MBB: Coast 2 Coast Athletic Conference

[nescac1]

Wow, sounds like Krikorian moving on.  I'm actually kind of surprised he hasn't landed a D1 head coaching job by now with his incredible pedigree at D3, but I guess he views this as a necessary step at this point:

https://hoopdirt.com/d3-dirt-christopher-newports-krikorian-on-the-move-will-become-d1-assistant/

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Wow, sounds like Krikorian moving on.  I'm actually kind of surprised he hasn't landed a D1 head coaching job by now with his incredible pedigree at D3, but I guess he views this as a necessary step at this point:

https://hoopdirt.com/d3-dirt-christopher-newports-krikorian-on-the-move-will-become-d1-assistant/

A number of top d3 coaches have been flat out told that the optics of hiring a d3 coach just won't fly at a d1 level. Very few ADs have the standing to hire someone who most people don't realize is a good coach.  The PR of the resume counts for a lot more these days, sadly.

I suspect John will get a D1 HC gig sooner rather than later, if he wants it.

[Patrick Coleman]

In fact, no Division III men's basketball head coach has gone directly from D-III to D-I head coach since 2018.

[nescac1]

Yeah, I wonder if the radical change for D1 hoops culture to an NIL / semi-professional system makes any program hesitant to jump on someone who may well be an elite x's and o's guy, high school recruiter, and culture builder without any evidence that he can navigate the nuances of what is becoming an almost entirely different sport (off the court) from D3 hoops.

If you look at the guys who have taken D1 assistant jobs over just the past two years, we are talking about, among other strong coaches, three coaches who reached the D3 title game including one who recently won it (Fuline, Krikorian, Kosmalski).  These are guys with clear top-10 D3 resumes over the past decade including two I'd put as LOCKS for the top four in Krikorian and Kosmalski.  There is really no doubt they could step in today and lead a D1 squad to success in terms of on-court strategy, they've proven that regardless of personnel changes their teams are locks to win.  So if these types of dudes see helping run a D1 program as the only way to move up, clearly, there is just no chance for anyone in D3 to move directly to a D1 job (unless they had high-level non-stale-seeming D1 assistant stints on their resume prior to D3, like Mike Maker did).

With these recent moves up, I think Josh Merkel has to be the undisputed king of D3 coaches right now.  Some others in the mix based on their resumes might be Dale Wellman, James Cosgrove, Marcus Kahn, and Jason Zimmerman, but Merkel has the strongest and most consistent record of high-level success and but for COVID would probably have at least one more title.