Bradley
What happened to the last coach?
Geno Ford was let go at the end of the season. He had great success as the head coach at Kent St., but that did not translate to his term at Bradley. He went just 46-86 with the Braves and only had one winning season.
Who is the new coach?
Brian Wardle
Head Coaching Experience: Green Bay
Record as a Head Coach: 95-64
The argument could be made that Wardle made a lateral move. Green Bay has built a solid program and are certainly in better shape right now than Bradley. This move, then, has to be about the conference. The Missouri Valley has become one of the best college basketball conferences period - mid-major or otherwise. If Wardle is able to turn around the Braves' program, it will add yet another team to an impressive roster of contenders in the Valley already.
Green Bay
Last Season Finished: 24-9 (12-4)
What happened to the last coach?
See above. Brian Wardle coached Green Bay for 5 seasons making the postseason in 3 of them. The last 2 seasons were both 20-win affairs for the Phoenix. He departed for Bradley during the offseason.
Who is the new coach?
Linc Darner
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0
Linc Darner is making the jump from D-II to take over as the head coach for the Phoenix. He has a very impressive record of 292-118 in D-II including a national championship last year. This is a whole new ballgame, though. He will be taking over a Green Bay team that has high expectations and will be expecting him to continue and improve upon the successes of Wardle. He can clearly coach. Can he also recruit and handle the pressures of D-I basketball? Time will tell.
Penn
Last Season Finished: 9-19 (4-10)
What happened to the last coach?
Head coach Jerome Allen resigned at the end of the season. A Penn grad, Allen had limited coaching experience coming in and was not particularly successful in his first gig as a head man in college basketball. He went just 65-104 in 6 years with the team.
Who is the new coach?
Steve Donahue
Head Coaching Experience: Cornell, Boston College
Record as a Head Coach: 200-214
Accolades: Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award (2009-10)
For our money, we like this hire. Donahue struggled with Boston College, no doubt. He was just 54-76 in 4 seasons at BC. But he was extremely successful at Cornell. He turned around the Ivy Leaguers in his 10 seasons there. They consistently got better, going from just 7-20 in his first season there to 29-5 in his last. That last season also included a run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Donahue was an assistant for Penn before leaving for Cornell, so he's familiar with the school and culture. He has previously been successful in the Ivy League too. If Donahue can get Penn back to the glory days, the Ivy League could become a conference to be reckoned with. Tommy Amaker has created a dynasty at Harvard. Yale has been a worthy challenger. Columbia is poised to make a run at an Ivy League title. Adding Penn to that mix could create a league that will garner respect around the world of college basketball.
Alabama
Last Season Finished: 19-15 (8-10)
What happened to the last coach?
Anthony Grant came to Alabama and was expected to do great things. He was coming off a 3 year run as the head coach at VCU where he led the Rams to 28, 24, and 24 wins respectively. It looked good early on with the Crimson Tide. They won 20+ games in 3 of his first 4 seasons there. The last 2 years have been more of a struggle, however. The Tide haven't finished higher than 8th in the SEC, and they haven't made an NCAA Tournament since 2012. It just wasn't good enough.
Who is the new coach?
Avery Johnson
Head Coaching Experience: Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Brooklyn Nets (NBA)
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0
If a former NBA Coach of the Year says he wants to come coach for your program, you better listen. Alabama was able to convince Johnson to put the commentating mic down and come back to coaching. It will be another test of a former NBA coach testing his skills at the college level. As with Grant, the expectations will be high. Can Johnson live up to those lofty standards? That remains to be seen. What is a sure thing, though, is that excitement around Crimson Tide basketball is up.
Bucknell
Last Season Finished: 19-15 (13-5)
What happened to the last coach?
The Bison have to be sorry to see Dave Paulsen go. In 7 years at Bucknell he took them to 2 NCAA Tournaments and 2 NITs. His first year at the helm the team went 7-23. Now, they are perennial contenders in the Patriot League and a threat to go dancing each and every year. They have finished in 1st place in the regular season in 4 of the the last 5 years. Paulsen is off to George Mason and Bucknell is left crossing their fingers hoping the next person can sustain those successes.
Who is the new coach?
Nathan Davis
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0
You don't often see coaches making the jump from D-II to head coach at the D-I level. It's even more rare to see someone make the jump from D-III. That's exactly what Nathan Davis will be doing when he takes over at Bucknell. He has had tremendous success at the D-III level, but that is, of course, a very different thing. Bucknell expects to play for championships, so he won't be given much slack. He will need to come in and win right away if he's going to have a successful tenure at the D-I level.
George Mason
Last Season Finished: 9-22, (4-14)
What happened to the last coach?
It's safe to say George Mason and Paul Hewitt were not a good fit. The partnership was fairly disastrous for both parties. George Mason's win total diminished in each of Hewitt's 4 seasons at the helm. They made the postseason only once and never made the NCAA Tournament. George Mason made the jump to the A-10, so it was a bad time for a collapse like this.
Who is the new coach?
Dave Paulsen
Head Coaching Experience: Bucknell
Record as a Head Coach: 134-94
See above. George Mason knocked it out of the park with this hire. Paulsen built quite a program at Bucknell, and George Mason has to be hoping he can do the same with them after Hewitt struggled to find his footing. The Patriots have fallen pretty far since their run to the Final Four, but that history should help Paulsen and his staff on the recruiting trail.
Utah State
Last Season Finished: 18-13 (11-7)
What happened to the last coach?
Stew Morrill retired at the end of the season last year. He will almost certainly be remember as one of the best coaches in Utah St. history. He took the Aggies to 8 NCAA Tournaments and they won 30 games in a season on 2 different occasions under him. They finished in at least a tie for first in their conference 7 times while he was in charge. It was an impressive run and one that will be hard to duplicate for his successor.
Who is the new coach?
Tim Duryea
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0
Duryea was a longtime assistant at Utah St., so the Aggies opted for continuity with this hire. Not a bad strategy considering how much success they've had recently. Duryea was the head coach at a community college previously, but has no other head coaching experience, so it will be an interesting test to see how he handles calling the shots. The 'Coach in Waiting' strategy has been tried before at other schools to varying degrees of success.
San Diego
Last Season Finished: 15-16 (8-10)
What happened to the last coach?
San Diego let Bill Grier go after another mediocre season. Grier only had one bad year out of 8 at San Diego, but he never really had any good ones. They only finished above .500 twice in his tenure and only made the NCAA Tournament once.
Who is the new coach?
Lamont Smith
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0
Smith is coming back to San Diego after being a player there in the mid-90s. He has been an assistant coach at several places since then including Saint Mary's, Arizona St., and Washington. His mission at San Diego will be to bring the Toreros back to the big dance - somewhere they haven't been since 2008.
Illinois-Chicago
Last Season Finished: 10-24 (4-12)
What happened to the last coach?
This could not have been a surprise for anyone involved. Howard Moore was fired at the end of the season after going 49-111 in 5 seasons with the Flames. UIC only won more than 10 games once during his tenure. It was not a successful pairing.
Who is the new coach?
Steve McClain
Head Coaching Experience: Wyoming
Record as a Head Coach: 157-115
McClain was the head coach at Wyoming for 9 seasons from 1998-2007. He was most recently an assistant at Indiana University, but he will get another shot at a head coaching gig with the Flames. He had a fairly successful run at Wyoming and will take over now with more experience under his belt than before.
SIU Edwardsville
Last Season Finished: 12-16 (8-8)
What happened to the last coach?
This was a tough one. Lennox Forrester was fired at the end of the season. Forrester was the head coach when the team made the jump from D-II to D-I. He guided the team as they played as an independent and searched for a conference. Still, he had not had much success in terms of wins and losses. The team finished under .500 in every season since 2007, their last in D-II.
Who is the new coach?
Jon Harris
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0
Harris has paid his dues. He has been an assistant coach at 5 different schools for 13 years. He will take over an SIUE program that has never been dancing in program history. The bar is set fairly low, but they want to see growth and improvement. He will need to show that the program is heading in the right direction in order to be successful.
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