2026 Coaching Carousel

[Jay Bee]

Their last AD, Mark Orr, left after SMC received a donation to build a new basketball facility, and the President refused to let it be built, and the money was used elsewhere on campus.

source?

This sounds like #FakeNews #Lies

[Billy Hoyle]

Interesting....

One of the finalists for the Butler job is Chris Holtmann. Steele apparently is out.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/butler/2026/03/23/butler-basketball-coach-rumors-search-news-john-groce-micah-shrewsberry-ronald-nored-travis-steele/89293360007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z115147p115250c115250e1189xxv115147d--50--b--50--&gca-ft=169&gca-ds=sophi

[Billy Hoyle]

Interesting....

One of the finalists for the Butler job is Chris Holtmann. Steele apparently is out. Groce, Nored, and Shrewsberry are the other three finalists.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/butler/2026/03/23/butler-basketball-coach-rumors-search-news-john-groce-micah-shrewsberry-ronald-nored-travis-steele/89293360007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z115147p115250c115250e1189xxv115147d--50--b--50--&gca-ft=169&gca-ds=sophi

[GoldenEagles03]

Imagine Holtmann doing that to DePaul after how hyped everyone was for their year they just had.

[cheebs09]

That is not an inspiring list.

[JWags85]

Word is they were looking at a major exodus even if he stayed. That he stayed so long is a testament to his loyalty. The school has been bleeding enrollment for a while, is in a bad situation financially, and doesn't support athletics well. Their last AD, Mark Orr, left after SMC received a donation to build a new basketball facility, and the President refused to let it be built, and the money was used elsewhere on campus.

Obviously football, especially FCS (or at the time 1-AA) football, is a totally different beast, but shades of the non-support of athletics of the end of St Mary's football program 20 years ago.  They almost lost D1 status for basketball in the 90s cause they had a D2 football program, but reluctantly elevated to 1-AA to avoid it.  But even still, they didn't support it.  A decade before they dropped football all together, they were offering something like 15 scholarships for football when I think the standard was in the low 60s.  Be like Hartford or Saint Francis basketball offering 4 scholarships instead of 15 for the last few years before dropping to D3.  Shout out St Mary's football casualty, Ryan Coogler of Sinners fame, who just finished his freshman year when they axed the program.

Would not be shocked if Bennett was further pushed out the door by them struggling and not supporting basketball like their peers...yet adding water polo and swimming programs.  Not that its the same sort of budget, but still thats further AD resources not going to their most notable sport.

Santa Clara will own the WCC now and UCSD will be very competitive when they start WCC play. Back to being a one-bid league.

Based on what though?  That ENTIRE basketball program was Eric Olen.  They weren't even a good D2 program before he got there.  My buddy's boss in LA played there in the early 2000s.  In the 13 years of being D2 before Olen took over, they made the tournament only once, after a fluke run in their conference tournament in a year they were 11-9 in conference and not one of the top teams.  Other than that, they finished higher than 7th in their 12 team conference twice (a T-4th and a T-5th, 5 years apart I believe).  They had more years finishing in the bottom 3 than they did making the 8 team conference tournament.

Their new coach played for Olen when he was an assistant and has been with him through the transition, which is good.  But Olen took the rest of the staff to New Mexico with him.  They took a step back this year with a lot of turnover, but even still underperformed pre-season projections.  The WCC will be weakened losing Gonzaga, Oregon St, and Wash St, but even still its a step up from the Big West which is just UC Irvine, Hawaii, and a bunch of trash (pending Long Beach St post-Monson).

[Billy Hoyle]

Based on what though? 

For UCSD? Money. They will immediately have one of the biggest budgets in the WCC, if not the biggest. Before they made the jump to D1 they made the D2 tournament five straight years. They brought in a new AD with significant fundraising experience and are fully up and running like a true D1 department (it is actually willing to bend academic standards to recruit athletes now).

In the times you mentioned, athletics was poorly funded or supported by the school. Multiple attempts to move to D1 were rejected by students and faculty. Now it's a top 5 public school in the country, has expanded by adding a new residential college. It's also a school that continues to grow, while many schools in the WCC have financial issues and are bleeding enrollment. Oh yeah, there's that little factor called San Diego, the greatest city in the history of mankind."

[Billy Hoyle]

That is not an inspiring list.

That's what happens when the search is being directed by the cultish "The Butler Way" mentality.

[JakeBarnes]

That's what happens when the search is being directed by the cultish "The Butler Way" mentality.

It's just a stopgap until Brad Stevens Jr. can coach

[Billy Hoyle]

It's just a stopgap until Brad Stevens Jr. can coach

Surely they've already reached out to him.

[The Sultan]

That's what happens when the search is being directed by the cultish "The Butler Way" mentality.

I'm not sure they could do much better anyway.

[Billy Hoyle]

I'm not sure they could do much better anyway.

If they wind up with Holtmann, that's a win for them. Wardle would have been a better choice than the other three, IMO, but no, "The Butler Way."

[WhiteTrash]

Wojo to DePaul?

[MU82]

Imagin Holtmann doing that to DePaul after how hyped everyone was for their year they just had.

I'd actually feel sorry for DePaul, and that's not easy to admit.

[The Sultan]

If they wind up with Holtmann, that's a win for them. Wardle would have been a better choice than the other three, IMO, but no, "The Butler Way."

Is Wardle better than Groce???

[Pakuni]

Is Wardle better than Groce???

Maybe?
What would scare me about Groce is that he got his chance at a power-conference program - a good one, where it's hard to fail - and was a disaster.

[cheebs09]

Maybe?
What would scare me about Groce is that he got his chance at a power-conference program - a good one, where it's hard to fail - and was a disaster.

Is it hard to fail at Illinois? I would guess it's a middle of the pack Big Ten job. He had them on the bubble most years it looks like, so he wasn't a total failure. I think Underwood just might be that good of a coach.

[MuMark]

Holtmann just put this out...

https://x.com/chrisholtmann/status/2036474130250322159?s=61

[Uncle Rico]

Holtmann just put this out...

https://x.com/chrisholtmann/status/2036474130250322159?s=61

That means Butler has their coach and it ain't him.

[Jay Bee]

That means Butler has their coach and it ain't him.

Or, he just got a raise

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Or, he just got a raise

Floating his name to flush out a raise?  I think that's called The Buzz Williams Special.

[Scoop Snoop]

Floating his name to flush out a raise?  I think that'll called The Buzz Williams Special.

Nice. You got floating and flush into your post. 

[cheebs09]

Floating his name to flush out a raise?  I think that'll called The Buzz Williams Special.

We will be on high alert if there is a Holtmann Heroes segment on CBS this weekend.

[Small Orange Soda]

Is it hard to fail at Illinois? I would guess it's a middle of the pack Big Ten job. He had them on the bubble most years it looks like, so he wasn't a total failure. I think Underwood just might be that good of a coach.

It's one of the best jobs in the Big Ten. The scuffling of the back half of Weber's tenure leading into Groce rubbed off a lot of its sheen that Underwood has restored.

[Hards Alumni]

Nice. You got floating and flush into your post. 

It's gotta be post of the year so far.