Revisiting the Coaching Carousel: Who is UVA Competing With This Offseason?

William Smythe | Mar 17, 2025

Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2024-2025 Virginia men’s basketball season has come to an end, thrusting the Cavaliers into what will assuredly be a turbulent, but pivotal offseason, beginning with the selection of a new head coach. Virginia knows that its vacancy will overlap with those of Indiana, NC State, and a few other power conference programs as a new chapter begins. The pieces on the chess board are already moving.

We will continue to update this list as the postseason approaches.

Click here to see our Virginia Basketball Coaching Search HQ with the latest news regarding the top candidates to fill UVA's head coach vacancy and the most recent updates with the college basketball coaching carousel.

Lock for a Coaching Change: Miami
Carousel Implications: No
Choice: Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas

Miami hired Duke’s Lucas — a 36-year-old recruiting guru — to take the reins from longtime head Jim Larranaga. This ensures that the Cavaliers won’t have to compete with the Hurricanes for a hire this offseason, even if Lucas might soon make recruiting waves in South Beach.

Lock for a Coaching Change: Florida State
Carousel Implications: No
Choice: Sacramento Kings assistant coach Luke Loucks

A guard at Florida State from 2008-12, the 34-year-old Loucks will return to his alma mater (and college basketball) and will accept the torch from his former coach, Leonard Hamilton. This benefits Virginia in terms of mitigating the coaching carousel. Nabbing assistants either from NBA squads or high-powered college programs helps to keep things in check.

Lock for a Coaching Change: Indiana
Carousel Implications: Yes
Candidates: UCLA’s Mick Cronin, Clemson’s Brad Brownell, among others

After a turbulent tenure in Bloomington, Coach Mike Woodson is stepping down from the Nebraska Football job of the college basketball world. The soon-to-be-retired Woodson brought the Hoosiers to two NCAA Tournaments in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and reached the Round of 32 in the former. Woodson’s expensive roster has failed to live up to expectations this season, but they could still reach the Big Dance after wins over No. 11 Michigan State and No. 13 Purdue. Bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has the Hoosiers as his second team within the “Last Four In ” bubble category.

Indiana’s brand and history transcend any struggles it might have. It’s a program that also benefits from significant financial resources, a secure spot in the Big Ten, and a hallowed arena in Assembly Hall, but it is in need of reshaping. Some candidates for the Hoosier job include UCLA’s Mick Cronin — a Midwest native who coached at Cincinnati for 13 years — and Clemson’s Brad Brownell, who grew up in Indiana. Cronin would be very pricey.

Indiana is, in theory, one of Virginia’s stiffest competitors in the coaching search, but it seems as if they have different targets. The ‘Hoos wouldn’t look to Cronin or Brownell as options anyway, and the two probably wouldn’t consider Virginia in a search. A change with Cronin at UCLA would have a major ripple effect on coaching vacancies elsewhere.

Lock for a Coaching Change: NC State
Carousel Implications: Yes
Candidates: VCU’s Ryan Odom, McNeese’s Will Wade, among others

After steering the Wolfpack to a miraculous run in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, head coach Kevin Keatts has gotten the boot in Raleigh. NC State finished third to last in the ACC and decided to move on from their eight-year coach, who was arguably an Isaac McKneely free throw away from a firing last season. State has some leverage as a basketball-first school (yes, I know not in terms of revenue) that could attract VCU’s Ryan Odom, a popular candidate for the Virginia job.

A crowded field is emerging amongst the likes of Indiana, Villanova, and NC State. Other potential vacancies listed below — UCLA, West Virginia, and Ole Miss — are more contingent on their coaches desiring new surroundings.

I would be shocked if Odom, in particular, isn’t hired away to a high-major program this offseason. Pending their respective coaching lists, Charlottesville and Raleigh could be competing for his services. It’s unlikely that Virginia looks to Wade.

Has a Vacancy: Virginia
Candidates: Marquette’s Shaka Smart, VCU’s Ryan Odom, among others

Virginia indeed moved quickly, with Carla Williams announcing that Ron Sanchez will not be retained as the program's head coach almost immediately following UVA's season-ending loss to Georgia Tech in the second round of the ACC Tournament. It makes sense that Williams and company want to move this process along quickly considering changes that have taken place at Florida State and Miami. NC State’s opening may also provide a challenge. It’ll be interesting to monitor how prime candidates such as Smart, Byington, and Odom fare in their respective conference tournaments and in the Big Dance. Both Marquette and Vanderbilt have punched their ticket, but VCU might have to win the Atlantic 10’s automatic bid.

If the first two make it to the second weekend, poaching will become much more difficult. Odom, however, would strengthen a case for the Virginia job if he leads the Rams to the Tournament and gets a win or two. He’s primed for a move to a power conference.

Possibly: Iowa, Wake Forest
Carousel Implications: Yes
Candidates: West Virginia’s Darian DeVries (Iowa), Drake’s Ben McCollum (Iowa), VCU’s Ryan Odom (Wake Forest), Ohio State’s Joel Justus (Wake Forest), UC-Irvine’s Russ Turner (Wake Forest)

Iowa may hold on to its winningest coach — Fran McCaffery — for one more season. However, there may be no better time for the Hawkeyes to go after two Iowa natives than this offseason, with Drake’s Ben McCollum a National Coach of the Year candidate and West Virginia’s Darian DeVries a perennial winner who has overachieved in Year One in Morgantown. Both have only been at their respective schools for one season, though. McCollum might be more inclined to seize a high-major job than DeVries, whose current post at West Virginia is arguably a better position — barring the Iowa ties. 

A move from DeVries to Iowa would ignite another carousel, although less impactful than if Cronin moves on from UCLA. McCollum’s move would only affect mid-major conferences as Drake would look to fill a vacancy once again. However, it’s entirely possible that McCaffery stays and Iowa avoids a buyout fiasco.

Few fanbases have been tormented more than Wake Forest over the last five seasons. Despite boasting an ACC Player of the Year in 2021-2022 and a first-team All-ACC guard now — senior Hunter Sallis — head coach Steve Forbes has yet to make the NCAA Tournament and will have to defeat North Carolina and Duke to have a shot at an at-large bid. Even though a 20-win season doesn’t seem to constitute a fireable offense, frustration is building in Winston-Salem.

There are a few coaches with significant Wake Forest ties — Odom, in particular, whose father Dave earned three ACC Coach of the Year titles in his 12-year tenure with the Demon Deacons. Another Hampden-Sydney College alum — UC-Irvine’s Russell Turner — is an option, having served as an assistant coach on Dave Odom’s staff from 1994-2000. Turner has steered the Anteaters to seven Big West regular-season championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances since 2010.

Ohio State assistant Joel Justus also has extensive ties to Wake Forest and would surely make the move if given an offer; whether he is ready for a head coaching job is up to a search committee, yet Justus has been praised for developing guards at Kentucky, Arizona State, NC State, and now in Columbus. He could help continue what has been Transfer Portal Guard University over the past few seasons.

Wake isn’t a prime suspect to ignite a carousel, with a high-level assistant or mid-major coach the most compelling candidates. In all likelihood, though, Forbes gets a tournament-or-bust year in 2025-26.

Coach Moving Elsewhere: UCLA, Ole Miss, West Virginia
Carousel Implications: Only at UCLA

UCLA’s Cronin, Ole Miss’ Chris Beard, and West Virginia’s DeVries won’t get fired. In fact, they’ve overachieved at their respective stops. I’ve lumped these three into the potential high-flyers list for those coaching candidates looking to make a slight jump or, in the cases of Cronin and DeVries, return to their roots in the Midwest. Cronin has voiced his displeasure with the constant travel required of his Bruins in Big Ten play, and he has also had some soundbite-filled press conferences regarding his players’ effort and fans’ enthusiasm.

Beard has Ole Miss tracking for a seven seed in the NCAA Tournament — their highest since 2001. Despite their success in 2024-25, Oxford, Mississippi has never truly been a basketball hotspot. Beard could seek opportunities elsewhere depending on the carousel.

DeVries is unlikely to move from West Virginia, but, if Iowa is truly determined to land their successor to McCaffery, it could make a compelling offer. He grew up in Iowa, played at Northern Iowa, and coached at Drake in Des Moines from 2018-24. The next step in that progression would be a gig at one of the state’s two flagship universities, having ceded considerable ground to rival Iowa State in the post-Luka Garza era.

NCAA Tournament or Bust: Villanova, Oklahoma
Carousel Implications: Yes

Coach Kyle Neptune’s Wildcats are on the wrong side of the bubble in a tournament-or-bust year. Wins over then-No. 9 UConn, No. 7 St. John’s, and No. 16 Marquette are impressive, but early-season losses against Columbia, St. Joseph’s and Virginia are not. The Wildcats have shot themselves in the foot with their slow start in non-conference play and will likely have to win the Big East Tournament title to earn a bid.

It seems as if Villanova is stuck in purgatory under Neptune. They’re neither great nor terrible. This celebrated program deserves an escape from a two-year tournament drought; if Neptune can’t deliver that in his third season, he’s as good as gone. ‘Nova might surprise some people and choose a candidate not from the high-major coaching ranks, so the carousel could be minimal. Let’s err on the side of it impacting decisions elsewhere, though.

Oklahoma’s Porter Moser is in a similar position as Neptune. His Sooner teams have flirted with the Big Dance and have raced out to impressive non-conference starts both this season and the last, but to no avail. Currently on the right side of the bubble, Oklahoma (6-12 SEC) has no “bad” losses outside of a three-point defeat to LSU at home. They did upset No. 15 Missouri last week in a massive home contest, and they’ve played a host of top-25 teams.

Wins over Louisville, Arizona, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, and Missouri have kept their CV competitive. It would also be a shame to see freshman guard Jeremiah Fears (16.3 PPG) miss out on the postseason festivities.

It wouldn’t be cheap for the Sooners — a less-invested basketball program than most of its SEC companions — to move on from Moser. If Oklahoma makes the tournament, he should be safe.

Ranking of Potential Coaching Vacancies: 

1. UCLA — Big Ten
2. Villanova — Big East
3. Indiana — Big Ten 
4. Virginia — ACC
5. West Virginia — Big 12
6. NC State — ACC
7. Oklahoma — SEC
8. Wake Forest — ACC
9. Ole Miss — SEC

*Teams in bold are essentially interchangeable. Villanova and Virginia have had more success in the modern era, but Indiana is Indiana. UCLA, however, has the National Championships, pedigree, and recent success to back up a No. 1 spot if Cronin leaves. I’ve left Iowa off of this list; if McCaffery leaves, it would almost certainly be DeVries or McCollum filling his shoes.

There’s plenty to be decided, but the writing is on the wall for a few programs. Miami, Indiana, and Florida State will all move on, and Virginia’s spot is technically vacant. At least the ‘Hoos won’t have to compete with the likes of Kentucky, Arkansas, Michigan, Louisville, USC, and BYU, all of whom experienced coaching changes last offseason. 

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