Xavier is back in the hunt for a new coach and there are a lot of names being batted around right now. Here is a quick rundown on the most common ones.
With the departure of Sean Miller, Xavier is searching for a new coach for the 3rd time in 7 years. In the ever changing landscape of college sports in general it is hard to know where exactly the Musketeers stand right now, but having the right hand on the tiller to navigate the murky waters of NIL, Transfer Portal, and constant conference realignment is of the utmost importance to keep Xavier nationally relevant. There have been a multitude of names batted around since the Miller to Texas news started picking up steam and the purpose of this article is to give information on those coaches while the Xavier hierarchy searches and makes their decision.
Swinging for the Fences
Pat Kelsey – Louisville: Kelsey is a Cincinnati native and a Xavier grad who has been a hot commodity in the college coaching ranks since he took over at Winthrop in 2012. Last offseason, his rise reached its apogee when he was hired by Louisville and immediately took them from being a laughingstock to an 18-2 finish in the ACC and an 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, picking up ACC Coach of the Year honors along the way. If he did not have deep ties to the community this would be an unthinkable target, and even with those ties it would be absolutely shocking to see him walk away from his status as beloved at one of the biggest brands in the sport with a rumored NIL warchest of $8-10 million to work with. Many have been quick to put his name forward, but I would be stunned if this happened.
Keeping it in the Family
Chris Mack – College of Charleston: The last time Xavier had to pick up the pieces when Sean Miller bolted for greener pastures, they turned to Chris Mack to take the helm. He went on to become the winningest coach in program history over the next 9 seasons, leading his teams to 2 Atlantic 10 titles, a Big East title, 4 Sweet Sixteens, and an Elite Eight. The obvious red flag for many Xavier will be that he departed at the peak of his powers in 2018 for Louisville, got run out of town there, and has only landed back at Charleston, where he went 24-9, this year after two seasons off.
Luke Murray – UConn (asst.): Murray has been a name that has come up in a number of coaching searches over the past few seasons due to his role in the success of Xavier’s conference mate UConn. Murray was at Xavier under Mack from 2015-2018 and left with him for Louisville before reuniting with Dan Hurley, who gave his first assistant role at Wagner. Murray has spent a decade and a half as an assistant and is likely to make the jump to the top role somewhere any time. He is widely lauded for his abilities as an offensive tactician, but comes with the obvious drawback of not having any experience as a head coach.
Adam Cohen / Dante Jackson – Xavier (asst.): I lumped these two together to convey the option of Xavier promoting from within. Cohen served in the role of Associate Head Coach since 2022 and has a dozen years of experience under his belt in various assistant roles. Jackson was a standout player and leader at Xavier from 2007-2011 and has served on the coaching staff since 2018 after serving as a GA for two seasons under Mack.
Sitting Mid Major Coaches
Richard Pitino – New Mexico: Pitino has rebuilt his stock at New Mexico after an 8 year stint at Minnesota which produced a 1-2 NCAA Tournament record and 4 finishes outside of the Kenpom top 50. The way he has done it is by building tough teams that battle hard on the defensive end and push the tempo at every opportunity. His Lobos ended Marquette’s season before pushing Michigan State all the way in the tournament this year and he is sure to be in the mix at most openings in the top 5 conferences this offseason.
Bryce Drew – Grand Canyon: The author of one of the most iconic March Madness buzzer beaters of all time has conducted his own resurrection act after a fall from grace at a high major. Drew started at his alma mater Valpo, where he went to the tournament twice in 5 years, before crashing and burning in a disastrous three year stint at Vanderbilt. Since venturing out the the desert, his teams have dominated the WAC, taking the auto bid 4 out of 5 times, and knocked off St. Mary’s in the tournament last season to get the school’s first ever NCAA Tournament win.
Eric Olen – UC San Diego: Olen’s Tritons were one of the biggest stories in college basketball this season, rattling off a 28-4 record in the regular season before cruising to the Big West auto bid in their first year of eligibility and taking Michigan to the final possession. Olen’s team this year was the best team in the nation in terms of turnover margin and blazed away from deep, capping 49.6% of their possessions with a three point try. Olen is still only 44 and is one of the hottest names in the college coaching ranks right now.
Jerrod Calhoun – Utah State: Calhoun is an Ohio native who took Youngstown State from the wilderness to their first top 150 Kenpom finish in 25 years and their first back to back ones ever. He replaced Danny Sprinkle at Utah State last offseason and promptly rattled off a 25-6 record, guiding the Aggies to a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. His teams are typically good on offense and woeful on defense, relentlessly attacking the offensive glass to make the very most of every possession. The caveat here is that he did get his start as a GA under Bob Huggins at UC and spent 5 further seasons working under him at West Virginia.
Chris Gerlufsen – San Francisco: Gerlufsen has been in charge at USF for three seasons since the departure of Todd Golden and has guided the Dons to respectable 65th and 66th place finishes in Kenpom the last two seasons. His teams hang their hat on the defensive end and excel at shutting off the glass to their opponents and the opposition only shot 27.9% from deep this season when facing his defense.
Alan Huss – High Point: Huss served under Greg McDermott at his alma mater, Creighton, for 6 seasons before taking the gig at High Point. He has gone 56-15 in two years, leading the Panthers to the best seasons in school history and taking them the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever this season. His team this season was one of the most efficient scoring teams in the country, but struggled on the defensive end, especially in terms of rebounding the ball.
Tony Skinn – George Mason: Skinn was a star guard on the George Mason team that shocked the world with their run to the Final Four in 2006. He spent time at Louisiana Tech, Seton Hall, Ohio State, and Maryland as an assistant before taking over for Kim English at his alma mater and taking the Patriots back into the Kenpom top 100 for the first time since Jim Larranaga’s tenure. Skinn’s teams have been brutal to watch on the offensive end, but they play defense like their lives depend on it and they were a top 30 defense in the country this year on their way to a 24-7 (15-3) finish and a bitterly close loss to VCU in the Atlantic 10 final.
Josh Schertz – Saint Louis: Schertz was one of the hottest commodities at this time last year, having led Indiana State to 32 wins and an NIT final before making a somewhat curious move to take over the Billekens. His teams have ranked 4th, 1st, and 16th in EFG the past three seasons and they have for the most part played fast and shot a ton of threes. The drawback is they have turned the ball over a ton, not gotten to the line hardly at all, and been horrible at almost every aspect of defense. He does have links to Ryan Conwell, having coached him for a year, so it may give Xavier a leg up when it comes to trying to retain one of their key players.
Mitch Henderson – Princeton: Henderson’s star was probably at its highest two years ago after his team knocked off Arizona and Missouri to make the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1967. His teams typically get the job done by controlling the pace, taking care of the ball, and limiting second chances. He’s a Princeton grad, but is originally from the area, having grown up in Vincennes, IN and Lexington, KY.
Phil Martelli, Jr. – Bryant: No prizes for guessing which former Atlantic 10 foe Martelli suited up for against Xavier, but he has carved out his own path and landed the Bryant job two years ago after the ignominious departure of Jared Grasso. Since then, he has taken the Bulldogs to their best two year stretch since they joined DI in 2009 and got them their highest ever seed this year at 15. His teams have played fast and blocked a lot of shots and he likes to play guys with two fouls in the first half, but beyond that there are not necessarily any clear patterns to his stylistic approach.
The High Major Outlier
Porter Moser – Oklahoma: Since taking over for Lon Kruger in Norman, Moser has compiled a 25-45 record in conference play and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time this season, falling to UConn in the first round. He landed the gig at Oklahoma by taking Loyola Chicago to the Final Four and Sweet Sixteen in the span of 4 seasons with his teams’ combined focuses of tempo control and swarming defense proving a tough out in March. It is fair to say things have not worked out the way he or the OU brass were hoping they would and he may be coming to a point like Shaka Smart did at Texas where he is looking for a landing spot to jump to before he’s pushed.