | |
| 2 | |
| Out: Kevin McGeehan | In: TBD McGeehan lasted 12 seasons with the Fighting Camels but was fired Sunday following a 15-17 campaign. He went 184-199 and couldn't bring Campbell to the NCAAs during his dozen years. The school moved from the Big South to the CAA two years ago and will seek a reboot. | |
| 3 | |
| Out: Scott Spinelli | In: TBD A one-year experiment gone awry. Chicago State went 4-28 and finished 361 at KenPom in its first season in the NEC. Truly one of the five toughest jobs in all of Division I. | |
| 4 | |
| Out: Jim Engles | In: TBD Two Ivies opened Monday (Penn the other). Engles was with the Lion for nine years but never wound up with a season above .500. This is a tough gig, but it is in a great part of New York City. Florida assistant Kevin Hovde (previously an assistant at Columbia) and NYU coach (D-III) Dave Klatsky should get strong looks here. | |
| 5 | |
| Out: Fran Dunphy | In: Darris Nichols The 76-year-old Philly legend is retiring this month after nearly 50 years in college basketball coaching. Dunphy won more than 600 games and is among the most well-liked and accomplished coaches in the storied history of Philadelphia basketball. La Salle's program is among the more cash-strapped at the multi-bid-league level. Nichols got the nod after a few low-major coaches from the northeast were heavily looked into. La Salle has made one NCAA tourney in the past 33 years. | |
| 6 | |
| Out: Bob Marlin | In: Quannas White After a 15-year run that included two Sun Belt auto bids (2014, 2023), Marlin was fired in December. After some wait-and-see and a few tussles with contract negotiations, Louisiana got White to the finish line. He's 44 and been ready to run a program for a few years now after spending the past eight with Kelvin Sampson. He'll join the program after Houston's season ends. | |
| 7 | |
| Out: Keith Richard | In: TBD Richard began his time as coach of the Warhawks in the Sun Belt in 2010, but he was never been able to break through and make the NCAAs. Program last made the Big Dance in 1996. | |
| 8 | |
| Out: Steve Prohm | In: Ryan Miller Prohm's second go-round with the Racers wasn't fruitful. He resigned last Friday after Murray State's loss to Bradley, leaving with a 45-52 record in three years. Word in the Missouri Valley is Murray State is ready to invest more money into its program than any other school in that league for the 2025-26 season. Miller, a Creighton who has been in the running in recent years at a number of jobs, beat out a litany of power-conference assistants. | |
| 9 | |
| Former coach: Russell Springmann | In: TBD A semi-surprise, as Springmann only made it two seasons before getting sacked. The Golden Eagles went 7-23 this year and sunk to the bottom of the Summit League. | |
| 10 | |
| Out: Steve Donahue | In: TBD It was a decade for Donahue in Philly, with the Quakers making the NCAAs in 2018. This year was the worst yet, with Penn going 8-19 and finishing 292 at KenPom. I'm told the objective here is to hire a sitting head coach. Robert Morris' Andy Toole is an alum and also happens to have a team in the NCAA Tournament. Until I'm told otherwise, I consider him as likely a candidate as anyone else. | |
| 11 | |
| Out: Darris Nichols | In: TBD The Highlanders are looking for a new coach after four years with Nichols, which totaled a 68-63 record at the Big South program. The school has made three NCAA Tournaments since 1998. Nichols' brother, Shane, is in the mix to be bumped up, but two others are also finalists: Notre Dame assistant Kyle Getter and Virginia Tech assistant JD Byers. | |
| 12 | |
| Out: Michael Czepil | In: TBD David Patrick resigned last May (and eventually joined Matt McMahon's staff at LSU), which led to Czepil being the interim. The Hornets finished the regular season 7-24. | |
| 13 | |
| Out: Kyle Keller | In: Matt Braeuer Keller coached SFA for nearly nine seasons and won 18 or more games in six of those years. He was fired in January. He also was responsible for one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history, when his Lumberjacks team upset No. 1 Duke in November of 2019 . Braueuer comes via Texas Tech, but his ties within Texas date back to being on Grant McCasland's staff at North Texas as well. He'll join the program after TTU's run ends in the NCAA Tournament. | |
| 14 | |
| Out: Kevin Kruger | In: TBD The Runnin' Rebels went 18-15 this season, falling Thursday in the Mountain West quarterfinals to Utah State. Vegas never made an NCAA Tournament under Kruger's watch, and beyond that, never had a season wherein they finished better than 73rd at KenPom. Candidates involved here could stretch far and wide, but a few initial ones to know include Grand Canyon's Bryce Drew, UC San Diego's Eric Olen, UC Irvine's Russell Turner, Florida assistant Carlin Hartman and UConn assistant Luke Murray. | |
| 15 | |
| Former coach: Amir Abdur-Rahim | In: TBD A sad inclusion to the tracker, as Abdur-Rahim tragically died in the preseason at 43 , leading to Ben Fletcher serving as the interim head coach over the past four-plus months. Abdur-Rahim was a rising star. The American Athletic Conference named Abdur-Rahim its Honorary Coach of the Year for 2024-25. | |