Last off season, four teams within the Big Ten hired new coaches - Ben McCollum at Iowa, Darian DeVries at Indiana, Niko Medved at Minnesota, and Buzz Williams at Maryland. They've now all completed a full non conference schedule and two Big Ten games as the leaders of their new teams. This isn't enough information to say whether someone was a good or bad hire, but it's enough to at least check to see where their teams might be heading.
Big Ten Coaching Overview
Before diving into each of the coaches, let's first take a look at where the Big Ten coaches stand as a whole. Starting with how many years each coach has been at their school.
The chart above shows what season each coach is in at their current school. Maybe this is a more common thing across college basketball, but it's interesting how there is a very clear divide in the number of seasons coaching at their school. There seems to be a few different tiers, and basically every coach has been at their school for either close to a decade or just a season or two. This would seemingly feel like bigger years for guys who are in their second season, based on what the data tells us.
Tier 1 - The legends
This tier includes Tom Izzo and Matt Painter. If you're going to think of the top and most influential coaches in college basketball, these are the two coaches from the Big Ten that'll for sure pop into your head. Izzo and Painter have been through it all, and sometime after they retire, they'll almost undoubtedly have something named after them at the college. Both have coached for over 20 seasons at their school, and they'll coach there until they decide to call it quits.
Tier 2 - The Tenured
This tier includes Dana Altman, Chris Collins, Greg Gard, Steve Pikiell, Brad Underwood, Fred Hoiberg, and Mick Cronin. At this point in time, they're pretty synonymous with their respective universities, and although there are varying degrees of job security, all of them feel pretty comfortable in their spots. All of these coaches have been at their schools for at least 7 years, and guys like Fred Hoiberg, Chris Collins, and Brad Underwood have really rebuilt the programs. Ultimately, a few of these guys will eventually be let go, but there'll most likely also be a few guys who end up in the first tier because they'll be at their school for the rest of their careers.
Tier 3 - The Newbies
This tier includes Mike Rhoades, Dusty May, Jake Diebler, Eric Musselman, and Danny Sprinkle. All of these coaches are in season number 2 or 3 at their schools, and Dusty May is probably the only coach currently who feels very likely to end up in the 2nd or 1st tier by the time he's done. There is most likely varying degrees of job stability in this one as one or two may be on the hot seat, one or two may be simply being monitored, and then Dusty May has the best job security.
Tier 4 - The New Hires
This tier includes Niko Medved, Buzz Williams, Darian DeVries, and Ben McCollum. All four of these guys got hired in the off season, and the rest of the article will further break down how their early season has gone.
Buzz Williams - Maryland
Current Record: 7-6
The start of this season hasn't gone how Williams has wanted, and although injuries can't explain away everything, they have played a large part. Maryland was hit with the injury bug bad over the off season, making it difficult to really be able to try and gel the team together. On top of that, Pharrel Payne, their star player, has missed 3 games this season and there's potential that Payne will be out for a while with his latest injury. Solomon Washington has missed 8 games, Myles Rice has missed 4 games, and Isaiah Watts has missed a game. Per evanmiya.com, when including current injuries, Maryland is the 114th best team in the country and the 105th best when not filtering for current injuries.
Injuries aside, it's been a bit of a struggle early on for Buzz Williams, but if you look at what he's done in the past, this is very much on track. Williams went 2-16 in ACC play during his first season at Virginia Tech. He went 16-14 overall in his first season at Texas A&M but would've presumably missed the tournament that season. He didn't make the tournament until year 3 at Virginia Tech and year 4 at Texas A&M. He's generally needed time to adjust his coaching style to what best fits the conference and his team before finding success.
Williams had to start completely over from last season's Maryland roster, returning 0 scholarship players. He brought over 4 players from Texas A&M, although two of them redshirted last season. From there, he added 5 freshmen and 10 transfers in total.
Offensively, Maryland hasn't yet fully found their identity. They've been a pretty heavy pick and roll offense, utilizing a lot of their 1-3 Across formation (3 players located along the baseline while a screen is set up top), but they haven't been super efficient in these looks. The offensive rebounding has been solid, but it hasn't been elite like it was at Texas A&M under Williams. What's been most surprising, although it's a product of the roster built, is that Maryland has really struggled converting inside of the paint. They're shooting just 27.1% on 2s in the paint that aren't at the rim, the worst rate in the country. In addition, they're shooting just 58.4% at the rim, a bottom 25%ile rate. Maryland doesn't have much size, especially now with Pharrel Payne being hurt. Collin Metcalf is the only other player I'd consider a true center, and he's been on the outside of the rotation looking in so far.
Defensively, Maryland has also struggled in large part because they haven't defended the three point line well. This roster has guards and wings who can be high volume scorers offensively, but they don't necessarily have the defensive toughness that Williams became accustomed to at Texas A&M. Maryland is running a high hedge scheme that shows a lot of help in the paint, which then allows kickouts. Nothing is inherently wrong with the scheme, but the players simply haven't been able to execute well.
Overall, Buzz Williams should eventually be able to get Maryland back on track, but it may not be this season.
Niko Medved - Minnesota
Current Record: 8-5
Medved has a similar injury bug to Buzz Williams at Maryland as Medved's starting point guard, Chansey Willis, is done for the season, and center Robert Vaihola has missed the last 8 games. BJ Omot has also yet to play in a game this season, and Chance Stephens was ruled out for the year during the off season. Minnesota currently only has 8 healthy scholarship players. Despite only having 8 scholarship players, Medved doesn't really play Nehemiah Turner, one of their bigger transfers in this offseason. That so far has felt like a swing and a miss, although it's very much worth noting that there's still plenty of time left this season.
Between the injuries and Minnesota's only other true center not being playable, Minnesota has had to go to a 7 man rotation which features no true centers. Grayson Grove and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson have filled in as well as they can, although I'd argue both would be better alongside a true center during Big Ten play.
Minnesota does have a good win over Indiana at home, and although this season seems like it'll be a year for simply laying the groundwork, getting a couple wins like that this season will be big for momentum. The other major positive this season has been Cade Tyson looking like the Cade Tyson everyone was expecting to show up at UNC. Tyson has been fantastic for the Gophers, and he's been one of the leading scorers in the conference.
Offensively, Minnesota has struggled to shoot from three, although that has improved some over the last few games. They've struggled to score the ball against top 100 competition, and that's really hurt them in their handful of bigger games. The offensive system is one that Medved brought from Colorado State, highlighted by a lot of off-ball movement, cutting, and spacing. They don't utilize a ton of pick and rolls, but rather, they'll work the ball back and forth a lot before someone flows into a cut or a handoff. The offense has generated good looks more often than not, but the roster has had a lot of inconsistency in terms of being able to finish.
Minnesota is at a major size disadvantage defensively, and they've really struggled against post ups, something that'll become more prevalent during Big Ten play. The system has done a solid job of being able to force a lot of mid range shots, but Minnesota currently doesn't have the size or athleticism needed to really be able to compete on that end.
Long term, Niko Medved can bring this Minnesota program back to life, but he may need a year or two to really be able to start getting his guys.
Darian DeVries - Indiana
Current Record: 10-3
Similar to Williams and Medved, DeVries has had some depth issues early in Year 1, although it hasn't been to the level of either of those two. Nick Dorn and Jasai Miles have dealt with some injuries, but neither have missed more than a couple games.
Indiana truly is a difficult team to judge right now. On one hand, they're 10-3 with wins over Kansas State, Marquette, and Penn State. They've dominated bad opponents left and right, and Indiana fans have enjoyed watching this brand of basketball more than the Woodson era. On the other hand, only one win so far has come against a top 100 Kenpom team, and that's a Kansas State tea who isn't projected to make the postseason. They lost to both Louisville and Kentucky, and they also started Big Ten play with a loss at Minnesota. Indiana hasn't looked great for the most part when facing teams with a pulse, but there's also an obvious path to the Hoosiers making the postseason.
Similar to Buzz Williams, DeVries had to bring in an entirely new roster, and outside of adding 4 star freshman Trent Sisley, this roster is essentially a mid major all star team (I mean that positively). Tucker DeVries played 8 games at West Virginia, Conor Enright spent a season at DePaul, and Sam Alexis fell out of the rotation at Florida last season. Those were the only three players on the roster with any sort of high major experience.
I think the statistical profile of this Indiana team doesn't quite matchup with how they're perceived. Analytically, this has been a very good defense and just an average high major offense, but when talking about the Hoosiers, I'd be willing to be more college basketball fans would flip that around. This is probably in part because of how incredible of shooting performances Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson have put on this season, although both have cooled off throughout the season.
The offense has been electric at times, but it's also had very high variance. They averaged over 1.5 points per possession against Penn State but also averaged just 0.9 points per possession against Kentucky. Against Penn State, they hit 17 threes. Against Kentucky, just 4. The offensive system itself has involved a lot of off ball movement and cuts, relying less on pure on ball creation. This offense will often be spaced 5 out, or utilize a big in a spot where they can e a bit of a playmaker. They have one of the highest Rim+3 rates in the country, and it's allowed them to generate a lot of good looks.
The defense has very much followed the analytical model of forcing a ton of mid range shots. They have one of the best defensive Rim+3 rates (limiting shot attempts at the rim and from 3) in the country, and that's been a big reason why they've had success defensively. Despite not having the most talented defensive personnel, the scheme has found them in spots where they've been very successful. They play drop coverage with applying enough gap help to cover up any deficiencies. It also has helped cover up their lack of size on the interior, but that is going to be put to the test more during Big Ten play.
If you believe in the system that DeVries has, you have to be pretty excited about what the future holds. This season may still be a bit of a question in terms of how it turns out, but there seems to be a quality system. Even though this is a talented roster, there's another level of talent that DeVries should be able to start tapping into with recruiting over the next few seasons.
Ben McCollum - Iowa
Current Record: 11-2
I'd argue Ben McCollum has had the best start out of the four new hires. Similar to DeVries though, there are still questions surrounding Iowa regarding how they hold up during Big Ten play. The only two losses Iowa has had so far have been a 19 point loss to Michigan State in which the Hawkeyes never really had a chance, and a 4 point loss at Iowa State in a game that Iowa could've won. Iowa has beat up on a lot of bad opponents, and they currently don't have a win against a top 50 Kenpom team. Their best win is a neutral site win against Ole Miss.
Iowa returned only one scholarship player from last year's roster, and McCollum brought over a lot of his guys from Drake, including Bennett Stirtz. McCollum has opted to primarily start his guys who followed him over to Iowa, with Cooper Koch being the only starter who wasn't on Drake last season. McCollum brought in a few other transfers in Alvaro Folgueiras and Brendan Hausen, although neither is playing quite as much as expected. Hausen is back end rotation and Folgueiras is the 6th man on the roster.
Iowa is still a bit of a difficult team to judge, but given the track record of Ben McCollum, having Bennett Stirtz, and what they've done outside of the Michigan State game, it seems like Iowa is headed in the right direction this season. In a Big Ten that really only has 5 or so teams who are for sure good teams, Iowa could find themselves as arguably the 6th best team in the conference headed into 2026.
The system that Ben McCollum has run this season has been very similar to what he ran at Drake. Iowa is a very slow tempo offense that runs a lot of pick and rolls for Bennett Stirtz. It isn't just him as a scorer though as Iowa uses their rollers more than anyone in the entire country. Stirtz is the catalyst of the offense, but the Hawkeyes do have multiple forwards who are very capable as rollers to the rim. They're surrounded by some shooters who help space the floor. Ultimately it's still the Bennett Stirtz show, but I do think Big Ten fans will be surprised at the lower usage he has, relative to what his status is.
Defensively, Iowa will have legitimate questions, especially on the interior. What they do to try and counter it is by having a lot of pressure and help in the gaps. Essentially, if teams are able to get into the paint against this Iowa defense, they'll find success. However, McCollum has his defense set so that it's very difficult to be able and do just that. The other main concern will be the rebounding as Iowa has been just an average rebounding team, and their competition level is going to increase.
Ben McCollum seems to have a team together this season that is very capable of making the tournament. There are still questions, but they seem talented enough to do so. The question will be what this team looks like next year after Stirtz leaves, but it seems reasonable to trust that McCollum will figure it all out.
