NEW ORLEANS – It has been said that there’s no place like home. That rings especially true for three Sun Belt men’s basketball head coaches –Marshall’s Dan D’Antoni, Southern Miss’ Jay Ladner and ULM’s Keith Richard – who are each leading their alma maters.
D’Antoni, Ladner and Richard are three of just 51 NCAA Division I head men’s basketball coaches currently directing the programs at their alma maters, according to research conducted by Jenn Rodgers of the NCAA. That means only around 15 percent of current DI men’s basketball head coaches have the opportunity to be the head coach in the same program in which they played.
D'Antoni graduated from Marshall in 1970. He was part of a pair of teams in 1967 and 1968 that played in the National Invitation Tournament, including the 1967 squad that reached the NIT Semifinals. He then spent 30 years as the head coach at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, S.C., before serving as an NBA assistant coach with both the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks under his brother Mike. D’Antoni had always hoped to one day coach his alma mater and got the chance on April 24, 2014.
“It just felt like destiny coming back,” D’Antoni said. “I’m enjoying it. I’ve been very blessed with great players.”
Ladner played both baseball and basketball at Southern Miss and was a member of the program’s 1987 NIT Champion team before graduating in 1988. He later received his master’s degree from Southern Miss in 1999 during his two-decade career as the head coach at St. Stanislaus High School in Bay St. Louis, Miss., and then coached at Oak Grove (Miss.) High School. In 2012, he became the head coach at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss., leading his team to the 2014 NJCAA National Championship. After five seasons at Southeastern Louisiana, he was named head coach at his alma mater on April 18, 2019.
“It’s a special place,” Ladner said. “It was a great blessing to go to this university. I cannot overstate that at all. I also grew up in Hattiesburg. That’s why we’ve got to get this thing turned around. It’s invested in me and I’m invested in it.”
Richard was part of ULM’s first-ever NCAA Tournament team in 1982 and was a two-time team captain for the program. He graduated in 1982 and immediately transitioned into a graduate assistant for ULM. After three years as an assistant coach at Marshall, he returned to Monroe in 1989 and spent five seasons as an assistant coach, helping his alma mater to four NCAA Tournament appearances. After nearly a decade at Louisiana Tech as an assistant and head coach, Richard was an assistant coach for LSU from 2008-10. On April 22, 2010, he was named the head coach of the Warhawks.
“I enjoy coaching,” Richard said. “I enjoy practice, I enjoy the games, I enjoy preparing for opponents. As long as I’m excited about that, I’m going to keep going.”
Current NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Head Coaches Coaching At Their Alma Mater
| Name |
Team |
| Casey Alexander |
Belmont |
| Michael Huger |
Bowling Green |
| Mike Martin |
Brown |
| Thad Matta |
Butler |
| Patrick Sellers |
Central Conn. St. |
| Matt McKillop |
Davidson |
| Anthony Grant |
Dayton |
| Jon Scheyer |
Duke |
| Stan Heath |
Eastern Mich. |
| Patrick Ewing |
Georgetown |
| Craig Claxton |
Hofstra |
| Mike Woodson |
Indiana |
| Matt Crenshaw |
IUPUI |
| Fran Dunphy |
La Salle |
| Alvin Brooks |
Lamar University |
| Kenny Payne |
Louisville |
| Chris Markwood |
Maine |
| Dan D'Antoni |
Marshall |
| Anfernee Hardaway |
Memphis |
| Joe Gallo |
Merrimack |
| Juwan Howard |
Michigan |
| Ben Johnson |
Minnesota |
| George Ivory |
Mississippi Val. |
| Travis DeCuire |
Montana |
| Danny Sprinkle |
Montana St. |
| LeVelle Moton |
N.C. Central |
| Hubert Davis |
North Carolina |
| David Richman |
North Dakota St. |
| Jeff Boals |
Ohio |
| Chris Crutchfield |
Omaha |
| Quinton Ferrell |
Presbyterian |
| Mitch Henderson |
Princeton |
| Matt Painter |
Purdue |
| Rob Krimmel |
Saint Francis (PA) |
| Shaheen Holloway |
Seton Hall |
| Carmen Maciariello |
Siena |
| Bryan Mullins |
Southern Ill. |
| Stan Gouard |
Southern Ind. |
| Jay Ladner |
Southern Miss |
| John Tauer |
St. Thomas (MN) |
| Chris Kraus |
Stonehill |
| Jim Boeheim |
Syracuse |
| Jamie Dixon |
TCU |
| Aaron McKie |
Temple |
| Chris Beard |
Texas |
| Mark Adams |
Texas Tech |
| Ed Conroy |
The Citadel |
| Andy Kennedy |
UAB |
| Keith Richard |
ULM |
| Kevin Kruger |
UNLV |
| Bob Huggins |
West Virginia |