College Basketball’s Coaching Carousel: Tracking the Hirings, Firings and Rumored Moves

With March Madness down to the Final Four, the college basketball coaching carousel is kicking into high gear.

Justin Gainey is heading to his alma mater NC State to take over as head coach after a successful run as associate head coach at Tennessee. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

March Madness is fully underway, with the Final Four set and ready to tip off next weekend in Indianapolis. We’ve gone from 68 men’s basketball teams vying for the national championship to just four—Michigan, Arizona, UConn and Illinois. It also means that we now have 64 more teams facing the offseason, and with it, whatever coaching and roster changes might be to come.

That’s right folks—the coaching carousel is in full swing.

On one end of the spectrum, there are coaches at smaller programs who have proven themselves ready to potentially make the leap to a power school. On the other end, there are those leading power programs currently that haven’t produced the results expected of them. The result is a lot of movement, and we’re tracking it all here.

Who’s been hired?

NC State hires alumnus Justin Gainey from Tennessee staff

Justin Gainey is heading to his alma mater NC State one day after Tennessee fell to Michigan in the Elite Eight. | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After Will Wade left them behind after a single season in Raleigh, NC State is keeping things in the family.

The Wolfpack are reportedly hiring Justin Gainey to lead the program, according to multiple reports. The 49-year-old, who played for NC State from 1996 to 2000, is a well-traveled assistant, with stints at power programs like Arizona, Marquette and, most recently, Tennessee, where he served as Rick Barnes’s associate head coach. The Volunteers have won games in the NCAA tournament in all five of Gainey’s seasons in Knoxville, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2023 and three consecutive Elite Eights from ‘24 to ‘26.

Longtime Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobsen makes the jump to Utah State

After losing Jerrod Calhoun to Cincinnati, Utah State pulled off one of the most surprising hires of the cycle, poaching Ben Jacobsen, UNI’s head coach since 2006.

Whoa. Didn’t think he would ever leave UNI. https://t.co/lQ2nFbVG74

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 30, 2026

Jacobsen is a mid-major stalwart, leading the Panthers to five NCAA tournaments and wins in three difference Big Dances, including a Sweet 16 run in 2010. He was on the sideline for two of the greatest shots in NCAA tournament history: Ali Farokhmanesh’s buzzer-beater to knock off Kansas in 2010 and Paul Jesperson’s half-court prayer against Texas in 2016. The Aggies hope he’ll deliver similar moments in the reconstituted Pac-12 beginning this year.

St. Bonaventure tabs Division II Daemen’s Mike MacDonald to lead program

After weeks of speculation, St. Bonaventure, led by general manager Adrian Wojnarowski, is finalizing a deal to hire Mike MacDonald to lead the program, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports. Like Woj, MacDonald is a Bonnies alumnus and has deep roots in Olean and Western New York, having led three Buffalo area programs—MAAC school Canisius, Division III Medaille and D-II Daemen, where he posted a 232–84 record in 11 years with four trips to the D-II NCAA tournament. MacDonald was 108–153 in his last Division I stop during his nine seasons with the Griffins, posting winning records twice between 1997 and 2006.

Boston College lands UConn assistant Luke Murray

UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley talks with assistant coach Luke Murray. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Boston College has found its next coach in UConn assistant Luke Murray. Murray, son of actor Bill Murray, has been working in college basketball since 2007 and held assistant coaching positions at various schools since 2010. Murray joined the UConn staff in 2021 and was a part of the Huskies’ back-to-back championship runs in ‘23 and ‘24.

LSU brings back Will Wade in messy reunion

The long and winding road has brought Will Wade back to LSU. Wade coached the Tigers from 2017–22 before he was fired amidst allegations of recruiting violations in the pre-NIL era. Wade was hired at McNeese State, where he coached for three years before landing with NC State this past season. After leading the Wolfpack to a 20–14 season, Wade confirmed on Thursday that he was heading back to LSU after the Tigers fired coach Matt McMahon.

Former Louisville, Xavier coach Chris Mack jumps up to USF job

Chris Mack led the Louisville program after Rick Pitino’s ouster from the Cardinals. | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Chris Mack is back on the move. The former Xavier and Louisville coach, fresh off of his second 20-plus win season at College of Charleston in as many years, will take over at USF, the school announced Wednesday, replacing the outgoing Bryan Hodgson. It wasn’t long ago that Mack was one of the nation’s hottest young coaches, after he took Xavier to five consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2014 to ‘18, with two trips to the second round, a Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight. He took over for Louisville a year after Rick Pitino’s ouster, and brought the Cardinals to the Big Dance, losing in the first round, and was 24–7 (15–5) in 2020 before the cancellation of that year’s tournament. A disappointing 2020–21 followed by a 6–8 start in ‘21–22 resulted in his dismissal. Now he’s climbing the coaching ladder once again after two solid years with the Cougars in which he went 45–20.

Butler tabs program great Ronald Nored to replace Thad Matta

Thad Matta retired from coaching earlier this month, ending his second stint at Butler. He went just 87–77 in four years this time around, failing to make the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs have tabbed a very familiar face to lead the program going forward, former point guard Ronald Nored, who has been rising the ranks in the NBA, a source tells Sports Illustrated. Nored, who helped lead Butler to back-to-back national title game appearances in 2010 and ‘11, entered coaching after graduating in 2012, with stops in the Celtics, Nets, Hornets, Pacers and Hawks organizations, including a run as head coach of the G-League Long Island Nets from 2016 to ‘18. He has been with Atlanta since 2023. His only college coaching stint came as an assistant at Northern Kentucky during the 2015–16 season.

Arizona State snags former Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett on five-year deal

After 25 years at Saint Mary’s, Randy Bennett is heading to Arizona State. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

In what may end up being the best pound-for-pound hire of the cycle, Arizona State finally coaxed the Mesa, Ariz., native back home after an incredible run of consistent success at Saint Mary’s. ASU had long been circled as a potential destination if Bennett ever left Moraga, Calif., but many considered him a lifer there; after all, he just completed his 25th year on the job. Pulling him at a job most considered to be near the bottom of the Big 12 is a massive win. Even if he’s only able to land the same caliber of player he has in the latter part of his Saint Mary’s tenure, he’ll have the Sun Devils consistently in the NCAA tournament. 

The big question: How much did conference realignment play into Bennett’s decision? With Gonzaga leaving the WCC for the new Pac-12, Saint Mary’s would have had a tougher time consistently getting at-large bids. That had to have made a move to the Big 12 more attractive.

Saint Mary’s promotes associate head coach Mickey McConnell to top job

Saint Mary’s didn’t wait long to fill the void left by Bennett’s jump to Arizona State, promoting associate head coach Mickey McConnell to the top of the program. McConnell played for the Gaels under Bennett from 2007 to ’11 and his 1,234 points are the 12th most in program history. After playing professionally internationally for eight years, McConnell returned to Saint Mary’s as an assistant in 2019 and ascended to associate head coach in ’22.

Gerry McNamara returns home to Syracuse

Gerry McNamara will be Syracuse’s next head coach after taking Siena to the NCAA men’s tournament. | Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Two years after leaving Adrian Autry’s staff to take over the program at Siena, McNamara is set to return to his alma mater, replacing Autry as the second consecutive former Jim Boeheim assistant to take over the program since the Hall of Famer’s retirement. 

McNamara impressed, elevating the Saints from four wins to 14 in his first year, and winning the MAAC despite a depleted roster and taking No. 1 overall seed Duke to the brink in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Year 2. Even so, is he the new voice that Syracuse needs, after being on staff for a large portion of the program’s slide to mediocrity under Boeheim and Autry? Will the NIL draw of an Orange legend helming the program help Syracuse catch up in the college basketball arms race? These are the significant questions that McNamara will need to answer quickly.

Providence hires Bryan Hodgson

Hodgson’s profile has been surging over the past few years. The former Nate Oats assistant turned Arkansas State into one of the Sun Belt’s best programs in just two years, and made South Florida the class of the American, leading them to a conference title and the NCAA tournament this year. Just under a year from the day that he took the Bulls job, he announced his departure for Providence, a job in his native Northeast and a step up in play to the Big East.

Cincinnati lands Utah State coach, Bearcats alumnus Jerrod Calhoun

Jerrod Calhoun returns to his alma mater to coach Cincinnati men’s basketball. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cincinnati fired Wes Miller after five largely unsuccessful seasons, and the program has now gone seven years without reaching the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats reached a deal with someone who has done just that two years in a row. 

Jerrod Calhoun led Utah State to the tournament in each of the last two seasons, and advanced to the second round this year with an 86–76 win over Villanova. While in charge of the Aggies, the 44-year-old Calhoun has a record of 55–15 (.786), and this season his squad won the Mountain West regular-season and conference tournament titles. 

Calhoun previously coached at Youngstown State and Division II Fairmont State, compiling a 297–159 (.651) record in 15 seasons as a head coach. Plus, he’s a Cincinnati alum with tons of ties to the region, making this one a slam dunk. 

Wes Miller lands at Charlotte 

Speaking of Miller, he found a bounce back quickly. With the Bearcats, he went 100–74 (.575) and never reached the NCAA tournament. That followed 10 largely successful seasons at UNC Greensboro where he won three Southern Conference regular-season titles and reached the NCAA tournament twice. 

The former national title-winning North Carolina point guard is now back in the state after agreeing to a five-year deal at Charlotte. Miller is 43 and moving back down a level to the American Conference might be what he needs to turn his career around.

Georgia Tech hires Scott Cross

Scott Cross heads to the ACC to take over Georgia Tech after an NCAA tournament run at Troy. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Two straight tournament appearances landed Troy’s Scott Cross a big step up. Georgia Tech hired him late last week after the Trojans bowed out in the first round of the tournament the second year in a row. Cross led his program to back-to-back Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles, and that was enough for the Yellow Jackets to tab him as Damon Stoudamire’s replacement. Georgia Tech associate athletic director Brent Jones was Troy’s athletic director when Cross was hired in 2019.

The 51-year-old Cross went 9–22 in his first season at Troy, then improved to 11–17 during the 2020–21 campaign before ripping off five consecutive 20-plus win seasons. Cross went 125–99 (.558) in seven seasons at Troy, which followed 12 seasons at his alma mater UT Arlington. He’ll take over a Georgia Tech program that hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2021.

Bluebloods we’re monitoring 

Bill Self dishes on retirement rumors

Bill Self says no decision has been made on whether he’ll retire this offseason. | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

Retirement rumors with the 63-year-old Self have swirled, especially since Kansas brought back former Jayhawk player Jacque Vaughn as an assistant from the NBA ranks. Self was noncommittal about his future Sunday in the aftermath of Kansas’s loss to St. John’s, citing health concerns. He forcefully denied rumors that he has made up his mind and that a retirement announcement is imminent on Wednesday.

If Self retires, Vaughn seems well-positioned to be his successor. He has NBA head coaching experience, strong ties to the Kansas program, and has gotten a year under his belt learning the college game from Self. A second year as Self’s protégé could help seal the deal.

North Carolina finally makes a move

On Tuesday, North Carolina parted ways with head coach Hubert Davis after a difficult season. The line of Tar Heels coaches with ties to Dean Smith may end with Davis as well, but the list of candidates for the job is long. This can be the best job in the country, and will have a lot of interest over the next few weeks as top candidates’ seasons end.

Other jobs to watch 

• Utah State has become something of a coaching factory of late, sending four coaches to high-majors since 2020. The first of that wave, Craig Smith, is out of work after getting fired at Utah last year and could stabilize things. Or, Utah State could stick with the mold that has worked of late and target successful mid-major coaches like Utah Valley’s Todd Phillips and Seattle’s Chris Victor.
• The leader at St. Bonaventure is still believed to be Daemen coach Mike MacDonald, a Bonaventure alum. Daemen was eliminated in the D-II Elite Eight on Wednesday. 

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