Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college basketball, where Georgia Southern laughs in the face of fatigue.
At present, four coaches at the Power 5 conference level have been fired. All four of them are Black, further reducing an already thin demographic in men’s college basketball.
Just 15 of the 79 power-conference jobs were in the hands of Black men this season, or 19%. Now that number could be reduced to 13.9%, if they’re replaced by white coaches. And several other Black coaches remain on the hot seat.
Jerome Tang was bounced at Kansas State (1) in February, near the end of his fourth season, with the school launching a completely sketchy bid to weasel out of paying him his buyout. Tang took the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight his first season but has missed the Big Dance since. His winning percentage of .555 was better than recent K-State coaches Jim Wooldridge (.480) and Tom Asbury (.491), each of whom got six years on the job.
Georgia Tech (2) fired Damon Stoudamire after a last-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference, his third year on The Flats. Stoudamire was a strange hire that never worked, but nothing has worked at Tech since the Paul Hewitt days. Brian Gregory got five seasons despite a losing overall record from 2012 to ’16, and Josh Pastner got seven despite a losing overall record.
Boston College (3) dismissed Earl Grant after five seasons, four of them losing. He was a poor fit from the start, but it should be noted that his predecessor, Jim Christian, got seven years on the job without making the NCAA tournament. The larger lesson at BC: If someone offers you a job coaching a revenue sport, say no.
And Providence (4) is reportedly parting ways with Kim English after this, his third season. Pending a miracle run in Madison Square Garden this week, the Friars will have missed the NCAA tourney in each of English’s three seasons. Hired at age 33, this might have been too much, too fast for English. He should still have a long head-coaching career ahead of him.
In a vacuum, every move is defensible. In totality, the picture is ominous for a sport that is largely played at the highest level by Black athletes and largely coached by white men. (The head-coach numbers in football power conferences aren’t great, either.)
Meanwhile, there is heat of varying degrees on Adrian Autry at Syracuse; Jeff Capel at Pittsburgh; Lamont Paris at South Carolina; Micah Shrewsberry at Notre Dame; and Ed Cooley at Georgetown.
Is the coaching fraternity no longer producing a high number of qualified Black candidates? Or are they being overlooked? Are they increasingly looking for opportunities in the NBA? Or, a partial explanation via colleague Kevin Sweeney on our Others Receiving Votes podcast—some clearly ready Black assistant coaches have high-paying positions at elite programs and may not want to jump at a bad job. Among them: Kimani Young at Connecticut; Mike Boynton at Michigan (formerly the head coach at Oklahoma State); Carlin Hartman at Florida; Justin Gainey at Tennessee; and Duke’s Chris Carrawell and Emanuel Dildy.
Of all the topics that will be discussed at the National Association of Basketball Coaches convention at the Final Four, this should be a prominent one. This feels like system failure.
While these firings were playing out, it’s worth noting that the first two NCAA automatic bids went to Black coaches: Nolan Smith (5) at Tennessee State, and Rod Strickland (6) at Long Island. Smith, the 37-year-old former Duke player and assistant coach, is 23–9 in his first year as a head coach.
There are other Black coaches who will have their teams in the Big Dance: Missouri’s Dennis Gates, North Carolina’s Hubert Davis, Miami’s Jai Lucas, Central Florida’s Johnny Dawkins. But the percentage of representation in the power conferences is small, and will probably get smaller by next season.
We covered the first wave of conference tournaments last week, and those have been doozies. Shout-out to the Patriot League (7), whose title game will pit a team that won its semifinal on a 40-foot buzzer beater (Boston U.) against a team that won its quarterfinal on a 50-footer (Lehigh). The March gods have provided, as always.
Now it’s time for the rest of the tournaments. The Minutes has you covered with breakdowns and picks:
KenPom conference rank: 10th out of 31.
Best player: South Florida big man Izaiyah Nelson transferred in from Arkansas State with coach Bryan Hodgson and has made an immediate impact, leading the American in rebounds (9.9 per game) while also averaging 16 points and making 63.1% of his two-point shots.
Best March coach: Memphis coach Penny Hardaway (8) has won two of the last three American tournaments. He’ll need to win it again to get the wildly disappointing Tigers (13–18, 8–10) into the Big Dance.
Top seed: South Florida (23–8, 15–3) hasn’t lost since January, distancing itself from the pack with tough defense, offensive rebounding and a lot of free throws.
Dark horse: Third-seed Wichita State (21–10, 13–5) upped its game in the latter half of the season, winning 11 of its last 13 and splitting games with the top two seeds, USF and Tulsa.
NCAA tournament teams: Given the disheveled state of the bubble, South Florida may get into the at-large discussion if it makes the final and loses. Everyone else needs to win the tournament.
KenPom conference rank: Seventh out of 31.
Best player: Robbie Avila (10), Saint Louis. After gaining renown at Indiana State in 2024, the goggle-wearing “Cream Abdul-Jabbar” followed coach Josh Schertz to Saint Louis and has continued to be a productive point center. Avila is averaging 12.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 51% inside the arc and 42% beyond it. But here’s the warning sign for the Billikens: Avila is dealing with plantar fasciitis that limited him to just 12 minutes and two points in a blowout loss to George Mason to close the regular season.
Best March coach: In a muddled group, we’re acknowledging recency bias and going with the last guy to win a conference tournament—Phil Martelli Jr., who did it last season at Bryant. The son of the famed former St. Joseph’s coach is currently leading No. 2 seed VCU.
Top seed: Saint Louis dominated most of the season, retaining the top spot despite three losses in their last six games. The Billikens are a ridiculous plus-15.4% in effective field goal percentage vs. what they allow in that category.
Dark horse: In its first year under old Ivy League boss Steve Donahue, third seed St. Joseph’s enters on a six-game winning streak. The Hawks aren’t great offensively, but they guard well and don’t foul.
NCAA tournament teams: Saint Louis is the only lock. VCU may have crawled onto the right side of the bubble with a road win over Dayton on Friday. Everyone else needs to win the tournament.
Minutes pick: Saint Louis (11). The Minutes is counting on a week of rest helping Avila be at or near full speed—but even if he’s partially compromised, the Billikens have six other players averaging at least nine points per game.
KenPom conference rank: Fourth out of 31.
State of the ACC: Much improved over the recent iterations. Last year the league bottomed out with just four NCAA bids among 18 teams, following three years of five bids. This year the number should be at least seven, with Duke the potential overall No. 1 seed—a distinction the Blue Devils have not had since 2019. Virginia and Miami are thriving after coaching changes, and North Carolina State is improved as well following a change at the top.
Best player: Cameron Boozer (12), Duke. Not just the best player in the ACC; the best player in the country. He is the complete package.
Best March coach: Duke’s Jon Scheyer and Virginia Tech’s Mike Young are the only two coaches in the field who have won this event, and Scheyer has been to the Final Four. But North Carolina’s Davis has done him one round better by reaching the 2022 national title game, at Duke’s expense.
League lightning rod: North Carolina State coach Will Wade has arrived to take that mantle away from anyone and everyone at Duke.
Coach in trouble: After failing to make the 15-team field for this tourney Stoudamire was fired at Georgia Tech and Grant was fired at Boston College on a bloody ACC Sunday. Autry of Syracuse is in peril as well—three seasons in, the Jim Boeheim succession plan is failing.
Top seed: Duke. Weird things happen in conference tournaments, but it’s difficult to envision anyone beating the Blue Devils in Charlotte.
Dark horse: Eighth-seed Florida State has won nine of its last 11, including four straight road games. Big man Chauncey Wiggins has caught fire at the right time.
Early knockout candidate: Seventh-seed North Carolina State. The Wolfpack stagger in with six losses in their last seven games, all of them cringe-worthy in one form or another.
NCAA tournament teams: Duke, Virginia, Miami, North Carolina, Clemson, Louisville are locks. NC State should be in, but by a diminishing margin. SMU, Stanford, Virginia Tech and California are on the bubble to varying degrees. Everyone else needs to win the tournament.
KenPom conference rank: Second out of 31.
State of the conference: Not quite at the super-power stage it was a couple of years ago, but this is still a formidable league with a legit national title contender (Arizona) and two others that could be Final Four teams if things break right (Houston, Kansas). There is even a third tier of teams that could make noise in Kansas City and in the next tournament, too. Quality depth.
