Nine Men’s Hoops Coaches Poised to Shape—and Dominate

Four years ago, men’s college basketball’s future was facing something of an identity crisis. Many of the faces who had defined the sport over the past several decades were all calling it quits around the same time. We knew the 2022 Final Four in New Orleans would be it for Mike Krzyzewski, but we didn’t know at the time that it would also be the end for Jay Wright, who had turned Villanova into arguably the best program of the 2010s. In a sport that has always been shaped by its biggest coaches being larger than life, the questions were valid about who the next faces of college basketball would be.

The four national champions since then have answered that question. The first two went to 53-year-old Dan Hurley and UConn, with Hurley becoming arguably the sport’s most recognizable head coach in the process. The next two champions had to go through Hurley to win their titles, and both are elite modern recruiters and roster builders: Todd Golden at Florida in 2025 and Dusty May at Michigan in ’26. Unless any of that trio leaves for the NBA (Hurley already turned down the Lakers two years ago), they figure to be faces of the sport for at least the next decade and beyond.

But it’s not just those three who are set to carry the torch forward. There’s a very strong group of younger coaches quickly joining Hurley, Golden and May at the top of college hoops, especially as the next wave of older title-winning coaches (Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino, Bill Self) enter the twilight of their careers. Who could be the next first-time title winners to watch? Here’s a look at nine coaches who might dominate the next decade.

Approaching a title

Nate Oats, Alabama

Age: 51
Deepest Run: 2024 Final Four

Oats has built a consistently excellent program in Tuscaloosa, one of just three schools nationally with four straight trips to the NCAA tournament’s second weekend. They’ve been a machine at developing guards, the latest example being Labaron Philon Jr.’s sophomore explosion. Oats has been steadfast that he can build a championship team at Alabama, and it’s reasonable to expect them to keep knocking on the door in the coming years.

Tommy Lloyd, Arizona

Age: 51
Deepest Run: 2026 Final Four

Lloyd has had a sterling first five years as a head coach, with four No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in the NCAA tournament and five top-15 KenPom finishes. He rebuffed North Carolina’s strong pursuit to stay in Tucson with a fresh contract that will make him one of the sport’s highest-paid coaches. The Wildcats ran into a buzzsaw in the Final Four against Michigan this year but were clearly a title-level team … and if I’m a betting man, it won’t be the last time Lloyd is on that stage.

Jon Scheyer, Duke

Age: 38
Deepest Run: 2025 Final Four

Scheyer has led Duke to back-to-back 35-win seasons and has had back-to-back national players of the year in Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer. The only thing preventing a truly magical start to the post–Coach K era in Durham, N.C., has been a pair of stunning NCAA tournament collapses, one to Houston in the 2025 Final Four and the other to UConn in this year’s Elite Eight. But there were plenty of eventual legends (Krzyzewski and Wright among them) who “couldn’t win the big one” until they did. Scheyer could easily be on the same trajectory.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer with his hands on his hips. — Duke coach Jon Scheyer has already led the Blue Devils to back-to-back 35-win seasons and produced two national players of the year. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State

Age: 48
Deepest Run: 2026 Sweet 16

Otzelberger is fresh off his best season yet at Iowa State, a 29-win campaign and a third trip to the Sweet 16 in five years on the job in Ames. If not for Joshua Jefferson’s ankle injury early in the NCAA tournament, the Cyclones had Final Four potential. His teams defend at an elite level. The question of breaking through for a title-caliber club likely hinges on whether he can get more offensive talent through the door at a non-traditional destination.

Grant McCasland, Texas Tech

Age: 49
Deepest Run: 2025 Elite Eight

McCasland is one of the best roster-builders in the sport, an elite navigator of both the high school and portal worlds to build some impressive teams in three years at Texas Tech. This year’s group had the potential to make a similar run to last season’s Elite Eight before JT Toppin’s ACL tear in February. It helps to have the backing of one of the most aggressive NIL campaigns in the sport, but Tech can be expected to be a perennial factor in the Big 12 and maybe more under McCasland’s leadership.

Next up

Ryan Odom, Virginia

Age: 51
Deepest Run: 2026 Round of 32

Odom is now in the rare company of coaches who’ve won at four different schools: first at UMBC, then successful pit stops at Utah State and VCU before a 30-win first season at Virginia. There’s opportunity in Charlottesville, with the Cavaliers set to return star PG Chance Mallory, PF Thijs De Ridder and C Johann Grünloh and more talent incoming around them. He looks poised to have Virginia near the top of the ACC for years to come.

Virginia coach Ryan Odom conducts a press conference. — Virginia coach Ryan Odom has had success at four schools. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Mark Byington, Vanderbilt

Age: 49
Deepest Run: 2026 Round of 32

The future is extremely bright in Nashville under Byington, who just let Vanderbilt to its best-ever KenPom finish in just his second year on the job. His teams play a brilliant, analytically friendly style on the offensive end, and he has made a habit of finding hidden gems out of both high school and the portal dating back to his successful tenures at James Madison and Georgia Southern. He locked in a major contract extension this spring in the midst of NC State and North Carolina circling and could build a sustainable winner in Nashville for the long term.

Ben McCollum, Iowa

Age: 44
Deepest Run: 2026 Elite Eight

In spite of the graying hair, McCollum is just 44 and has a remarkable résumé to show for it at his young age, capped by this year’s surprise Elite Eight run that included a shocking upset of defending national champion Florida. Including his time at Division II power Northwest Missouri State, he has won 450 games already in his head coaching career at a ridiculous .806 winning percentage. There are still some questions about how he’ll recruit and navigate the portal at the highest levels of the sport, but few coaches are better from a tactical standpoint than McCollum.

Jai Lucas, Miami

Age: 37
Deepest Run: 2026 Round of 32

This is a bit of a shot call for a guy who is entering his first full offseason as a head coach, but Year 1 under Lucas in Miami was encouraging, engineering a 19-win improvement from the prior year with a rapid roster flip executed last spring. Lucas is an elite recruiter, and the Hurricanes seem well-positioned to make a major splash or two in this year’s transfer portal. And if he wins big with the Canes, don’t be surprised if bluebloods come calling.

Miami coach Jai Lucas reacts during a game. — Miami coach Jai Lucas is an elite recruiter who already engineered a 19-win improvement from the previous season in one year. | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

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