The 10 best new college basketball coaching hires of 2026

Dusty May is the Dallas Mavericks coach. Bruce Pearl retired. The living story is who took the open chairs.

This list is first-year head coaches at these programs for 2026-27. Ranked by the job they walked into plus what they already proved somewhere else. Not a prediction of who wins more games. You can argue the order. You cannot argue that these ten jobs moved.

The ranking

1. Mike Boynton Jr., Michigan. Criterion: he inherited the champion. Michigan named him head coach on July 10, 2026, on a two-year deal, per the school. May left in June for the Mavericks after a 37-3 title season that ended 69-63 over UConn. Boynton had already been the interim. He spent seven seasons as the head coach at Oklahoma State, then two as May's assistant. The job is to keep it together. Everyone else on this list is building. He is holding a banner.

2. Michael Malone, North Carolina. Criterion: the biggest chair. Carolina announced him on April 7, 2026, on a six-year deal, per the school and the AP. Twelve NBA head-coaching seasons. A 2023 title with Denver. 510 regular-season NBA wins. ESPN wrote that Carolina went outside the family for the first time in over 60 years. He has not coached a college game as a head coach. The job is still the job.

3. Randy Bennett, Arizona State. Criterion: 25 years of proof. The Sun Devils hired him on March 23, 2026, out of Saint Mary's. A Mesa native. USA Today wrote that Saint Mary's had three NCAA bids when he arrived in 2001 and that he took the Gaels 12 times in his last 22 seasons. CBS Sports asked sitting coaches who the best hire of the cycle was. Bennett won the poll at 32 percent. His first ranked 2027 pledge is already public. Carson Crawford, No. 46 in the class, told ESPN he picked Arizona State.

4. Scott Cross, Georgia Tech. Criterion: mid-major receipts, power job. Georgia Tech named him the 16th head coach after seven seasons at Troy, per the school and the AP. 350 career wins. Seven conference titles. Five straight 20-win seasons at Troy. Back-to-back Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles, and back-to-back NCAA bids, in his last two years there. This is how you hire when you actually want a coach. The sitting-coach poll treated him as an also-ran. That poll is wrong about him.

5. Will Wade, LSU. Criterion: the only power-to-power sitting-head-coach move. LSU brought him back on March 26, 2026, per the school. ESPN called it the only move of the cycle that sent a power-conference head coach to another power-conference school. First LSU stint: 105-51, three NCAA bids, the 2019 SEC regular-season title. Then a firing on the eve of the 2022 tournament amid an NCAA probe, per ESPN. McNeese, then one year at NC State, then back. The school says 266-119 as a head coach. The chair is loud. The record is also loud.

6. Luke Murray, Boston College. Criterion: two title staffs, first head job. Boston College named him on March 26, 2026, per the school and the AP. Five seasons on Dan Hurley's UConn staff. Two national titles. Five straight NCAA bids. The Eagles had gone 17 years without a tournament game, per the AP. He has never been a head coach. Hurley just took that offense to two titles and a 2026 title game. I would rather have the guy who sat in that room than a recycled name.

7. Jerrod Calhoun, Cincinnati. Criterion: he went home with a resume. Cincinnati named the 2004 alum on March 24, 2026, per the school. Utah State went 29-7 in his second season there and made its second NCAA tournament in two years under him. The sitting-coach poll had him at 30 percent, two points behind Bennett, per CBS Sports. He starts as a head coach who has already won at this level.

8. Gerry McNamara, Syracuse. Criterion: the program hired its own story, and the story had a bid. Syracuse named him on March 24, 2026, per the school. 2003 title team. Fifteen seasons on the staff. Two years as Siena's head coach. ESPN wrote that Siena was 4-28 the year before he arrived and won 23 games plus the MAAC tournament in year two, the program's first NCAA bid since 2010. A legend hire that also has a head-coaching receipt.

9. Bryan Hodgson, Providence. Criterion: he won wherever he just was. Providence named him the 17th head coach on March 22, 2026, per the school. 70-37 as a head coach in three seasons. Arkansas State, then South Florida. The Friars said he revived two Division I programs. CBS Sports wrote that USF made the NCAA tournament as an 11-seed in his first year there after he had already won in the Sun Belt. The Big East will tell us if that travels.

10. Justin Gainey, NC State. Criterion: they hired their own after Wade walked. The AP wrote that NC State named the former Wolfpack player and Tennessee assistant on March 31, 2026, five days after Wade left for LSU, on a five-year deal. Pack Insider printed the school release: 20 years of Division I coaching, 14 at the power-conference level. First head job. The chair opened because someone else got a better one. That is still a real ACC job.

Who is not here

Steven Pearl is the Auburn coach. Bruce Pearl stepped down on September 22, 2025, and Auburn named his son the same day, per the school. That is last year's hire. He is heading into year two.

Alan Huss took Creighton as the named successor. Casey Alexander took Kansas State from Belmont. Both are real jobs. Neither is a bigger swing than Cross to the ACC or Bennett to the Big 12.

The old best coaches list still ranks the men who already have the titles. This page is the new chairs.

Verdict

Trey Vance, Hot Seat: I'd take Boynton as the hire that matters most this season. He is the only new coach sitting on a national title. Malone is the splash. Cross is the one I would copy if I were hiring. Murray is the one I would copy if I wanted Hurley's room without waiting on Hurley to move.