Last week, HoopDirt.com ranked the NCAA DII men’s basketball coaching changes (NCAA DII Rankings). This week, we have focused our attention to the NCAA DIII hirings.
There were 42 NCAA DIII schools that made men’s basketball coaching changes this past off-season. HoopDirt.com has ranked the Top 5 hirings as well as honorable mentions – the complete list of 2015 NCAA DIII hirings can be found at the bottom of the page.
Here are HoopDirt.com’s Top 5 NCAA DIII hirings:
1. Andrew Sachs – Salisbury University 
A 1990 Salisbury alum, Andrew Sachs had spent the past six seasons as the head coach at DIII Bethany College (WVa). He replaces Josh Merkel who was hired as the head coach at Randolph-Macon. During his tenure at Bethany, he compiled a 117-49 record and left as the program’s all-time leader in winning percentage. Prior to becoming a DIII head coach, he spent five seasons as the top assistant to Ralph Willard at Holy Cross. During his tenure, the Crusaders played in four Patriot League Championship games. Sachs started his career as an assistant at Salisbury, and has also had stops at Indiana (PA) and Virginia Wesleyan. Salisbury is coming off of a 21-win season and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Sachs brings the veteran experience and poise to keep Sea Gulls on the right track. He is already hitting it hard on the recruiting trail, and appears to have a solid group of returners in place.
2. Matt Goldsmith – The College of New Jersey
After averaging just over nine wins per season over the past nine years, TCNJ was looking for a winner – and it appears the have found one in Matt Goldsmith. The NJ native has had tremendous success as an assistant at his alma mater Amherst over the the past three seasons In his first season on the coaching staff in 2012-13, Goldsmith helped guide Amherst to a 30-2 record and the second national title in program history. The following season, the Jeffs made their fifth appearance in the Final Four and boasted a season mark of 27-4. This past winter, Amherst went 21-8 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA championship tournament. Following his graduation, Goldsmith played professionally in Germany, and has spent time as a volunteer assistant coach for USA Basketball during the past two summers.
3. Justin Potts – Moravian College
It’s not easy to replace a coach who has been on the job for 35 years (and won 440 games), but it looks like Moravian has made a great choice in turning to Justin Potts. The 2000 Moravian graduate not only played for recently retired Jim Walker, but he spent two years on his staff after graduation. In 2002, he became an assistant at DII East Stroudsburg University (PA), and had spent the past 13-seasons there, serving the past five as the associate head coach. During his time at ESU, he was part of Jeff Wilson’s staff that won 232 games (including 30 wins in 2013-14). Potts is known for his strong recruiting ties in the area, and should be able to have a ton of success at his alma mater.
4. Bob Simmons – Allegheny College
Allegheny has won just 38 games in the past five years, so they decided to turn to veteran coach Bob Simmons to turn things around. Prior to spending the last two seasons as the head coach at DIII Marywood University, Simmons worked for Billy Taylor as an assistant at Both Ball State (2007-13) and Lehigh (2002-07). He also spent two seasons (2000-02) as the head coach at Delaware Valley, and worked as an assistant at Lebanon Valley. Marywood had won just six games the season before Simmons was hired. He then increased the win total by four each season, finishing with a 14-11 record this past year.
5. Aaron Goodman – Washington College (MD)
After winning just thirteen games over the past three seasons, Washington College now looks to long-time Navy assistant Aaron Goodman to turn things around. Over the past nine years, Goodman has recruited the Mid-Atlanic hard while worked for both Ed DeChellis and Billy Lange at Navy. He is also no stranger to DIII, having spent four seasons as an assistant at Marymount (VA). A Maryland native, Goodman also spent the past three seasons as the head coach of Navy’s development team. It sounds like Goodman was left with a strong incoming class, and should be able to build on that as he begins to turn the program around.
Honorable Mention: Jason Harris (UMass-Boston), Tom Heil (Baldwin-Wallace), Josh Merkel (Randolph-Macon), Shawn Postiglione (Bridgewater), Travis Schwab (Muskingum), Ethan Stewart-Smith (Washington & Jefferson).
Here is the complete list of 2015 NCAA DIII Coaching Changes:
| SCHOOL | OLD COACH | NEW COACH |
|---|---|---|
| Allegheny (PA) | Jim Driggs | Bob Simmons |
| Baldwin Wallace | Duane Shelton | Tom Heil |
| Blackburn (IL) | Jason Baribeau | Steve Kollar |
| Bridgewater (VA) | Don Burgess | Shawn Postiglione |
| College of New Jersey (N.J.) | Kelly Williams | Matt Goldsmith |
| Concordia Chicago (lL) | Tyler Jones | Randy Rogers |
| Curry | Malcolm Wynn | Matt LeVangie |
| Defiance College | Tom Heil | Scott Cutter |
| Fontbonne (MO) | Anthony Hall | Lance Thornhill |
| Galluadet | Aaron Goodman | Kevin Kovacs |
| Goucher (MD) | Leonard Trevino | Tom Rose |
| Hood College | Tom Dickman | Chad Dickman |
| Hunter (NY) | Shay Berry | John Pelin |
| Johnson State (VT) | Tommy Verdell | Miles Smith, Jr. |
| Keene State | Rob Colbert | Ryan Cain |
| Louisiana College | Gene Rushing | Reni Mason |
| Manchester (IN) | Brad Nadborne | Gerad Good |
| Marywood (PA) | Bob Simmons | Enrico Mastroianni |
| Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts | Jamie Morrison | Tony Skiffington (INTERIM) |
| McMurry (TX) | Cliff Carroll | Zach Pickelman |
| Misericordia (PA) | Trevor Woodruff | Willie Chandler (INTERIM) |
| Montclair State (NJ) | Ted Fiore | Marlon Sears |
| Moravian (PA) | Jim Walker | Justin Potts |
| Muskingum (OH) | Gene Ford | Travis Schwab |
| Otterbein (OH) | Todd Adrian | Brian Oilar |
| Penn College (PA) | Chris Lemasters | Ryan Callahan |
| Penn State Abington | Chris Potash | Jon Tanous |
| Penn State Altoona | Billy Clapper | Doug West |
| Randolph-Macon | Nathan Davis | Josh Merkel |
| Rockford (IL) | Ryan Rebsom | Andrew Weber |
| Saint John's (MN) | Jim Smith | Pat McKenzie |
| Salisbury (MD) | Josh Merkel | Andy Sachs |
| Simpson (IA) | Charles Zanders | Brad Bjorkgren |
| Sul Ross State (TX) | Greg Wright | Clif Carroll |
| SUNY Purchase | Jeff Charney | Kyle Martin |
| UMass-Boston | Charlie Titus | Jay Harris |
| Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) | Glenn Gutierrez | Ethan Stewart-Smith |
| Washington College (MD) | Rob Nugent | Aaron Goodman |
| Wesley College | Jerry Kobasa | Dean Burrows |
| Western New England | Mike Theulen | Colin Tabb |
| Wheelock College | Matt LeVangie | Mike Pollio |
| York (NY) | Ronald St. John | Antoine Morris (INTERIM) |
