This article is part of our Coaching Carousel series.
In the first part of the Coaching Carousel, it felt as if the whirling jobs had some rhyme or reason. If a coach leaves a big job, someone has to replace him and someone else has to be replaced. This week's featured openings are more of a grab bag. We have familiar names in new places and some new coaches who will see if their years of experience as successful assistant coaches allow them to find success as the head man. In a few years, most of these coaches will have moved on; either because their team was too successful and they will get a better job, or because hopes and dreams did not result in wins.
Dan Hurley, Connecticut Huskies
In his eight years as a coach, Hurley has shown the ability to turn schools around relatively quickly. He nearly doubled Wagner's wins from Season 1 to Season 2 with the Seahawks. In his first season with Rhode Island, his team won eight games. The last two seasons, Hurley led the Rams to back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids with a win in each tournament. Now, he has tasked with turning around UConn, which won the national championship just five seasons ago. Despite losing more games than it won in the last two seasons, Connecticut has talent. Senior guard Jalen Adams led the Huskies with 18.1 points and 4.7 assists last season. Christian Vital is also back at shooting guard and should be complemented by Alterique Gilbert who has been
In the first part of the Coaching Carousel, it felt as if the whirling jobs had some rhyme or reason. If a coach leaves a big job, someone has to replace him and someone else has to be replaced. This week's featured openings are more of a grab bag. We have familiar names in new places and some new coaches who will see if their years of experience as successful assistant coaches allow them to find success as the head man. In a few years, most of these coaches will have moved on; either because their team was too successful and they will get a better job, or because hopes and dreams did not result in wins.
Dan Hurley, Connecticut Huskies
In his eight years as a coach, Hurley has shown the ability to turn schools around relatively quickly. He nearly doubled Wagner's wins from Season 1 to Season 2 with the Seahawks. In his first season with Rhode Island, his team won eight games. The last two seasons, Hurley led the Rams to back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids with a win in each tournament. Now, he has tasked with turning around UConn, which won the national championship just five seasons ago. Despite losing more games than it won in the last two seasons, Connecticut has talent. Senior guard Jalen Adams led the Huskies with 18.1 points and 4.7 assists last season. Christian Vital is also back at shooting guard and should be complemented by Alterique Gilbert who has been limited by shoulder issues through two seasons in Storrs. Kassoum Yakwe and Sidney Wilson, who were both connected to St. John's, could also provide Hurley with rotation players.
David Cox, Rhode Island Rams
Cox takes over for Hurley and has been along for the ride as the Rams moved up the rankings of the A10. The former interim Rutgers coach has been on the URI bench since 2014 and now gets his first full-time gig. Jared Terrell and E.C. Matthews both ran out of eligibility, so the team is left without a returning double-digit scorer. Sophomore guard Fatts Russell was the star of the early NCAA tournament by scoring 15 points in the win over Oklahoma in the first round. He should be ready to receive passes from Jeff Downtin who led the squad with 5.6 assists last season. Big man Cyril Langevine could have a bigger role after averaging 6.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 18.1 minutes.
Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders
As noted last week, Kermit Davis is looking for a brighter rainbow at Ole Miss, which left the Blue Raiders without a leader. MTSU tabbed McDevitt from North Carolina-Asheville to take over. The UNCA alum had been at the school since finishing his playing career in 2001. He helped the Panthers win at least 10 conference games in all five of his seasons in the Big South and the team made three consecutive postseason tournaments (including the 2016 NCAA Tournament). Davis did not leave much behind in Murfreesboro and all four of the team's double-digit scorers (including Nick King and Giddy Potts) have moved on. Freshman forward K.J. Buffen could be a player to watch and returners James Hawthorne and Donovan Sims could be up for bigger minutes.
Ashley Howard, La Salle Explorers
After watching Villanova dominate the Big Five (and the nation) for the past few seasons, the Explorers decided to recruit their first new coach since 2004 within the City of Brotherly Love. Howard has been on the Wildcat bench since 2013 and returns to the site where he held his first assistant coaching position. He started his coaching career at La Salle from 2004 to 2008 after playing on Drexel from 1999 to 2002. The Explorers only played in the NCAA Tournament once in previous coach John Giannini's 14 seasons and had not had a winning season since 2014-15. Howard should be able to get plenty of scoring out of 6-0 senior Pookie Powell. Marquette transfer Traci Carter could start next to Powell with sophomore Isiah Deas on the wing. Hopefully, sophomore center Miles Brookins is ready for a healthy dose of playing time.
Joe Dooley, East Carolina Pirates
Hopping back to the American Athletic, Dooley makes his return to ECU after previously coaching the team from 1995 to 1999. He returned to head coaching in 2013 after a lengthy stint as an assistant coach at places like Kansas when he took over Florida Gulf Coast for Andy Enfield. The Panthers won the Atlantic Sun regular season championship in three of Dooley's five seasons and advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice. The Pirates have not advanced to the Big Dance since before Dooley was the coach the first time around (last visit was in 1993 as a 16 seed). The squad returns two of its four double-digit scorers in Hawaii transfer Isaac Fleming and Shawn Williams. Like many teams in this post, Dooley will need help in the frontcourt. Sophomore Dimitri Spasojevic had moments of productivity as a freshman.
Niko Medved, Colorado State Rams
It is important for a school to have some familiarity with a coach, which is why so many of these teams have returned to previous assistants. Medved was an assistant coach with the Rams under Tim Miles from 2007 to 2013. The team made back-to-back NCAA Tournament runs. He moved on to lead Furman for four seasons of continuous improvement before spending 2017-18 at Drake. Medved will try to clean up the mess that Larry Eustaschy left. The Rams return a pair of 10-point scorers in J.D. Paige and Deion James. Nico Carvacho should be back to clean the glass after being second in the Mountain West at 10.3 boards. The Rams will be ready for a fresh start after losing 12 of their last 13 games last season.
Lorenzo Romar, Pepperdine Waves
Romar made a name for himself in Washington as an excellent recruiter. He had five lottery picks (Brandon Roy, Spencer Hawes, Terrence Ross, Marquese Chriss, Markelle Fultz), but was unable to consistently win with those talented rosters. Romar spent last season with Arizona as an assistant, and returns to where he started his head coaching career. He led the Waves from 1996 to 1999 before moving on to Saint Louis for a three-year stint. Before he has to start really recruiting, Romar has some returning talent to play with. The Waves boast Kameron Edwards and Colbey Ross, who both averaged more than 14.0 points per game. Pepperdine won just seven conference games the last two seasons, so there is plenty of room for improvement.
Walter McCarty, Evansville Aces
I almost don't want to write it, but in its coaching search Evansville said "OK, smarty, we're going with McCarty!" The former Boston Celtic and Rick Pitino protege takes his first leadership role with the Aces who have not made the NCAA Tournament since 1999. For the last five seasons, McCarty has been on the Boston Celtic bench, so he may have learned a thing or two from Brad Stevens. It seems likely that McCarty will bring the full-court press to the Aces. Evansville does not bring back four of its top five starters. Junior guard K.J. Riley is the top returning scorer at 6.8 points. Freshman Shamar Givance should be given an opportunity run the point.
Mike Davis, Detroit Titans
From the outside in, it would appear that Davis' career has been going the wrong way. He started at Indiana, spent six years at UAB, and then had a nice run at Texas Southern. The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament four times in six years under Davis and were able to attract interesting talent such as Zach Lofton, Derrick Griffin, and Aaric Murray who had not worked out at bigger schools. The Titans have only won 16 games over the last two seasons and played very little defense. The team will be without its top two scorers from last year with Kameron Chatman going pro and Corey Allen transferring. Davis will be able to put his stamp on the team quickly and the Horizon League should be wary.
