Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
It’s never too early to start looking ahead to the upcoming year!
Check below for our list of 20 head coaches on the rise entering the 2023-24
college basketball season.
This list does not include coaches
from both the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West.
In no particular order:
Jerrod Calhoun, Youngstown State: Some people aren’t
overly flashy, but they just get the job done. That’s Calhoun in a nutshell.
After leading Fairmont State (Division II) to multiple NCAA Tournament
appearances, Calhoun has gradually built the Penguins into a quality program
in the Horizon League. Youngstown State has had four straight winning seasons
under Calhoun, highlighted by last year’s regular season title and Postseason
NIT appearance. If a higher level AD wants to rebuild a program with old
fashioned grit and toughness, they’d be wise to call Calhoun.
Bart Lundy, Milwaukee: Lundy cut his teeth as a Division II
head coach, but has quickly made an impact in Division I. The 51-year old
head coach led Milwaukee to 22 wins a year ago in first season with the
Panthers and should be firmly in the mix at the top of the Horizon League in
2023-24. Lundy also has a power conference background, as he was a part of
Buzz Williams’ staff at Marquette from 2009-12.
The Raiders are the pick out of the Horizon League after boomerang
transfer Tanner Holden was cleared for one last season. Holden, Trey
Calvin (HL preseason POY) and Brandon Noel clearly set up as the best
trio in that conference. Scott Nagy is an unassuming coach who
commands a lot of respect around the profession. If the Raiders avoid
injuries and other setbacks, he'll have his team into the NCAA tourney
for the third time since he got there in 2016.
Milwaukee took a massive leap in Bart Lundy’s first season last year.
The Panthers more than doubled their win total from the previous season
and tied for second in the Horizon League. They jumped over 100 spots
on KenPom compared to 2021-22. Now, they return four of their top five
scorers and look like a real threat to win the league.
Yet, KenPom projects a No. 230 ranking, three spots worse than last year — and 98 spots behind the projected top team in the Horizon (Wright State). That gap is too big. BJ Freeman, Kentrell Pullian, Markeith Browning and Elijah Jamison
form as good of a quartet as there is in the Horizon. There are a lot
of new faces around them, but Lundy overcame integrating newcomers last
year. Milwaukee could finish as a top-150 team.
