Coaching Carousel, Part 4

Liberty

Last Season Finished: 8-24 (2-16)

What happened to the last coach?

Dale Layer was fired after the 2015 season. He went 82-113 in 6 seasons at Liberty, taking them to 1 NCAA Tournament in 2013.

Who is the new coach?

Ritchie McKay
Head Coaching Experience: Portland St., Colorado St., Oregon St., New Mexico, Liberty
Record as a Head Coach: 204-186

Apparently the Flames missed Ritchie McKay. Good thing the feeling was mutual. McKay will return as the head coach of Liberty after spending the last 6 seasons as an assistant coach under Tony Bennett at Virginia. He was previously the head coach at Liberty for 2 seasons from 2007-2009. In that time, the Flames went 39-28 and played in the postseason once when they made the quarterfinals of the CIT. McKay left voluntarily to take the assistant coaching job under his friend Bennett, but apparently the lure of being a head coach was too much for him this time. He will look to turn around a Liberty team who hasn't finished above .500 since 2011, including the season when they went to the NCAA Tournament.

Alcorn State

Last Season Finished: 6-26 (4-14)

What happened to the last coach?

Alcorn St. decided not to extend the contract of Luther Riley at the end of the season. Riley took a personal leave of absence mid-season last year, although his time off seems to have had no affect on this decision. It was more performance based. He went just 38-91 in his 4 seasons with the team.

Who is the new coach?

Montez Robinson
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0

Robinson was an assistant coach at Bethune-Cookman before being hired as the head man at Alcorn St. It will be his first foray into the world of head coaching.

Mississippi State

Last Season Finished: 13-19 (6-12)

What happened to the last coach?

Rick Ray was fired as soon as the season ended last year. In 3 seasons as the head coach at Miss St. he went 37-60. The team showed little improvement under Ray, but this move could just as easily been about the potential to land a proven coach as a replacement. Something Miss St. was able to do.

Who is the new coach?

Ben Howland
Head Coaching Experience: Northern Arizona, Pittsburgh, UCLA
Record as a Head Coach: 399-208

Howland worked his way up the coaching ranks pretty quickly. He was with Northern Arizona for 5 seasons, Pitt for 4, and then moved to UCLA. He was tremendously successful with the Bruins early on. He took them to 3 straight Final Fours, in fact. In his last 5 years there, though, the team only made the NCAA Tournament 3 times and never made it out of the Round of 32. UCLA has high standards and that just wasn't good enough. He was let go. He took 2 years off before being named the head man at Miss St. The expectations won't be as high as they were at UCLA, but people will expect him to win games with the Bulldogs. He has proven before that he can do that.

Southeast Missouri State

Last Season Finished: 13-17 (7-9)

What happened to the last coach?

Dickey Nutt was fired after 6 seasons and a record of 80-107. He was unable to get the Redhawks to the NCAA Tournament which just wasn't enough to keep him around.

Who is the new coach?

Rick Ray
Head Coaching Experience: Mississippi St.
Record as a Head Coach: 37-60

See above. Ray did not have a particularly successful turn as the head coach at Miss St. Still, he paid his dues as an assistant coach and landed a head coaching job at a P5 conference school. It's a solid hire for Southeast Missouri St. who hasn't been dancing since 2000.

Hawaii

Last Season Finished: 22-13 (8-8)

What happened to the last coach?

Benny Taylor was the interim head coach for entire season last year. Former head coach Gib Arnold was fired following an NCAA investigation. Gib was not retained as permanent head coach.

Who is the new coach?

Eran Ganot
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0

Ganot is inheriting a bit of a mess here. Hawaii self imposed sanctions and fired their former head coach. They have been under investigation for more than a year. Ganot was hired because he's familiar with the school (he was an assistant coach from 2006-2010) and because of his dedication to NCAA compliance which he had to have stressed to the brass as Hawaii. Winning will be important, of course, but getting the program back on the good side of the NCAA will be just as important initially.

Iowa State

Last Season Finished: 25-9 (12-6)

What happened to the last coach?

Fred Holberg was hired by the Chicago Bulls. Hard to turn down that offer. In 5 seasons he turned Iowa St. in a powerhouse contender. They made 4 straight NCAA Tournaments and won at least 23 games in each of those seasons. The Cyclones needed to make a great hire to maintain that success.

Who is the new coach?

Steve Prohm
Head Coaching Experience: Murray St. 
Record as a Head Coach:104-29

If the goal was to knock it out of the park with their new hire, they succeeded. Prohm amassed a .782 winning percentage in his 4 years at Murray St. The Racers only made the NCAA Tournament once in his 4 seasons, but they also won the CIT Championship and made the quarterfinals of the NIT as well. In four years they lost only 10 conference games. In short, it was a successful partnership. Iowa St. is hoping he can duplicate that kind of success with the Cyclones. It's not a rebuilding job. All he has to do is maintain.

Murray State

Last Season Finished: 29-6 (16-0)

What happened to the last coach?

See above. Steve Prohm parted ways with the Racers after a hugely successful stint with Murray St.

Who is the new coach?

Matt McMahon
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0

McMahon was an assistant coach at Murray St. for 4 years before leaving to become an assistant at Louisiana Tech. When the head coaching job opened up at Murray St., he and the Racers both decided it was right to bring him back. He will take over a team who just went 16-0 in conference, so it will be on him to simply maintain success. One area of improvement, though, will be for the team to make NCAA Tournaments. That was an area of struggle under Steve Prohm.

Kennesaw State

Last Season Finished: 10-22 (4-10)

What happened to the last coach?

This was a strange transition. The Owls named Jimmy Lallathin the interim head coach after Lewis Preston took a leave of absence during the 2013-14 season. When the decision was made to let go of Preston, they hired Lallathin as the permanent coach. One year later, he was fired.

Who is the new coach?

Al Skinner
Head Coaching Experience: Rhode Island, Boston College
Record as a Head Coach: 385-291

This is quite a get for Kennesaw St. Skinner has been coaching for a very long time but not as a head coach since he was fired from Boston College in 2010. There is still some controversy surrounding that firing, but this is a chance to Skinner to move on. Kennesaw St. is as irrelevant as it gets in college basketball right now, but they now have a coach with NCAA Tournament experience who can guide this program there. He surely has a chip on his shoulder and is ready to prove that he can still win. If he does, it will be great for all involved.

Nevada

Last Season Finished: 9-22 (5-13)

What happened to the last coach?

The firing of David Carter could not have been a surprise to him. The Wolf Pack never made the NCAA Tournament in 6 seasons under Carter and his overall record was just 98-97. In his last 3 seasons, though, he won just 36 games.

Who is the new coach?

Eric Musselman
Head Coaching Experience: Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings
Record as a Head Coach: 108-138

This is a great hire for Nevada. Musselman did not have a lot of success in his NBA coaching career, but he has a ton of experience coaching at all different levels. He was most recently an assistant coach at LSU and Arizona St., but he has also coached in the NBA's D-League and as an assistant on several NBA teams. This is his first chance at a head coaching job in college hoops, but it's a challenge he won't be intimidated by.

Utah Valley

Last Season Finished: 11-19 (5-9)

What happened to the last coach?

Dick Hunksaker stepped down at the end of the season so he could spend more time with his family. He had been at Utah Valley since they were a junior college and he oversaw their ascension to D-I in 2009 as well.

Who is the new coach?

Mark Pope
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0

Pope has been an assistant in college basketball since 2009, but he is probably most well known for his playing days. He played for the Kentucky national championship team of 1996 and then played for several years in the NBA as well. This will be his first attempt at being a head coach.