Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)
A bunch of things I’ve heard as we steam towards Memorial Day Weekend…
I have heard from a great source that Hawai’i Pacific associate head coach Cameron Flabel is on the move and will become an assistant at Idaho State. Flabel, and Idaho native and ISU alum, had been at HPU for the past five seasons.
With Jay Lawson retiring at Bentley after 34 years (D2 NEWS), obviously the hot name here will be UMBC assistant Danny Lawson. He is a 2007 Bentley alum (where he played for his dad), and went 101-27 as a player during his career. In addition to his time at UMBC, he has also been an assistant at Duquesne and LIU, and served as the head coach at D3 Emmanuel College. More names here as I hear them.
Luke Latina has joined the staff at Mercyhurst. The 2026 Assumption grad is the son of current Sacred Heart head coach Anthony Latina. It also sounds like Tufts assistant Brendan Fitzpatrick is in the mix to join the staff at Mercyhurst as well. Last season was his first at Tufts after a stint at Hartford.
I have heard that the search at D3 Lebanon Valley will have four on campus interviews. The names making the rounds are: New Hampshire assistant Matt Miller, Loyola (MD) assistant Ricky Hernandez, current LVC assistant Brad Karli, and a current successful D3 head coach from outside of the region.
The search for a new head coach at D2 Tiffin (OH) is complete. It sounds like the leader here is Grand Valley State assistant Sterling Johnson. Prior to joining the GVSU staff two seasons ago, Johnson was a GA at Virginia Tech and has also worked at Northwood University, Schoolcraft College, the University of Northwestern Ohio, and Defiance College. An official announcement could be made by the end of the week.
I have heard that NAIA Webber International (FL) is down to their final three candidates in their search for a new head coach. The names that I’ve heard here include: Florida Southern assistant Ryan Kardok, Ave Maria assistant Paul Matthews, and former Florida Tech head coach Billy Mims. Sounds like this one will be wrapped up shortly.
Earlier today, I mentioned that Andrew May had resigned as the Head Coach at NJCAA D1 Snow College (JUCO DIRT). I have now heard from multiple coaches who have said that May will join the staff at Utah Valley. He would replace Adam Jacobsen who departed for Hawai’i earlier this month.
It sounds like Eddie Trenkle has stepped down from his position of head men’s basketball coach at Northeastern Junior College (CO) and been promoted to full-time Director of Athletics the school. Trenkle had spent the past 20 seasons as the head coach of the Plainsmen.
Check out all of the openings at every level of college basketball in HoopDirt’s Coaching Changes Tracker presented by The Coaching Portfolio. The complete list can be found HERE.
