Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)
Crazy that it’s May 1st already. So far this spring, we’ve had 59 D1 jobs open – and 58 of them get filled (waiting on Coppin State, their Final group is HERE). I set the O/U at 60.5 back on March 1st. If I were a betting man (and obviously I am), I would still take the over.
Here are a few things to start the week…
As I said on Twitter last night, the Linc Darner to Tampa chatter is really picking up. A few sources are reporting that this could be officially done this week. Darner, who recently became an assistant at Eastern Illinois, won a D2 National Championship back in 2015 at Florida Southern. He has also been the head coach at Green Bay and St. Joseph’s (IN), and holds a career record of 385–197 (.662). I have heard the other finalists included long-time Tampa associate head coach Justin Pecka, and Sun Belt assistant.
I’ve heard from multiple people that Scottsdale CC (AZ) head coach Mark Bunker is the leader at D2 Western New Mexico. Bunker has been the head coach at SCC since 2014, and started there as an assistant back in 2011. This past season, his team went 25-9, captured the NJCAA Region 1 title, and advanced to the NJCAA D2 National Tournament. I reported back on 4/11 (Daily Dirt), that the coaches involved here included, WNMU assistant Jared Blake, Angelo State assistant Mark Rutledge, Texas A&M Kingsville assistant Omar Gonzalez (now the head coach there), and two current JUCO head coaches (one obviously being Bunker). More on this one when it becomes official.
I’ve mentioned the search at D3 Rhode Island College a few times over the past week (finalists HERE). I have now heard that the job has been officially offered to one of the three candidates. Waiting to 100% confirm the name before I roll with it – stay tuned…
D2 Cal State San Marcos has officially posted their head coach job after BJ Foster departed for Southern Nazarene back on April 11th. I’ve been told that this will be a slow moving search, due to the Cal State system. It has to be posted for two weeks before a review of candidates can begin.
HoopDirt.com’s up-to-date list of college basketball coaching changes at the D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO levels can be found HERE.
