College basketball is seeing a new generation of coaches rise up to claim their spots at the head of the sport’s table. With national-title winners from the past 15 years such as Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Tony Bennett, Jay Wright and Jim Calhoun gone, a generational changing of the guard is underway.
Dan Hurley of UConn busted down the door with back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024 to claim his spot as one of the premier coaches in the game, and Todd Golden followed by leading Florida to a national-title last season. The next 5-10 years promise to bring several more first-time national title winners.
Championship-winning coaches Rick Pitino of St. John’s and Tom Izzo of Michigan State will coach the 2025-26 season as members of the 70+ club. John Calipari of Arkansas is in the 65+ club. Right behind him in the 60+ division is Bill Self of Kansas.
Of course, there are still plenty of great coaches in the 60+ crowd on the hunt for their first national title, including Kelvin Sampson of Houston, Mark Few of Gonzaga, Bruce Pearl of Auburn and Rick Barnes of Tennessee, just to name a few.
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But as they navigate the twilight of their careers, a wave of championship-caliber coaches is rising behind them. So, who will be the next coach to win their first national title? Will he come from the middle-aged division or the 60+ crew? Our writers made their picks for this week’s Dribble Handoff.
Jon Scheyer, Duke
If we were to draft the most likely college basketball coaches to win their first national title among those who have not done so yet, Scheyer would be the clear choice. So I’ll take the low-hanging fruit here. He’s 37 years old and the leader of the most powerful brand — and arguably the best program — in the sport. It is only a matter of when, not if, he breaks through.
Scheyer’s been in charge in Durham for three seasons and already made two Elite Eights, one Final Four and banged on the door of a title game appearance. In that span he has hauled in two No. 1 recruiting classes and one No. 2 recruiting class — led by, among others, Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer, Jared McCain and Kon Knueppel.
It’s not just postseason success at Duke that foretells of a coach bound to reach the pinnacle. Scheyer’s 89 total wins since 2022-23 are second-most behind only Houston coach Kelvin Sampson and UConn coach Dan Hurley. (Sampson was a bounce away from his first title but is in the twilight of his career at 69, while Hurley has already got two rings.) That’s tied for the most wins by a Division I head coach in their first three seasons joining Brad Stevens and Brad Underwood.
Scheyer won a national title as a player at Duke in 2010 and was part of the coaching staff at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski when it won its most recent title in 2015. My bet is that he’ll be head coach when the Blue Devils bag another in the very near future, becoming the next coach to win his first ring as head man. — Kyle Boone
There are others with better odds of winning it all for the first time in 2026. But when you look for coaches and programs with staying power as national title contenders, Pope and Kentucky are an obvious choice. Armed with significant institutional investment, an elite history and an encouraging trajectory, the Wildcats are set to be a force for years to come under Pope. Kentucky is (1) retaining key players, (2) landing elite transfers, (3) attracting high-caliber high school talent and (4) dipping into international recruiting waters.
Most programs are doing well to achieve one or two of those things. That Kentucky is doing all four under Pope should resoundingly put to rest any fears over if he is equipped to build championship-caliber teams. Pope showed us what a masterful tactician he was at BYU, he demonstrated it again this past season while maximizing an injury-plagued UK roster.
Is he going to land five McDonald’s All-Americans from the high school ranks in a single recruiting cycle like John Calipari? Probably not. And that’s exactly why he’ll be the next coach to win his first national title. Duke had a generationally elite freshman class headlined by three top-10 picks in the 2025 NBA Draft and still choked in the Final Four. Pope has the support, roster-building formula and tactical mastery required to cut down nets in the not-too-distant future. — David Cobb
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
The craziest part about my selection of Sampson is that Houston was quite literally one possession away, less than four months ago, from him not even being on this list. Sampson helped Houston reach the Final Four for the second time in the 2020s, but fell short in an eventual loss to Florida. Despite losing the national title game, the Cougars will enter the 2025-26 campaign in prime position to make another deep tournament run. Houston has the second-shortest odds (10-1) behind Purdue to win the 2026 national title.
Sampson is one of the best coaches in college basketball history who hasn’t won a national title. After making the move to the Big 12 ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, Houston has been the best team in the conference by far. Houston went 15-3 in conference play during the 2023-24 campaign and followed it up by going 19-1 against Big 12 competition last year.
Here is why I believe Sampson will be the next coach to get over the hump: the amount of talent the Cougars are bringing in is incredible. Houston has thrived with continuity under Sampson since his arrival, but this is the best high school recruiting class the Cougars have had to date. That class is headlined by five-star forward Chris Cenac Jr. — a potential lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Houston is also bringing in two more top-20 players in Isiah Harwell and Kingston Flemings. Not to mention that Houston will also return Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp and Joseph Tugler to that core. Houston has a clear identity with its program. It’s just a matter of when, not if, Sampson will be a national championship-winning coach. — Cameron Salerno
Texas Tech’s investment into basketball is real and sustainable. Giving a sharp roster-building coach like McCasland the resources to compete with the big dawgs in the college basketball ecosystem is a cheat code. McCasland and his staff have evaluated talent as well as anybody in the country, both from the transfer portal and the high school ranks. Texas Tech runs smart schemes on both ends of the floor, and McCasland has beaten his preseason KenPom ranking in each of the nine years he’s been a Division I head coach, using both elite defenses at North Texas and an elite offense at Texas Tech this past season.
He’s adaptable and flexible, which is everything in this new era of college basketball.
Bites at the apple are vital to win a championship. Texas Tech has everything it needs to keep putting itself in position to make a run year after year. Eventually, it’s going to click. — Isaac Trotter