Grading the First Wave of NCAA Head Coaching Hires
The carousel is turning as March Madness rolls on. Which school has come out the best so far and who can still make a splash?
While the NCAA Tournament rolls on, coaching hires are happening in just about every conference across the country. Some of the top openings in the power leagues have been filled but there are still plenty more positions to go. As we see more hires made, we’ll have more grades to dole out but for now, here’s what we have in terms of the best gets for the schools that filled their roles already…
Arizona State
Outgoing Coach: Natasha Adair
Incoming Coach: Molly Miller (Grand Canyon)
Grade: A+
You couldn’t pick a better hire for the Sun Devils. A young, dynamic, fresh face in the program after over a decade of Charli Turner Thorne and a disastrous tenure by Natasha Adair. I think it’s fair to note that Adair didn’t get a fair shake. She was hired by an outgoing athletic director in the midst of a post-pandemic crisis within the university during a time when all of the NIL budget was devoted to Kenny Dillingham’s football team. I truly believe she should get another shot and think Norfolk State would be an incredibly spot for her if they were willing to do it. But Miller is a fantastic hire for Arizona State. She’s a great recruiter, good with boosters, knows the state and already has had success against ASU’s chief rivals. The play style can work in the Big 12 and seeing what she can do with a bit more of a budget will be fascinating. Her and Kenny will have boosters shoveling money into athletics and I think the conference needs as many vibrant women’s basketball programs as they can get to compete with TCU’s growing juggernaut.
Arkansas
Outgoing Coach: Mike Neighbors
Incoming Coach: Kelsi Musick (Oral Roberts)
Grade: B
It’s clear that the Razorbacks missed out on a couple of hires but I still think they did alright. The Mike Neighbors era was growing increasingly stale at Arkansas and while his teams could score with the best of em, they couldn’t defend worth a lick. It was time for some new blood. What I like about Kelsi Musick is that her offensive style feels like it will translate pretty well and so there won’t have to be a wholesale turnover of talent to get the program where it needs to be. She also is a proven program builder, having brought Southwestern Oklahoma State to a D-II National Title Game and helped rebuild ORU as a consistent WNIT/WBIT level program. Does it mean the Razorbacks are building a new dynasty? Probably not. But in an extremely deep SEC, the goal for mid-tier programs should be finding someone that can reliably get you in the Tournament and get to the second weekend occasionally. I think she’s capable of that.
Auburn
Outgoing Coach: Johnnie Harris
Incoming Coach: Larry Vickers
Grade: B+
Larry Vickers, as we mentioned in Five Out this week, is another example of the HBCU pipeline being very real in this new era of women’s college basketball. He’s the third coach in the last five years to leave the MEAC/SWAC for a bigger job and this is easily the biggest of the three. There’s a lot of pressure on him to produce immediately. What some might not know is that the Tigers are a historically significant SEC program with three national title game appearances and plenty of elite alumni to point to. There is an expectation to win here and Vickers definitely has the ability to build these teams into regular tournament entrants, if not more. My big question is how he recruits bigs now that he has the resources but his ability to get portal players and high school stars is stamped. To win in the MEAC the way that he did is a challenge and anyone that does it is worthy of a Power 4 coach. I’m glad we’re getting more chances to see it.
Grand Canyon
Outgoing Coach: Molly Miller
Incoming Coach: Winston Gandy
Grade: A+
Losing Molly Miller was a blow but Winston Gandy is one of the best possible assistants to replace her with. I couldn’t really understand GCU’s President being the one to make shady statements about Miller’s exit but then I remember a lot of those folks are purely academics who don’t understand how the sports world works. Sure, Molly Miller was interviewing for jobs every year. But if she truly wanted to leave she would’ve jumped at the first opportunity. Nowadays, the advantage for mid-majors is elite coaches are typically a lot more picky with their next gig, giving these schools another year or two before they inevitably move on. Winston Gandy will probably take another job if he succeeds at GCU and that’s okay. But I am extremely high on him as a recruiter, developer and defensive mind. He handled a lot of the defensive scouts for South Carolina this year and is well liked by the staff and players despite only being there for a short time. GCU wants to build a southwest Gonzaga and while I don’t know if Winston will be there as long as Mark Few or Lisa Fortier, I anticipate he’ll follow up Molly’s success with plenty of his own.
Missouri
Outgoing Coach: Robin Pingeton
Incoming Coach: Kellie Harper
Grade: B-
Kellie Harper’s biggest knock at Tennessee was the inability to land the big recruits or transfers. But the benefit at Missouri is that she probably isn’t being asked to do that. When you look at the expectations of that program, it’s clear that they’re fine with that Tournament entrant line and you can make a career out of it there. The only curiosity I have is if Harper can still be a program developer in the age of the portal. Her teams at Missouri State were build during a time when you could keep players around for awhile. Beyond that, she was let go from NC State, never won the MVC with MSU and only made it as far as the Sweet Sixteen with the Lady Vols. This stop feels like the one where we’re going to figure out whether or not she’s a good coach or if she’s just somewhere in the middle. But at least Missouri gets a stabilizing presence that can keep you above .500 annually. For that program, I feel like that’s what you want.
Oakland
Outgoing Coach: Jeff Tungate
Incoming Coach: Keisha Newell
Grade: B
This is a unique hire and, as it happens, another young black woman getting an opportunity to start her DI coaching career. The reason I bring that latter point up is the discussion about where the next generation of coaches behind Dawn Staley and Niele Ivey is. Alongside Tomekia Reed, Dawn Thornton, Ashley Langford and a couple others, Keisha Newell joins the ranks as someone we could be talking about in the coming years if all goes well. She was an assistant coach for Loyola Chicago when they were arguably at the peak of their powers in the Horizon League. Additionally, she’s a successful Division II coach in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. If that sounds familiar, it was the same league Molly Miller coached in before she got her first shot at GCU. It’s a good hire in a Horizon League that has three elite teams at the top in Green Bay, Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State. More talent and good coaches in mid-major conferences is only a good thing and I’m personally rooting for Newell’s success.
Wisconsin
Outgoing Coach: Marisa Moseley
Incoming Coach: Robin Pingeton
Grade: C+
Man, the vibes are bad at Wisconsin. Marisa Moseley left after allegations of misconduct with regard to her player treatment and program culture, Serah Williams is in the transfer portal and almost assuredly heading to a top 5 program while the best option the Badgers had was Robin Pingeton. I don’t want to down Pingeton because she did find success over the years at Missouri. But it’s worth noting that that came in a pre NIL/transfer portal world. Since the turn of the pandemic, her Mizzou teams never won more than 18 games and finished higher than 8th in the SEC. That’s not a hire that inspires a ton of confidence. Maybe she’s there as a bridge coach in Madison but she’s still too young to do that. At 56 years old, there’s at least a decade of coaching to go if she wants it so I doubt this is a scenario of stabilize a program for a couple years and leave. Not everyone can hit home runs but this is just not a great hire for Wisconsin. They just feel directionless right now and that’s the worst place to be as a program.
Remaining Openings:
American, BYU, George Washington, Houston, Houston Christian, UMass Lowell, Mercyhurst, McNeese, Morehead State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Oral Roberts, Rider, San Diego, Southern Miss