Black coaches to watch in the 2026 NCAA men’s tournament

At the time Rod Strickland was hired as the head coach at Long Island University in 2022, the goal of the New York City basketball legend was to change the culture at a program that appeared to be in a struggle to stay relevant.

“Raise the bar, change the environment and help the culture develop and grow,” said Strickland, who was entering his first head coaching experience. “I’m not in a rush. Our time is coming. This is just the beginning.”

At the time Speedy Claxton was hired to lead the Hofstra program in 2021, the goal of the former high school star at New York’s fabled Christ the King was to lift the Long Island school’s respectability to the levels he helped establish while leading the school to the NCAA tournament as a player in 2000.

“I know the incredible history of Hofstra’s men’s basketball program,” Claxton said. “I have lived it. I have experienced it. I am ready to lead it.”

This year Strickland and Claxton, both well-known New York point guards, proved prophetic: two former NBA players in their first college head coaching jobs leading hometown teams to the NCAA tournament.

Strickland and Claxton highlight Andscape’s Black coaches to watch in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament. This list features:

• Three coaches who represent HBCU’s (Howard, Prairie View and Tennessee State), matching the most historically Black schools in in a single year of an NCAA tournament (the 1993 and 1994 tournaments both featured three teams: Southern, Tennessee State and Coppin State in 1993; Texas Southern, Tennessee State and North Carolina A&T in 1994).

• Five head coaches making their NCAA tournament debut.

• Two coaches earned NCAA tournament spots in their first year as head coaches.

Rod Strickland, Long Island University

Conference: Northeast Conference (NEC), Automatic bid 

Seed: No. 16

Record: 24-10, (15-3 conference, first in the regular season) 

Opponent: No. 2 Arizona, 1:35 p.m. ET, Friday in San Diego (West Region)

Coach’s résumé: In a business where a podcaster with no coaching experience can get a gig leading a Division I program, Strickland had to put in a tremendous amount of work before landing his first head coaching job in 2022. He came to the downtown Brooklyn school after working four years in the NBA G League as the director of the professional path program, and prior to that he was the director of basketball operations at the University of Memphis, an administrator in the basketball program at Kentucky, and an assistant coach at the University of South Florida.

The first two years at LIU were rough: The Sharks won 10 games, including a 3-26 record his first season. But Strickland has posted back-to-back winning seasons, earning NEC Coach of the Year this season. LIU is making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2012.

Strickland credits his ability to lead the LIU Sharks to the NCAA tournament to the legendary coaches he gained knowledge from during his journey as a player and a basketball administrator — people like Rick Pitino, Larry Brown, Rick Adelman, Pat Riley and John Calipari (who hired Strickland at Memphis and Kentucky).

Speedy Claxton, Hofstra

Conference: Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA), Automatic bid

Seed: No. 13

Record: 24-10 (12-6 conference, third in the regular season) 

Opponent: No. 4 Alabama, 1:35 p.m. ET, Friday in San Diego (Midwest Region)

Coach’s résumé: Hired as a special assistant to the head coach at Hofstra in 2013, Claxton remained in an assistant coaching role until taking over as head coach in 2021. Claxton, in his five years holding the top job, has led Hofstra to four seasons of at least 20 wins, including this year’s tournament title.

As a player at Hofstra, Claxton was coached by Jay Wright and helped the school reach the 2000 NCAA tournament. Claxton played for five NBA teams during seven seasons, winning a championship with the Gregg Popovich-coached San Antonio Spurs in 2003.

This is his NCAA tournament debut as a head coach.

Kenny Blakeney, Howard

Conference: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Automatic bid

Seed: No. 16

Record: 23-10 (11-3 in conference, regular season and tournament champions) 

Opponent: No. 16 UMBC, 6:40 p.m. ET, Tuesday in Dayton (Midwest Region First Four game. The winner will play No. 1 Michigan on Thursday)

Coach’s résumé: Before he was named Howard’s head coach in 2019, Blakeney was a college assistant coach at seven schools for more than two decades.

As a college assistant, he was mentored by Lefty Driesell, Mike Brey and Tommy Amaker. His coaches in high school and college were both legends: Morgan Wootten at DeMatha, and Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, where Blakeney played on two NCAA championship teams.

Blakeney reached the NCAA tournament as an assistant with Delaware (1998, 1999), and later at Harvard, where he helped the team to a share of its first Ivy League title (2010-11).

In 2023, Blakeney led Howard to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1992, ending a 31-year drought. For Blakeney, the 2023 MEAC Coach of the Year, this is his third NCAA appearance at Howard.

Nolan Smith, Tennessee State

Conference: Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), Automatic bid

Seed: No. 15

Record: 23-9 (15-5 in conference, regular season and tournament champions)

Opponent: No. 2 Iowa State, 2:50 p.m. ET, Friday in St. Louis

Coach’s résumé: It’s been an incredible head coaching debut season for Smith, who was named OVC Co-Coach of the Year. He led Tennessee State to regular season and tournament championships, and the school recorded 20-plus wins for the first time in 10 years.

Smith learned the coaching game from one of the best in Krzyzewski, who coached Smith for four years at Duke (Smith was the starting point guard on the 2010 national championship team). After Smith’s professional basketball career ended, he was hired by Krzyzewski. He worked in various roles under the Naismith Hall of Fame coach, including director of basketball operations and player development, and assistant coach.

After Krzyzewski retired in 2022, Smith left Duke for Louisville, where he worked as an assistant for two years under head coach Kenny Payne. After the Cardinals’ coaching staff was fired after the 2023-24 season, Smith went to Memphis as an assistant for one season before he was hired last summer by Tennessee State, an HBCU in Nashville, Tennessee.

Antoine Pettway, Kennesaw State

Conference: Conference USA (CUSA), Automatic bid

Seed: No. 14 

Record: 21-13 (10-10 in conference, CUSA tournament champions as the No. 6 seed)

Opponent: No. 3 Gonzaga, 10 p.m ET, Thursday in Portland, Oregon.

Coach’s résumé: When Pettway was named Kennesaw State head coach in 2023 (replacing the late Amir Abdur-Rahim, who left for South Florida), his resume was impressive. He spent more than a decade at Alabama, his alma mater, in various positions (graduate assistant, assistant coach and director of basketball operations). In each of his last four years at Alabama as the team’s offensive coordinator, the team ranked in the top 20 in scoring and won two SEC tournament titles (2021, 2023).

Pettway’s impact at Kennesaw was immediate, with the Owls setting a school scoring record (82.8 points per game, 14th in the nation). The 21 wins this season were the third best in school history, and winning the CUSA tournament title as a sixth seed earned Kennesaw its second NCAA tournament berth in school history.

As a player, Pettway was a walk-on at Alabama as a freshman. He earned a scholarship his sophomore season and finished his career playing on three straight NCAA tournament teams.

Byron Smith, Prairie View

Conference: Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Automatic bid

Seed: No. 16 

Record: 18-17 (9-9 in conference, SWAC tournament champions as a No. 8 seed)

Opponent: No. 16 Lehigh 7:10 p.m. ET, Wednesday in Dayton (South Region First Four game; winner will play No. 1 Florida on Friday)

Coach’s résumé: Smith’s coaching experience is varied and extensive. His first gig was as an assistant at his alma mater, Houston (where he worked for one season under Clyde Drexler). Smith was as an assistant at three other schools, and he was the head coach of the Harlem Globetrotters for one season before joining Prairie View as an assistant coach in 2013.

Smith was named Prairie View’s head coach in 2016, and in his third season led the Panthers to the NCAA tournament as a No. 16 seed. In 2021, he won the Hugh Durham Award — given to the nation’s outstanding mid-major coach — when he led Prairie View to a 16-5 record (13-0 in the SWAC) during a season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic.

As a player at Houston, Smith twice earned All-Southwest Conference honors.

Dennis Gates, Missouri

Conference: Southeastern Conference (SEC), at-large bid

Seed: No. 10

Record: 20-12 (10-8 in conference play; as a No. 8 seed, beaten by Kentucky in its opening game of the SEC tournament)

Opponent: No. 7 Miami, 10:10 p.m. ET, Friday in St. Louis

Coach’s résumé: This is the third trip to the NCAA tournament as a head coach for Gates, who is looking for his first NCAA win. 

In his first year as head coach, Gates’ team went 25-10 (the Tigers were 12-21 the previous season) and won a first-round game against Utah State for the school’s first NCAA tournament victory in 12 years.

His 2024-25 team had impressive wins over No. 1 Kansas, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Florida to earn a No. 6 seed, but it lost to No. 11 Drake in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Gates previously was head coach at Cleveland State, where he was twice named Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year (2020, 2021). He was as an assistant at five schools, including a stretch at Florida State (under Leonard Hamilton) when the school reached seven NCAA tournaments, including two trips to the Sweet 16 and one trip to the Elite Eight.

As a player, Gates was twice an Academic All-American during four seasons at Cal.

Jai Lucas, Miami

Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), at-large bid

Seed: No. 7

Record: 25-8 (13-5 in conference play; as a No. 3 seed, beaten by No. 2 Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC tournament)

Opponent: No. 10 Missouri, 10:10 p.m. ET, Friday in St. Louis

Coach’s résumé: Before accepting the Miami job prior to this season, Lucas was an assistant for some of college basketball’s top coaches: Rick Barnes and Shaka Smart at Texas; John Calipari at Kentucky; and Jon Scheyer at Duke. As an assistant coach, he earned a reputation as one of college basketball’s top recruiters.

Basketball is in his blood. His father, John Lucas, coached for three teams in the NBA after a 14-year playing career and was an All-American at Maryland in the 1970s. His brother, John Lucas III, also played in the NBA.

Lucas played collegiately at Texas and Florida. In high school, Lucas was a 2007 McDonald’s All-American. He was rated 19th in his recruiting class by ESPN.

Hubert Davis, North Carolina

Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), at-large bid

Seed: No. 6

Record: 24-8 (12-6 in conference play; as a No. 4 seed, lost to No. 5 Clemson in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament)

Opponent: No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), 6:50 p.m. ET, Thursday in Greenville, SC

Coach’s résumé: When Davis led the Tar Heels to the 2022 Final Four, he accomplished a rare feat: He became one of just 10 first-year coaches to lead a team to the Final Four (North Carolina lost 72-69 to Kansas in the title game). Now in his fifth year leading North Carolina, Davis is trying to return.

This season marks the fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five years for Davis, and this represents his highest seeded team since North Carolina lost as a No. 1 seed in the 2024 regional semifinals. Davis was groomed for this position by the coach he replaced, Roy Williams, who retired after the 2020-21 season. Davis was an assistant under Williams for nine seasons, including with the 2017 national championship team.

As a player, Davis was a first-round pick by the New York Knicks in the 1992 NBA draft, and he played with six teams during his 12-year career.

Johnny Dawkins, Central Florida

Conference: Big 12, at-large bid

Seed: No. 10

Record: 21-11 (9-9 in conference play; as a No. 8 seed, lost to No. 1 seed Arizona in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament)

Opponent: No. 7 UCLA, 7:25 p.m. ET, Friday in Philadelphia

Coach’s résumé: Dawkins’ career as a head coach has been extensive: 17 seasons on the major college level, including the past nine at UCF. This is his second trip to the NCAA tournament with UCF, having led the Knights into the second round of the 2019 tournament, where they eventually lost to his alma mater, Duke.

Previously, Dawkins led Stanford for eight seasons, reaching the NCAA tournament once and winning the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) title twice. Prior to coaching Stanford, Dawkins worked for Krzyzewski at Duke as an assistant coach and associate head coach. The 2000-01 team won the national title.

As a player at Duke, Dawkins was the Naismith Player of the Year (1986) and a two-time All-American. He played nine seasons in the NBA.

Kelvin Sampson, Houston

Conference: Big 12, at-large bid

Seed: No. 2

Record: 28-6 (14-4 in conference play; as a No. 2 seed, lost to No. 1 seed Arizona in the championship of the Big 12 tournament)

Opponent: No. 15 Idaho, 10:10 p.m. ET, Thursday in Oklahoma City

Coach’s résumé: Sampson, one of the all-time coaching greats, continues his quest for his first national championship after his team lost to Florida in last year’s title game. He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State in 1979 before accepting his first head coaching job at Montana Tech in 1981.

Sampson has been AP Coach of the Year twice (1995 and 2024), and he has led teams to three Final Fours (Oklahoma in 2002, and Houston in 2021 and 2025). This year’s team finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in the nation, and the Cougars were briefly No. 1 early in the season.

Sampson’s parents were members of the Lumbee Native American community in North Carolina, and each year he carries the banner for the culture of the federally recognized tribe. Sampson is a member of the Black Coaches Association, and he’s one of the group’s strongest advocates.

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