Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)
A bunch of things to close out the week. Stay tuned though, today will be busy. I set this week’s O/U on D1 moves at 15.5 – we are now at 6. I’d probably take the under at this point, but tonight through Sunday will be active. Could sneak up on it…
Besides the obvious name of Drake assistant Marty Richter at Florida Gulf Coast, other names I’ve heard for the FGCU job are: USC associate head coach Chris Capko, Baylor assistant John Jakus, and Florida assistant Erik Pastrana. Outgoing head coach Michael Fly will continue to coach the team when they host a first round game in next week’s postseason tournament – The Basketball Classic presented by Eracism.
Early at The Citadel, as it just opened yesterday, but Ed Conroy’s name is hot there. The current Vanderbilt assistant was the head coach at The Citadel from 2006-10, and then at Tulane (2010-14). The Citadel has only won 20-games twice in the history of the program, and one of those times was on Conroy’s watch in 2008-09. At least D1 two former head coaches also trying to get involved. More soon.
Some names that I’ve heard at Maine include former Albany head coach WIll Brown, Hartford head coach John Gallagher, Florida International associate head coach Jesse Bopp, and Boston College assistant Chris Markwood. I have also heard that current interim head coach Jai Steadman will be in the mix.
Billy Lange will be back as the head coach at St. Joe’s, as confirmed by Jon Rothstein last night. Lange’s Hawks went 11-19 (5-13 A10) this past season, and he is 22-60 (.286) in his three years at the helm.
It’s obviously very early at South Dakota, but a sneaky name to keep an eye on is Emporia State head coach Craig Doty. The South Dakota native has won National Championships as a head coach at Rock Valley (NJCAA), and Graceland (NAIA), and just led ESU to their first 20-win season since 2007.
The Kansas State names making the rounds are North Texas head coach Grant McCasland, Colorado State head coach Niko Medved, Baylor assistant Jerome Tang, and Murray State head coach Matt McMahon. Very generic list, not a ton of meat to it – more names will emerge as this thing gets going for real.
In yesterday’s 60 Second Update, I mentioned that there were 4 D1 JUCO’s that were opening – that number is now 6. I’ll start confirming/posting shortly.
The 2022 HoopDirt.com College Basketball Coaching Changes Tracker with moves at all levels can be found HERE.
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