20 males’s basketball coaches all set to make the jump to

• Jeff BorzelloMar 5, 2025, 10:00 AM ET Close Basketball recruiting expert. Joined ESPN in 2014.

• Graduate of University of Delaware.A year ago at

this time, Florida Atlantic’s then-coach Dusty Might was the obvious candidate to jump from the mid-major to the high-major level. Charleston’s Pat Kelsey wasn’t far behind. The 2023 cycle had more huge names moving around, but in 2022, the contingent of Todd Golden, Matt McMahon, Chris Jans, Dennis Gates and Lamont Paris all went from mid-major programs to the SEC. The majority of them moved up in predictable fashion.Who remains in the next crop of mid-major coaches ready to make the leap to the big leagues in 2025? After the exodus of the previous few cycles, it’s not as clear. So, we reached out to more than a lots market sources involved in the coaching carousel: representatives, power brokers, etc. We surveyed them on the top five names they believe are all set to move during the 2025 training cycle.The only requirements: The coaches could not have been at the high-major level formerly, and they could not be customers of the voter.First, a few names you will not discover on the list, including 2 who will likely be discussed for several high-major openings.Will Wade, McNeese: Wade is wrapping up a 2nd consecutive dominant campaign in the Southland, going 36-2 in league play overall. He’ll be connected to nearly every job, provided his performance history of winning and winning rapidly. Wade has led 3 schools to the NCAA tournament and took the LSU Tigers to the Sugary food 16 in 2019. Athletic directors are most likely to overlook his previous NCAA baggage at this point.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated Richard Pitino, New Mexico: The more youthful Pitino was linked to the Miami opening before the Hurricanes zeroed in on Jai Lucas, and is also involved in the Virginia job. He will lead the Lobos to their 2nd straight NCAA competition and their first regular-season championship because 2013. Pitino invested 8 seasons as the head coach at Minnesota, going to a set of NCAA tournaments.Given both coaches have currently been at the high-major level, we omitted them from this exercise. Dayton’s Anthony Grant falls in the very same bucket. And, he’s not likely to go anywhere else anyway.Craig Smith, who was recently fired by Utah, must gather looks.Charleston’s Chris Mack was also among those ineligible for the vote.It’s worth noting

the similarity Randy Bennett, Brian Dutcher and Leon Rice received just a couple of

points out, with many participants saying they didn’t think about the 3 coaches due to their track record of revealing no interest in leaving their present posts at Saint Mary’s, San Diego State and Boise State, respectively.And, while both remain in mid-major leagues, Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Memphis’Cent Hardaway unsurprisingly didn’t get any votes, given their schools aren’t thought about true mid-majors. OK, enough waffling, on to the survey rankings. Here are the coaches market experts feel are ready to make the jump to the Power 5

level.

1. Ryan Odom, VCU Rams

This was a fairly consentaneous choice for the top spot. He inspects almost every box. He was a high-major assistant at Virginia Tech, led both UMBC and Utah State to the NCAA competition as a head coach, and has actually VCU poised to win the Atlantic 10 regular-season champion. He also has an NCAA tournament win under his belt from when he led UMBC to its 16-over-1 upset versus Virginia. He has the name, the pedigree and the performance history. He has been linked with Virginia and will likely be named as a prospect at Villanova ought to it open.Men’s Tournament Difficulty

Register now to play the # 1 Guy’s bracket game for FREE! $135,000 in rewards.