After 19 seasons in Olean, New York, the head coach of the St. Bonaventure Bonnies is retiring. Mark Schmidt is leaving his post, he announced Saturday, ending a run that included three NCAA Tournament appearances (2012, 2018, 2021).
“I’m a lucky guy. To be able to be the head coach at St. Bonaventure for 19 years is an honor,” Schmidt said Saturday. “When I first got the job, I remember someone telling me I was going to be here for three or four years and then I was going to be selling insurance. I give Steve Watson and Sister Margaret Carney all the credit in the world that they took a chance on me 19 years ago. A guy who was 82-90 at Robert Morris and they allowed me to coach, they allowed us to build a program, and I think it was a pretty good one.”
Prior to Schmidt’s public comments about his impending departure at the end of this season, the Olean Star reported: “Schmidt, who has one-year left on his contract was informed this week by St. Bonaventure men’s basketball General Manager Adrian ‘Woj’ Wojnarowski and Athletic Director Robert Beretta that he will be relieved of his duties at the end of this season.”
A source refuted that framing to CBS Sports, calling Schmidt’s break from St. Bonaventure entirely his call. Schmidt seemed to back that up with his public comments Saturday after the Bonnies lost their home finale to Davidson, falling 68-63 and dropping to 15-16.
Schmidt’s team will move on to next week’s Atlantic 10 Tournament in Pittsburgh. Schmidt, 63, presumably leaves the profession with a terrific reputation. Bonaventure is an extremely tough job, yet Schmidt managed to win 57% of his games there. He’s won 339 total, most in program history, and captured four combined conference titles. Schmidt took over in Olean in 2007, doing so after academic and eligibility scandals in the early 2000s nearly dissolved the program.
I’ve got more on Bona in the capsule further down in this story.
Previously …
Among the power-conference openings, we’re looking at anywhere from nine to potentially as many as 12 job swaps by the first week of April. You can get a wide view of the hot seat and what will/should/might/won’t change among the big schools right here. (I also can’t shake the feeling we’re going to have one power-conference school come open that’s not on the radar as of today.)
I also posted a story on Thursday with 25 names to know for this year’s cycle, both sitting head coaches and high-major assistants.
And here? Welcome back to my annual coaching tracker. The thing about March: The basketball is irresistible and loud, but the off-the-court headlines are nearly as noisy. So as March moves along, I’ll update this story daily with information and context on the jobs that come open and potential candidates to know about. If you’re interested in keeping up with the scuttlebutt, check back in frequently and be sure to follow me on social media to get the news as it happens in real time. The latest update is no surprise: Kim English’s time at Providence will be up at the conclusion of the Friars’ season.
High-majors
KANSAS STATE | OUT: Jerome Tang
The first power conference job to hit the market in 2026, and it did so in a noisy fashion. Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor fired Tang for cause on Feb. 15. University lawyers and Tang’s legal representation are in an ongoing legal dispute over the validity of a for-cause firing which, if K-State was successful, would mean $0 owed to Tang. If fully unsuccessful, Tang has more than $18 million coming his way. I’m expecting a settlement with terms undisclosed. Regardless, it’s a messy end that was precluded by a postgame rant that made national headlines — one in which Tang called out his players and said many of them would not be back with the program next season. The search for Tang’s replacement is already well underway, with a variety of initial interviews having already been conducted quietly behind the scenes in the past week. K-State’s goal is to land a sitting head coach. Its pool for NIL will be a sticking point, as Tang was given a lot of money to use the past two cycles, only to see it largely go to waste. I’ve been told K-State is expected to have in the vicinity of $6 million for NIL for the 2026-27 season, which would be a relative downgrade vs. what Tang had to play with near the top of the market the past two cycles.
PROVIDENCE | OUT: Kim English
The 37-year-old English will coach out the rest of the season … so we’ll see what, if any, magic might be possible in Midtown Manhattan next week. But the Friars are 14-16 after Wednesday night’s awful 78-56 home loss to 11-19 Marquette. Making the timing of the news more awkward: Providence concludes the regular season on the road Saturday against a bad Georgetown team, coached by none other than Ed Cooley, who would almost definitely still be the coach at Providence right now if he’d never left for Georgetown in the first place.
Some initial names I expect to be thrown around for this job are Josh Schertz (Saint Louis), Jerrod Calhoun (Utah State), Bryan Hodgson (South Florida) and James Jones (Yale). But it is all too possible someone else ultimately gets the job later this month.
Mid-majors
AIR FORCE | OUT: Joe Scott
Scott had two runs at Air Force, the first from 1999-2004, the second from 2020 until earlier this year, when Scott was put on leave in January amid an investigation into his treatment of players. That ultimately led to a severance between he and the school, though the two sides ended things amicably with kind words when the split was made official on Feb. 26. A military academy program in the Mountain West, Air Force easily ranks among the 10 toughest jobs in all of college hoops. Scott had four single-digit win seasons in his second run here and didn’t finish above .500 once.
BALL STATE | OUT: Mike Lewis
The Cardinals had Lewis in charge for four seasons, but the last three were all under .500. With this year’s team going 12-19, rumors bubbled up in late January that the job would come up. Lewis, a former UCLA assistant under Mick Cronin, went 61-64 in the MAC. The team hasn’t made the NCAAs since 2000 under Ray McCallum.
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD | OUT: Rod Barnes
There are a few jobs that have been open the entire season, and this one applies. Barnes was fired last September after 14 years at Bakersfield, and the reason is jaw-dropping: One of his former assistants was federally charged for allegations of pimping, among other illegal activity. There have also been changes in leadership in the athletic department. The team has sputtered under interim coach Mike Scott as well, going 8-22 with a last-place finish in the Big West. The next hire will be adelicate, deliberate process to keep the school out of the limelight.
KANSAS CITY | OUT: Marvin Menzies »» IN: Mark Turgeon
A huge get for the Roos, who have pulled off a rarity: A school with zero NCAA Tournament appearances hired a coach with at least 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, at least 15 years of experience of high-major coaching and at least 450 wins. The only other instance of this that I can recall where that exact scenario applied is when High Point hired Tubby Smith in 2018, but he was an alum. Turgeon played at Kansas and therefore has some semi-local ties. He heads to the Summit League with a healthy boost in NIL support, determined not to let his rickety exit from Maryland in 2021 be the end of his story.
LAMAR | OUT: Alvin Brooks
Brooks went 62-95 across five seasons in the Southland. This season’s team went 12-19 overall, but didn’t qualify for the conference tournament after finishing outside the top eight by ending the season on a nine-game losing streak. The Cardinals last made the NCAA Tournament in 2012 under Pat Knight.
LITTLE ROCK | OUT: Darrell Walker
This one became official on Friday and unfortunately was no surprise. The Little Rock job was openly discussed behind the scenes as an inevitable opening dating back to late January. Walker’s team went 12-20 this season and finished seventh in the OVC. He leaves after eight seasons and with a 113-133 record. This is a good job in that conference.
NORTH FLORIDA | OUT: Matt Driscoll »» IN: Bobby Kennen
This job had been open dating back to last May, when Driscoll left after 16 seasons to be Jerome Tang’s top assistant at Kansas State. Now Driscoll is wrapping up a disappointing season in Manhattan, Kansas, in the wake of Tang’s mid-February firing. At UNF, the Ospreys struggled under Kennen; the team went 7-24 this season. Nevertheless, he’s got the full-time gig. UNF’s been a D-I program for two decades, with its lone NCAA Tournament trip coming in 2015 under Driscoll.
Northern Illinois | OUT: Rashon Burno
Burno bounced after five seasons, all of them under .500. This year’s team finished 9-21 and 319th at KenPom at the time of Burno’s (expected) resignation. He went 48-106 in one of the toughest jobs in the MAC. Between firings and potential jump situations, it wouldn’t be surprising if five of the 13 schools in that conference undergo changes.
OREGON STATE | OUT: Wayne Tinkle
For Tinkle, the high point was the unexpected run to the Elite Eight in the 2021 COVID NCAA tourney, when the Beavers won three games as a 12-seed after earning the auto bid by winning the Pac-12 Tournament. But now, one of the tallest coaches in college hoops (Tinkle is 6-10) is out after a dozen years in Corvallis. Tinkle will coach out the string with OSU in the WCC Tournament. Athletic director Scott Barnes is holding in-person interviews over the next 48 hours and plans on naming a head coach by next weekend at the latest. OSU is transitioning to the reborn Pac-12 later this year.
SAN DIEGO | OUT: Steve Lavin
The 61-year-old Lavin will move on after his team’s run in the WCC Tournament comes to an end. He was hired in 2022 after his second lengthy stint working as an on-air commentator, but Lavin couldn’t bring the program to consistency in the Gonzaga-dominated WCC. The program has not made the NCAAs since 2008 under Bill Grier. Athletic director Kimya Massey has been interviewing a variety of candidates in the past two weeks (mid-major head coaches and high-major assistants), with the intention of landing on a replacement sooner than later, sources said, ideally before Selection Sunday. In-person interviews are happening this weekend in Las Vegas.
ST. BONAVENTURE | OUT: Mark Schmidt
With Schmidt leaving, program GM and prominent former NBA national reporter Adrian Wojnarowski will work with school leadership to try and land a coach on the cheap who is about leaning into the challenges and culture of Bonaventure. I’ve been told that this job is going to be a significant pay cut from what Schmidt was making after 19 years and all the pay bumps that come with such a long tenure. Bona doesn’t have any revenue sharing and needs to fundraise all of its capital in order to try and field a roster that can compete in the A-10; Wojnarowski has a huge task ahead, to be sure. Two early names rumored for the job are both alums: Washington Wizards assistant David Vanterpool and D-II Daemen College coach Mike MacDonald, who’s done well at that level.
TARLETON STATE | OUT: Billy Gillispie
The former Kentucky and Texas A&M coach oversaw Tarleton State’s transition into Division I, with the high point being a 25-10 season in 2023-24. The WAC-based school went 92-90 in six years at the D-I level under Gillispie. The university, based in Stephenville, Texas, is about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. “On behalf of Texan Nation, I want to thank head coach Billy Gillispie for his efforts in building upon the storied history of Tarleton State basketball,” school president Dr. James Hurley said. “Coach Gillispie helped usher us into NCAA Division I competition and celebrated some incredible wins during his tenure. We wish him the very best moving forward.”
TENNESSEE TECH | OUT: John Pelphrey
The program fired Pelphrey on Tuesday, ending his seven-year run in the Ohio Valley. Pelphrey went 79–138 at what is obviously a very hard job with limited resources. The school says it will use CSA Search & Consulting to land its next coach. TTU last won the regular-season title in the OVC in 2005.
WAGNER | OUT: Donald Copeland
Wagner has been coached by interim Dwan McMillan since the start of the season after Copeland was put on indefinite leave amid a school investigation into alleged abusive coaching tactics, including withholding water breaks during practice. One former player went on record with the New York Post last fall to confirm the allegations, but the school has yet to fire Copeland, who is still listed on the team’s website. The Seahawks went 14-17 and lost in the NEC semis to LIU.
