With the NCAA Tournament whittled from 68 teams to 16 this weekend, it also had an impact on the coaching carousel.

Several mid-major coaches who coached in this weekend’s Big Dance have moved on to high-major jobs, with the trickle-down effect reaching their former schools

Arizona State gets their guy

Two weeks ago, it was announced that Arizona State would not renew Bobby Hurley’s contract. On Monday, the Sun Devils hired Randy Bennett, head coach of Saint Mary’s for the last 25 years.

Some might wonder why Bennett would stay so long at Saint Mary’s only to leave for Arizona State now, but he has long been linked to the job. An Arizona native, Bennett was a candidate to be the next Sun Devils’ coach dating back to when Bobby Hurley was hired in 2015.

He leaves Saint Mary’s as unquestionably the greatest coach in school history, leading the Gaels to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Saint Mary’s keeps it in the family:

With Bennett off to Tempe, former player and assistant coach Mickey McConnell will step in as head coach at Saint Mary’s.

McConnell played for the Gales from 2007 to 2011, and has been on the coaching staff since 2019. He has been associate head coach since 2022, with Gaels athletic director Mike Matoso heaping high praise on him:

“We have known for several years now that Mickey would be the perfect fit to lead our men’s basketball program and continue the success this program has achieved, while beginning a new and exciting era,” Matoso said.

Cincinnati hires Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun

A week after parting ways with Wes Miller, Cincinnati has made its move too, hiring Bearcats alum Jerrod Calhoun. He graduated from UC in 2004 and spent the past two years at Utah State in Logan, Utah.

In those two seasons, the Aggies went a combined 55–15 and made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. One thing is clear: Utah State appears to be a pipeline to larger programs for head coaches. Calhoun becomes the fourth straight coach at Utah State to leave for another job after three or fewer seasons in Logan. Craig Smith went to Utah, Ryan Odom to VCU and Danny Sprinkle to Washington.

Meanwhile, at Cincinnati, Calhoun is expected to have a roster budget of more than $10 million. Four days ago, after the Aggies’ loss to Arizona in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Calhoun said most Power Four teams believe $10 million is the “price tag” to have a shot at the Sweet 16. He also said he and his wife were Utah State’s second-largest donors this year to a $2.4 million budget.

Calhoun’s status as a Cincinnati alum should help his case. Cincinnati finished tied for seventh in the Big 12 this season.

Despite lots of speculation, Hubert Davis is still the coach at North Carolina.

There have been rumblings since shortly after the Tar Heels’ opening round loss to VCU that Davis was done, talks that ramped up to all but a certainty this weekend.

Yet despite the buzz, there is little new information out of Chapel Hill. The most recent news comes as offseason meetings were set to commence today (Tuesday), but were apparently postponed, according to Pat Welter. Does this mean change is coming soon?

This also happened too.

With Davis all but out, Torres speculated on potential candidates this weekend.

You can check them all out below:

Last week, Yaxel Lendeborg claimed Kentucky offered “between $7 million and $9 million” in the transfer portal. After brushing it off at the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope “categorically denied” the report on Monday.

He said, “That story is 100% categorically false with no truth to it whatsoever. There’s so much false narrative out there. Stories like that just aren’t true. There’s no truth whatsoever to things like that.”

It was part of a larger, season-ending radio availability, which you can read more on below.

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