Ranking each Big Ten basketball head coach for 2024-25 season
14. Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska
Hoiberg鈥檚 four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances at Iowa State in the early 2010s helped him land an NBA job with the Chicago Bulls. He struggled in the NBA and back in the college ranks at Nebraska until last season where he finally led the Cornhuskers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade. It鈥檒l be important to build on that success moving forward for the experienced coach who has won only around 41% of his games while in Lincoln.
13. Steve Pikiell, Rutgers
Pikiell could move up in the rankings with a strong 2024-25 season and Rutgers is set up for success with star freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. Pikiell has turned Rutgers into a scrappy and competitive team in the Big Ten since he arrived in 2016 with two NCAA Tournament appearances in the last four years. Despite a down 2023-24 season, he seems to have the program heading in the right direction.
12. Mike Woodson, Indiana
Woodson has some of the greatest experience among Big Ten coaches with two previous NBA head-coaching stints with the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks. He continues to bring highly-regarded recruits to Bloomington but Indiana has still been a middle-of-the-pack team in the conference the last few seasons. The 2024-25 campaign will be a big one for Woodson with the amount of talent his top-25 team has.
11. Kevin Willard, Maryland
Willard has won over 300 games as a Division I head coach and is a former MAAC Coach of the Year at Iona and Big East Coach of the Year at Seton Hall. Willard has made the NCAA Tournament six times since 2016, including in his first season at Maryland in 2022-23. The Terrapins had a down 2023-24 season, but Willard鈥檚 past consistency provides hope for a rebound in 2024-25.
