Jeff BorzelloMar 13, 2026, 02:52 PM ETClose Basketball recruiting insider. Joined ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of Delaware.Follow on XMultiple Authors
Cincinnati Bearcats vs. UCF Knights: Game Highlights (1:18)Cincinnati Bearcats vs. UCF Knights: Game Highlights (1:18)
The 2026 men’s college basketball coaching carousel has kicked into high gear, with more than 20 jobs already announcing changes — including power-conference positions.
Despite schools moving quickly at the ends of their respective seasons, an even larger contingent of programs at the low- and mid-major level have opted to stay the course with their embattled coaches.
That’s been the question for weeks among industry sources, with more jobs than usual hovering right around a 50-50 chance of turning into openings. As we’ll get into shortly, the rest of this week could determine how long the power-conference carousel spins this spring.
Whether it’s weeks or months, this will be your one-stop shop for the entire carousel — the latest news and buzz from around the country, primers on the big jobs as they open and analysis on all the dominoes that fall.
Cincinnati’s late surge toward an NCAA tournament bid fell short on Wednesday with an overtime loss to UCF, and Wes Miller’s tenure came to an end not long after. The Bearcats were in contention for NCAA tournament bids each of the past four seasons, but they ended up on the wrong side of the bubble every time. Miller finished 100-74 during his five seasons at the helm, but athletic director John Cunningham will now look for someone to get Cincy back to the dance.
There are three sitting head coaches who stand out as potential options: Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun, Miami (Ohio)’s Travis Steele and Akron’s John Groce.
Calhoun is considered the favorite and checks a lot of boxes. He’s from Ohio, he was a student assistant under Bob Huggins at Cincinnati and an assistant under Huggins at West Virginia, and he has had varying levels of success at three different schools. He led Utah State to the NCAA tournament last season and won the Mountain West regular-season title this season. He was Kansas State’s top target before the Wildcats were forced to move on, but Cincinnati is a more appealing job to Calhoun.
Steele is plenty familiar with the area. He spent 14 years at Xavier, first as an assistant coach then as a head coach, and has been at Miami (Ohio) since 2022. He led the RedHawks to a remarkable campaign, going 31-0 in the regular season before losing in the MAC tournament quarterfinal.
Groce is another name with success as a head coach and ties to the state. He was an assistant at Xavier and Ohio State, a head coach at Ohio — and after five seasons at Illinois, he has been at Akron since 2017, leading the Zips to three NCAA tournaments in four years.
It didn’t take Arizona State long to make a decision on coach Bobby Hurley’s future. Hours after the Sun Devils’ season-ending blowout loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament, the school announced it wasn’t renewing or extending Hurley’s expiring contract and his 11-year tenure had come to an end. It was the expected outcome for most of the past year, with Arizona State missing the NCAA tournament in five of the last six seasons.
The Big 12 has established itself as a dominant basketball league, finishing as the No. 1 conference at KenPom in nine of the last 13 seasons, and ranking second in three of the other four. The conference routinely sends seven-plus teams to the NCAA tournament and three teams to the Sweet 16 on a regular basis.
There are several directions athletic director Graham Rossini can go to replace Hurley. Two of the more prominent names that have consistently been mentioned over the last few weeks have been Saint Mary’s Randy Bennett and New Mexico’s Eric Olen.
Bennett is a Mesa, Arizona native who has built Saint Mary’s into one of the most successful programs on the West Coast over the last 25 years. The program has been to 11 NCAA tournaments in his tenure, and this should be the Gaels’ fifth straight year going to the Big Dance. He hasn’t previously shown much interest in leaving Saint Mary’s but Gonzaga’s departure from the WCC is a new wrinkle.
While the Lobos struggled down the stretch of Olen’s first regular season at the helm, he showed serious coaching chops at UC San Diego, including leading the Tritons to 30 wins and an NCAA tournament appearance last season. He also has a longstanding relationship with Rossini.
There are also a couple of wildcard names. Creighton’s Greg McDermott could be nearing his departure from the Bluejays, already naming Alan Huss as his head-coach-in-waiting last spring. McDermott has long enjoyed spending time in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area, so a move could be potentially appealing.
Then there’s UC Santa Barbara assistant Derek Glasser, who played at Arizona State and was a college and high school teammate of former Sun Devil star James Harden. Sources indicate it’s a longshot, but he’ll certainly have his backers.
Syracuse officially informed head coach Adrian Autry of his firing on Wednesday morning after a three-season run. Autry was the successor to Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim, who retired in 2023 after 47 years as the head coach of the Orange. A former Syracuse player under Boeheim, Autry spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach on Boeheim’s staff before taking over as head coach.
That said, the NIL structure has improved, and there were certainly enough resources to put together a talented roster with March expectations entering this season.
Three current head coaches stand out: Siena’s Gerry McNamara, Saint Louis’ Josh Schertz and South Florida’s Bryan Hodgson.
McNamara is a Syracuse legend and was on Boeheim’s staff alongside Autry for 12 years before spending one season under Autry as his associate head coach. McNamara just led Siena to the MAAC tournament title and an NCAA tournament bid on Tuesday, taking the Saints to their first Big Dance since 2010. Siena went 4-28 the season before McNamara took over; just two years later, it won 23 games.
Schertz is arguably the most sought-after mid-major coach of the cycle, along with Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun. Schertz built a stellar reputation for himself with multiple Division II Final Four appearances at Lincoln Memorial, then led Indiana State to 32 wins in 2023-24 and now has Saint Louis tracking toward the NCAA tournament this season.
Hodgson is an upstate New York native whose stock has risen dramatically over the past few years. He has won back-to-back regular-season titles the past two seasons, split the Sun Belt title and won 25 games at Arkansas State last season, then won the American in his first season at South Florida.
Another name to watch is UConn assistant Luke Murray, who has been part of two national-championship-winning staffs under Dan Hurley in Storrs. Murray has been credited with helping build UConn’s vaunted offensive system over the past few years.
There have been several names linked to this opening since Boston College fired Earl Grant last Friday. Merrimack’s Joe Gallo, Colgate’s Matt Langel, UConn assistant Luke Murray, Yale’s James Jones, Furman’s Bob Richey and Los Angeles Clippers assistant Jay Larranaga are rumored to be in consideration. One dark-horse name also in the mix: Tulsa’s Eric Konkol, who worked with BC athletic director Blake James at Miami.
With the mid-February firing of Jerome Tang, Kansas State is furthest along among the power-conference searches. Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun is considered the favorite for the position — the Ohio native could opt to slow-play his decision and wait to see if the Cincinnati or Pittsburgh roles open and either program expresses interest. Belmont’s Casey Alexander and Creighton associate head coach Alan Huss are also involved. Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson is believed to be on the list as well.
Kim English’s ousting hasn’t been officially announced yet, though the administration has informed him he will not be returning next season. There have been a long list of names linked to this job in recent days, although Santa Clara’s Herb Sendek has been buzzing as a legitimate candidate. Clippers assistant Jay Larranaga, Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun, South Florida’s Bryan Hodgson and Merrimack’s Joe Gallo have also been linked.
With Cincinnati and Pittsburgh winning in their respective conference tournament games on Tuesday, any potential decisions on their futures will have to wait at least another day.
While not definitive, signs at Pittsburgh point to the Panthers parting ways with Jeff Capel after eight seasons. He still has eight figures left on a fully-guaranteed deal, however, which makes the decision more complicated for athletic director Allen Greene. Wes Miller and Cincinnati surged onto the bubble down the stretch of the season — potentially saving his job in the process — but if the Bearcats fall short of the NCAA tournament, a change could be in store.
Cincinnati is squarely in the middle of the pack when it comes to the attractiveness of the job. The Bearcats were a regular in the NCAA tournament under Mick Cronin and Bob Huggins in recent decades, but haven’t heard their name on Selection Sunday since Cronin left for UCLA in 2019. They have the resources to build a quality team, as the on-paper talent the past couple of years has been more than enough. The program also has a sound NIL structure, having hired general manager Corey Evans from the Oklahoma City Thunder last spring.
Arizona State hasn’t been particularly competitive in recent years and would rank somewhere in the bottom-half of the conference’s head-coaching jobs. There’s been minimal recent success, reaching one Sweet 16 since 1975 — and that came in 1995. It’s been fighting an uphill battle since moving to the Big 12, although its commitment and resources on the football side provide some optimism if the Sun Devils can get it rolling on the hardwood. The location is appealing to plenty of candidates, too.