College basketball coaching carousel: Grading, ranking best power conference hires of 2025 offseason

Grade: C

There is a great deal of risk involved in bringing a coach in from the NBA assistant ranks, and while it worked wonders for BYU last season as Kevin Young shined in his debut campaign, the sample size is too small to assume the same will occur at Florida State. Luke Loucks, at 35, is less than half as old as Leonard Hamilton and will undoubtedly bring immense change to the Seminoles program. That is necessary after things cratered in the latter stages of Hamilton’s legendary tenure.

Grade: C

Again, the NBA-to-college pipeline is still unproven. Utah saw what happened down the road in Provo last year and elected to follow in its rival’s footsteps and bring Alex Jensen home after his climb up the pro ladder. Will lightning strike twice on the Wasatch Front? It will take a lot of work for Jensen to make the Utes contenders in the loaded Big 12, especially given the program’s lacking NIL situation, but the Utah alum is intimately familiar with this school and already has other former players (hello, Andre Miller) on his staff.

Grade: C+

West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker went with the familiar hire in Ross Hodge, with whom he worked at North Texas. Hodge does not have the same proven upside as the other mid-major coaches who jumped to the power conference level on this carousel, but Baker knows him best and clearly sees his potential. The former Mean Green coach made a pair of NIT trips in his two years atop the program and sparked a sizable step forward in 2024-25 with a 27-win campaign.

Grade: B-

Duke’s Jon Scheyer championed Jai Lucas during and after the Miami coaching search and predicted a bright future for the former Blue Devils assistant. That is all well and good, but Lucas is still entirely unproven as a head coach. He should breathe new life into the Hurricanes’ recruiting efforts after he made a name for himself as one of college basketball’s top talent-acquisition stars, so if he can pair the projected uptick in talent with solid Xs and Os, Lucas could eventually prove himself as a home-run hire.

Grade: B-

Texas A&M replaced Williams’ consistency with a higher risk and perhaps higher reward in Bucky McMillan. The “Bucky Ball” orchestrator will bring a new and exciting brand of basketball to College Station, and it is one that could cause problems for the rest of the SEC. ESPN’s Paul Finabaum labeled McMillan a potential game-changer for the Aggies, and it is hard to argue with that forecast given what he accomplished at Samford. Four-straight 20-win seasons and an NCAA Tournament appearance made McMillan a rising star just five years removed from his high school coaching career.

Grade: B

The dramatic Kevin Willard saga seemed destined to end in a breakup with Maryland, and it came to fruition when he officially took the Villanova job. Willard’s return to the Big East places him back in familiar territory, but he is set to face the highest expectations of his career. The perpetual first- and second-round exits that came with his Seton Hall and Maryland tenures will not cut it at Villanova. Willard will have more resources than ever before when he embarks on his Wildcats stint, and considering he was so outspoken about the funding at his previous school, that upgrade could mean a lot.

Grade: B

Maryland made somewhat of a lateral move in picking Buzz Williams as Willard’s replacement. The former Texas A&M coach arrives with the same questions about his NCAA Tournament potential after he reached just one Sweet 16 since his Marquette departure more than a decade ago. Williams is a solid if not inspiring hire who will prevent regression and keep the Terrapins in the perennial Big Dance conversation. The biggest question is how long he will stay with the program, given his nomadic reputation.

Grade: B+

There is something poetic about Ryan Odom ending up at Virginia. After all, it was he who made the Cavaliers the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed when he defeated them at UMBC. That is far from the only eye-catching mark on Odom’s résumé. He needed just two years to turn Utah State into a tournament program and logged back-to-back 24-plus-win seasons at VCU to cement himself as one of the top coaches at the mid-major level. There is nothing left for Odom to prove outside of the power conference structure.

Grade: B+

No newly hired coach is off to a hotter start than Darian DeVries, who already boasts the No. 4-ranked transfer portal class for the 2025 offseason. The early returns are immensely promising. And while the “what-if” questions still linger after Indiana passed on last year’s star candidates to hold onto Mike Woodson for another season, DeVries can shut the door on them if he shines in Year 1. Considering he reached the Big Dance in three of his final four years at Drake and was stunningly snubbed last month from an appearance in his first campaign at West Virginia, the track record suggests postseason contention is in store for 2025-26.

Grade: A-

The lasting image of Richard Pitino at the high-major level was the flame-out that occurred at Minnesota. But after his successful rebound at New Mexico, in which he made the Lobos a Mountain West champion and two-time tournament team, he earned himself a second chance. Pitino’s name was in the conversation at multiple schools, and Xavier notched a big victory in fending off other suitors. Quick success with the Musketeers would silence any doubters who remain latched onto the final years of his Big Ten tenure.

Grade: A-

The Longhorns finally got their guy. Two years after he was in the mix with Rodney Terry, Sean Miller landed the Texas job. Numerous coaches tried to get this program over the hump and failed, but perhaps the well-established postseason veteran is the right one for the task. He has more Sweet 16 and Elite Eight appearances than any other coach on this year’s carousel and is thus the splashiest hire. But if there is an ounce or two of apprehension, it stems from the fact that Miller has yet to reach the national semifinals and just joined a program with Final Four and national championship aspirations. Can he deliver on the lofty goals?

Grade: A

Ben McCollum might be the most exciting coach on the 2025 market. The seemingly endless upside made him a big name in searches at the power conference level. For Iowa to land his services and keep him from landing at one of the blue-bloods was a huge victory for a program that must replace a longtime coaching leader in Fran McCaffery. McCollum flat out obliterated Division II competition with his four national championships in the last eight years, and he wasted no time at the next level with a 31-win season and second-round tournament appearance at Drake. The regional fit at Iowa is perfect, the continuity with his incoming transfers is enticing and the track record as a winner makes McCollum a big-time hire.

Grade: A

Minnesota simply made perfect sense as a destination for Niko Medved. The Minneapolis native and Golden Gopher alumnus was among the top mid-major names on the carousel and picked the most logical landing spot. He is a proven program-builder with triumphs at Furman, Drake and Colorado State and most recently turned the Rams into a perennial tournament contender in an increasingly competitive Mountain West. Minnesota is a tough gig, but Medved is a splendid fit with immense potential.

Grade: A

NC State made a furious push for Will Wade and pulled it off, entirely reinvigorating a program that endured a massively disappointing 2024-25 season. Not every big swing on the carousel delivers a home run, but the Wolfpack found the sweet spot and drove this one out of the park. Wade has no shortage of success under his belt and rebounded from his ouster at LSU with back-to-back tournament appearances at McNeese, turning the Cowboys into one of the most formidable low- or mid-major programs in the country over the last two years.