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These Are the Top 3 Mid-Major Coaching Moves for 2025

Across 21 out of the 26 mid-major conferences, forty-one lower-tier Division I schools now have fresh leadership in the form of new head coaches. These newly appointed mentors must focus on assembling competitive teams ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.

This year’s hiring cycle featured a ton of different wrinkles. The new wave of hiring coaches off of NBA staffs has gotten lots of talk, and even two mid-major programs hired coaches with primarily NBA backgrounds. Additionally, while the next Ben McCollum doesn’t exist, athletic directors are still targeting successful coaches from Division II and other levels to make the jump, like Central Michigan hiring Andy Bronkema from Ferris State.

Next up, numerous young assistant coaches now have the opportunity to step into head coaching roles for the first time. These individuals bring enthusiasm and potential, as well as successful track records such as Kevin Hovde at Columbia and John Andrzejek at Campbell—though, much like me, you might find yourself googling how to spell "Andrzejek" each time due to familiarity issues within the Florida team.

However, the three hires I'm most enthusiastic about are all programs that recruited Division I head coaches from other teams. After all, the surest sign that someone will excel as a Division I head basketball coach is if they have already proven successful in that role elsewhere. While these weren't the only programs to make excellent choices this way, they had the top three picks.

New Mexico: Eric Olen

Throughout most of the second half of the 2024-25 season, UC San Diego emerged as a notable underdog story. In only their fifth year competing at the Division I level—and their inaugural year qualifying for the NCAA Tournament—the Tritons achieved an impressive feat by securing 30 wins overall and going 18-2 within the Big West conference. They also nearly upset Michigan during the opening round of March Madness.

If you had described this season’s UCSD team back in 2013 when Olen became the coach, nobody would have believed you.

The program had just completed four successive losing campaigns and failed to place within the top five teams in its Division II conference during this period. Throughout these challenging years, Olen remained part of the team, initially serving as an aide to Bill Carr before working alongside Chris Carlson. However, his promotion to head coach marked a turning point, significantly raising the bar for the program’s performance.

In year one, they had a winning season. In year two, they were in the top five of the conference. In year three? The NCAA Tournament for the first of five consecutive years. In 2019-20, the final season at Division II, the Tritons were 30-1 and a contender for the national championship before the season was cut short due to the COVID cancellation.

It took Olen a few years to truly get UC San Diego rolling at the Division I level, but the Tritons finished second in the Big West in 2023-24, and then won the league this past season.

But it’s not just the wins and losses that make Olen an impressive hire, it’s the way he’s able to evaluate talent and recruit to his scheme. Four of UCSD’s five starters were Division II transfers, and they come from all over the place.

Olen is a proven winner at multiple levels of college basketball at just 44 years old, and will continue to win plenty of games in Albuquerque.

Samford: Lennie Acuff

In 2020, Martin Newton made a bold move by appointing 36-year-old high school coach Bucky McMillan, which turned out to be successful. This decision guided the Bulldogs to four consecutive top-three placements in the SoCon and secured them an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2024. However, McMillan left for the Texas A&M position later in the recruitment process.

When that success forced Newton to make another hire this time around, he didn’t look outside the box at all, instead hiring one of the most respected and established coaches in the south in Lipscomb’s Lennie Acuff.

Just fresh from guiding the Bisons to the NCAA Tournament, this 60-year-old coach hailing from Huntsville brings an impressive career total of almost 700 collegiate victories. A significant portion of these achievements comes from his extensive 22-season tenure as head coach at his alma mater, Alabama-Huntsville.

Acuff stands out as one of the most astute offensive mentors in collegiate basketball due to his proficiency in crafting high-quality shooting opportunities and maintaining efficient scoring. Over the past three consecutive seasons, Lipscomb has ranked within the nation's top 40 for effective field goal percentage, and over the last two years, their offense has consistently placed among the best 100 nationally. A distinctive feature of Acuff’s playbook is its adaptability; whether playing at a quicker or more measured tempo, his squads remain true to the fundamental principles underpinning his strategic approach.

Although he may be past his prime, veteran mid-major coaches typically aren’t lured away by high-major programs, so with another decade ahead of him, he still has many top-tier coaching years remaining despite being 60.

It’s not a hire that makes national waves, but it’s a smart one that brings a coach who has won over 65% of his conference games for nearly 30 years, with just four losing seasons mixed in.

South Florida: Bryan Hodgson

This is the type of hire that does make national waves.

Bryan Hodgson just turned 38 years old, is coming off of two straight 20-win seasons at the Division I level, and has the pedigree as an assistant for one of the top coaches in the country in Nate Oats for eight seasons.

While at Alabama, he was one of the top recruiting assistant coaches in the country, and he parlayed that into being one of mid-major basketball’s top talent accumulators. But it’s not just an accumulation of talent, it’s tangible success, improvement, and identity. Hodgson coached Arkansas State to two of its three best seasons (by KenPom metrics) of the 21st century, sandwiching the lone season that Grant McCasland coached in Jonesboro.

This past season, Arkansas State had its best season of the KenPom era, finishing 84th with a 25-11 record, but fell in the Sun Belt title game to Troy.

It’s not all that surprising that South Florida had to make a coaching hire this offseason. Amir Abdur-Rahim was well on his way to being a high-major head coach, having led the Bulls to an American Conference title in his first season at the helm after flipping the Kennesaw State program from one win to 26 and an NCAA Tournament berth in just four years.

However, it was not meant to happen this way. Abdur-Rahim sadly passed away at the young age of 43 in October, which stunned the collegiate basketball community. This loss leaves an irreplaceable void. We can only imagine the magnitude of his potential stardom that we were denied the chance to witness.

His footwear proved difficult for walking. Yet, within a single season, he demonstrated what could be achieved at USF, and Hodgson stands an equal opportunity to replicate—or perhaps surpass—what was accomplished, much like any other candidate the Bulls might have chosen.

Although these three coaches have achieved success as heads of Division I programs, their backgrounds vary widely within the coaching landscape. Olen has dedicated his entire career to a single institution, transforming a team from Division II to Division I. Acuff stands out as an experienced veteran, having amassed numerous victories over almost thirty years, earning him legendary status. On the other hand, Hodgson represents the new generation; he was once a promising assistant before establishing himself as a formidable coach with aspirations for even greater achievements ahead.

Ultimately, I would be very surprised if any of these three institutions wind up feeling remorse over this choice.

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