Nearly half of the SEC will have new men’s basketball head coaches in 2022-23 after a significant amount of turnover this offseason.
All of the vacancies have now been filled, with all but South Carolina’s hire being officially announced, so HawgBeat thought it’d be good to do a quick rundown of the changes…
Florida
Old: Mike White | Record: 142-88 (72-52) in seven seasons
New: Todd Golden
Former School: San Francisco — 57-36 (23-22 WCC) in three seasons
Although he guided the Gators to four straight NCAA Tournaments — including an Elite Eight in 2017 — before missing it this year, there appeared to be growing discontent in Gainesville surrounding White. Florida wasn’t forced to make a decision, though, as he hopped over to Georgia.
That opened the door for a new hire and now Golden gets the opportunity to be the guy who follows the coach that followed a legend (Billy Donovan). He joins the Gators after a three-year stint at San Francisco, where he led the Dons to an at-large bid in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Golden had a losing record in 2020-21, but won 22 and 24 games in his first and third seasons at San Francisco, respectively. He does have some SEC experience, as he was a member of Bruce Pearl’s staff his first two years at Auburn.
Georgia
Old: Tom Crean | Record: 47-75 (15-57) in four seasons
New: Mike White
Former School: Florida — 142-88 (72-52 SEC) in seven seasons
With a resume that includes a Final Four at Marquette and three Sweet 16s at Indiana, Crean never had a problem getting talent to Athens. He just struggled to win with the talent. In his second season, he signed No. 3 overall recruit and eventual No. 1 draft pick Anthony Edwards, but went just 16-16 with a 5-13 mark in conference play. The Bulldogs finally let Crean go after he went 1-17 in SEC play this season.
They replaced him with White, who posted a .617 winning percentage and won 58.1 percent of his SEC games in seven seasons at Florida. As mentioned above, he guided the Gators to four straight NCAA Tournaments and it likely would have been five straight had the 2020 tournament not been canceled.
In his second season, Florida actually reached the Elite Eight. Since then, though, the Gators failed to make it out of the first weekend. That includes a loss to 15-seed Oral Roberts in the second round of the 2021 tournament. They were on the bubble this year, but lost their first game in the SEC Tournament to end any hope of making the Big Dance.
(MORE FROM UGASPORTS: White undaunted by recruiting challenge)
LSU
Old: Will Wade | Record: 105-51 (55-33) in five seasons
New: Matt McMahon
Former School: Murray State — 154-67 (93-31 OVC) in seven seasons
Wade was fired a day after losing to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament — and before the NCAA Tournament. The decision came after LSU received a notice of allegations that included seven Level I violations tied to the basketball program, including five of which Wade was directly accused.
The Tigers acted quickly, hiring McMahon just a couple of days after his Murray State squad was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a second-round loss to St. Peter’s. That capped an incredible season in which he led the Racers to a 31-3 overall record, a perfect 18-0 mark in OVC play and a top-25 ranking.
McMahon had a fantastic run at Murray State, winning at least a share of the regular-season OVC title in four of the last five years. Twice he led the Racers to the second round of the Big Dance. He’s perhaps best known for recruiting Ja Morant and developing him from an under-recruited no-star recruit into an All-American and No. 2 overall draft pick. Morant was actually one of three OVC Players of the Year that McMahon coached.
(MORE FROM TIGERDETAILS: 10 things to know about Matt McMahon)
Mississippi State
Old: Ben Howland | Record: 134-98 (59-67) in seven seasons
New: Chris Jans
Former School: New Mexico State — 122-32 (64-13 WAC) in five seasons
He took Pitt to a pair of Sweet 16s and UCLA to three straight Final Fours, but Howland failed to recapture that magic at Mississippi State. However, he did seem to have the Bulldogs on a slow upward trajectory. They made the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and were on the bubble in 2020 when the pandemic hit, but have since been relegated to the NIT, ultimately leading to Howland’s dismissal.
The guy Mississippi State hired to replace him is coming off doing something it hasn’t done since 2008, as Jans led New Mexico State to an upset win over 5-seed UConn in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament before a close loss to Arkansas in the Round of 32.
That capped an incredible run with the Aggies. In five seasons, Jans posted a .792 winning percentage and reached the NCAA Tournament three times. It could have been a fourth, as the Aggies went 16-0 in the WAC and were the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament before the pandemic.
Missouri
Old: Cuonzo Martin | Record: 78-77 (35-53) in five seasons
New: Dennis Gates
Former School: Cleveland State — 50-40 (38-21 Horizon) in three seasons
Martin came to Missouri with multiple 20-win seasons at Missouri State, Tennessee and Cal, where he coached three years apiece. He then won 20 games his first season with the Tigers, leading them to the NCAA Tournament, but it’s been downhill since then. Missouri made it back to the Big Dance in 2021, but finished middle of the pack in the SEC. It finished 10th or lower in his other three seasons, including a 12th-place finish with a 12-21 overall record this season.
That led to Missouri making a change and bringing in Gates, who completely turned Cleveland State around in just three years. Despite an 11-21 record in Year 1, he was still named the Horizon League Coach of the Year because he inherited a program that had averaged 10 wins over the previous four seasons.
A longtime assistant under Leonard Hamilton at Florida State, Gates followed that up with back-to-back seasons in which the Vikings shared the regular-season conference title with records of 19-8 and 20-11. They won the conference tournament in 2021 to reach the NCAA Tournament and played in the NIT this season.
(MORE FROM POWERMIZZOU: Gates is ready for his latest renovation project)
(MORE FROM POWERMIZZOU: Why Gates was the man for Mizzou)
South Carolina
Old: Frank Martin | Record: 171-147 (79-99) in 10 seasons
New: Lamont Paris
Former School: UT-Chattanooga — 87-71 (43-45 SoCon) in five seasons
Following a successful run in the Big 12, Martin left Kansas State to take the head coaching job at South Carolina. In 10 years with the Gamecocks, he made just once NCAA Tournament — but he made it count, leading them to the first Final Four in school history. South Carolina had previously never made it past the Sweet 16.
That likely bought Martin some extra time, but even after bouncing back from an abysmal 2020-21 season by going 18-13 overall and 9-9 in SEC play this year, he was let go. In his place, South Carolina hired Paris from UT-Chattanooga.
Although he struggled his first two seasons with the Mocs, going a combined 22-43, Paris built them into a solid program the last three years. That culminated with a 27-8 record, SoCon regular-season and tournament titles and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, where Chattanooga pushed 4-seed Illinois to the brink in a 54-53 loss. Prior to becoming a head coach, Paris was an assistant under both Greg Gard and Bo Ryan at Wisconsin.
(MORE FROM GAMECOCKSCOOP: Everything you need to know about Lamont Paris)
