College Basketball Coaching Tenure: Ranking The Locals

Despite only one season in MAAC, Quinnipiac's Tom Moore is already second-longest tenured coach in conference by virtue of his seven years at helm in Hamden. (Photo courtesy of Quinnipiac University)

For college basketball media members, Patrick Stevens' annual ranking of head coaches by tenure is the equivalent of Mr. Blackwell's world-famous best-dressed list.

Stevens, the former Washington Times staffer turned one-man show behind D1scourse.com and the Twitter tracking of games officiated by Karl Hess, (search #whereintheworldisKarlHess during basketball season, you won't be disappointed) released his 2014 edition of the 351 coaches listed by experience this morning; and once again, went above and beyond the call of duty with his ubiquitous nuggets and unique factoids when revealing this year's order. Here are some of the highlights of this masterpiece, coupled with some of our own observations, before we break down the local conferences and where each ranks on the overall list:

• This year's median (No. 176 for those of you scoring at home) is Tennessee Tech's Steve Payne, who celebrated his third anniversary on the job this past March. Payne was also part of a massive carousel in 2011, one that also featured Archie Miller, Steve Masiello and Ed Cooley landing jobs among others, with each of those three leading Dayton, Manhattan and Providence to the NCAA Tournament, respectively.

• Once again, only two of the top ten coaches are at the helm of a high-major institution, those being Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski of Syracuse and Duke at No. 1 and No. 2. However, Tom Izzo lurks just outside at No. 11 as he enters his 20th campaign at Michigan State, with fellow past national champion Billy Donovan close behind at No. 13 as he seeks to lead Florida into yet another Final Four.

• Speaking of the Final Four, this past year's last surviving quartet combines to form a much lower average than last season's 58th made of up Boeheim, Rick Pitino, John Beilein and Gregg Marshall. Although the longest-tenured national semifinalist after Donovan is Wisconsin's Bo Ryan at No. 27, the composite number is brought down by John Calipari in 120th, while Kevin Ollie is 260th in tenure despite possessing a national championship.

• Always known to possess one of the strongest coaching trees in the nation, Rick Pitino has several representatives on this list. Besides Donovan, Pitino has two more former deputies in the top 100, with Cincinnati's Mick Cronin tied for 66th, while New Mexico State head coach Marvin Menzies checks in at No. 95.

• Stony Brook's Steve Pikiell continues to serve as the elder statesman among the locals, moving up four spots to 58th this season. John Dunne of Saint Peter's remains the longest-tenured coach in the MAAC, (80th overall) with Jay Wright (26th) leading the Big East and Howie Dickenman (14th) reigning atop the Northeast Conference.

Finally, here is a breakdown of the coaches in the local conferences, with their list number and hire date:

Big East

26) Jay Wright, Villanova (March 27, 2001) 

46) John Thompson III, Georgetown (April 20, 2004)

131) Chris Mack, Xavier (April 14, 2009)

T-141) Kevin Willard, Seton Hall (March 29, 2010)

T-143) Steve Lavin, St. John's (March 30, 2010)

147) Oliver Purnell, DePaul (April 6, 2010)

T-162) Greg McDermott, Creighton (April 26, 2010)

175) Ed Cooley, Providence (March 22, 2011)

305) Brandon Miller, Butler (July 6, 2013)

T-323) Steve Wojciechowski, Marquette (April 1, 2014)

Atlantic 10

6) Bob McKillop, Davidson (May 19, 1989)

12) Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's (July 20, 1995)

49) Dr. John Giannini, La Salle (August 23, 2004)

60) Chris Mooney, Richmond (May 6, 2005)

92) Mark Schmidt, St. Bonaventure (April 10, 2007)

T-109) Derek Kellogg, Massachusetts (April 23, 2008)

121) Shaka Smart, VCU (April 2, 2009)

137) Tom Pecora, Fordham (March 24, 2010)

T-191) Archie Miller, Dayton (April 4, 2011)

205) Paul Hewitt, George Mason (April 30, 2011)

207) Mike Lonergan, George Washington (May 6, 2011)

225) Dan Hurley, Rhode Island (March 21, 2012)

T-243) Jim Ferry, Duquesne (April 10, 2012)

259) Jim Crews, Saint Louis (August 24, 2012)

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

80) John Dunne, Saint Peter's (May 23, 2006)

86) Tom Moore, Quinnipiac (March 29, 2007)
149) Tim Cluess, Iona (April 8, 2010)

T-184) King Rice, Monmouth (March 30, 2011)

T-191) Sydney Johnson, Fairfield (April 4, 2011)

199) Steve Masiello, Manhattan (April 11, 2011)

238) Jim Baron, Canisius (April 2, 2012)

T-255) Kevin Baggett, Rider (May 24, 2012)

T-278) Jimmy Patsos, Siena (April 3, 2013)

294) Chris Casey, Niagara (April 22, 2013)

TBA, Marist

Colonial Athletic Association

28) Bruiser Flint, Drexel (April 4, 2001)

43) Tony Shaver, William & Mary (May 2, 2003)

69) Monte Ross, Delaware (March 31, 2006)

74) Bill Coen, Northeastern (April 14, 2006)

100) Matt Brady, James Madison (March 26, 2008)

118) Matt Matheny, Elon (March 29, 2009)

T-197) Pat Skerry, Towson (April 10, 2011)

T-235) Doug Wojcik, College of Charleston (March 31, 2012)

287) Joe Mihalich, Hofstra (April 10, 2013)

319) Kevin Keatts, UNC Wilmington (March 27, 2014)

Ivy League

21) James Jones, Yale (April 27, 1999)

93) Tommy Amaker, Harvard (April 13, 2007)

134) Jerome Allen, Penn (December 14, 2009)

T-159) Paul Cormier, Dartmouth (April 22, 2010)

161) Bill Courtney, Cornell (April 23, 2010)

166) Kyle Smith, Columbia (May 2, 2010)

200) Mitch Henderson, Princeton (April 20, 2011)

257) Mike Martin, Brown (June 1, 2012)

Patriot League

9) Fran O'Hanlon, Lafayette (March 13, 1995)

97) Dr. Brett Reed, Lehigh (August 10, 2007)

112) Dave Paulsen, Bucknell (May 20, 2008)

133) Zach Spiker, Army (October 3, 2009)

T-155) Milan Brown, Holy Cross (April 16, 2010)

204) Matt Langel, Colgate (April 25, 2011)

T-212) Ed DeChellis, Navy (May 23, 2011)

217) Joe Jones, Boston University (June 23, 2011)

T-289) G.G. Smith, Loyola (April 12, 2013)

299) Mike Brennan, American (April 30, 2013)

Northeast Conference

14) Howie Dickenman, Central Connecticut State (April 17, 1996)

113) Tim O'Shea, Bryant (June 23, 2008)

168) Andy Toole, Robert Morris (May 11, 2010)

169) Glenn Braica, St. Francis Brooklyn (May 20, 2010)

T-227) Jamion Christian, Mount St. Mary's (March 26, 2012)

T-227) Bashir Mason, Wagner (March 26, 2012)

T-243) Jack Perri, LIU Brooklyn (April 10, 2012)

T-248) Rob Krimmel, Saint Francis University (April 19, 2012)

T-297) Greg Herenda, Fairleigh Dickinson (April 26, 2013)

303) Anthony Latina, Sacred Heart (May 30, 2013)

America East

30) Will Brown, Albany (December 20, 2001)

58) Steve Pikiell, Stony Brook (April 13, 2005)

62) Bill Herrion, New Hampshire (April 26, 2005)

T-155) John Gallagher, Hartford (April 16, 2010)

211) John Becker, Vermont (May 20, 2011)

T-255) Tommy Dempsey, Binghamton (May 24, 2012)

261) Aki Thomas, UMBC (October 10, 2012)

301) Pat Duquette, UMass-Lowell (May 16, 2013)

345) Bob Walsh, Maine (May 7, 2014)

Independent

T-104) Jim Engles, NJIT (April 10, 2008)