Some Demographics on Assistant Coaches in DI Hoops

There are 327 DI hoops schools and 918 assistants (according to this year's Blue Ribbon guide). I broke down the distribution of years graduated and alma maters (there were certain cases where assistants were named without alma mater, graduation year, or both). Here goes:

1. Assistant coaching is a young man's game. Of the 918 DI assistants, 614 of them graduated from college in 1990 or after. The oldest assistant graduated in 1961, and there are four assistants who graduated in 2005. 159 assistants graduated in 2000 or after. In short, roughly 2/3 of all assistants are 37 or younger (assuming that the average 1990 graduate was 22 at graduation).

Here's the decade-by-decade breakdown:

1960's -- 12.
1970's -- 70.
1980's -- 215.
1990's -- 455.
2000's -- 159.
No year listed -- 7.

The reasons for this are simple: it's a grueling business, the meritocracy is severe (you're out of a job if you have a few bad seasons in a row, and it's not always that easy to hook up with a new one), the pay at the lower levels isn't always great, and you can burn out. On the flip side, there are hundreds of young men who would just love to get the opportunity to get one of these jobs, but still, it's an easier job to do when you're 25 and unmarried than when you're 42 with a family. How much can you really be on the road before it takes its toll on your family life? How often can you move your family? How much recruiting can you tolerate? How hard is it making a living selling to eighteen year-olds (that is, selling your school). The demographics make sense for another reason -- entry-level assistants cost much less to hire than fifteen-year veterans, so for many DI schools it make sense to hire at least one assistant who is in his first DI coaching job.

At some point, many assistants decide that they don't want to be career DI assistants, that there's no life in being an assistant after a certain age, that the pressures of DII or DIII or the NAIA are easier and the chance for a longer tenure is better (and the chances of getting a head coaching job at those levels could well be easier), that they're not going to get the shot they want and decide to go to the prep ranks or they leave the business altogether. Whatever the reason, 40 seems to be about the magic number. Of the 215 assistants who graduated in the 1980's, 70 of them graduated in 1988 and 1999 and are not yet 40. There is a significant dropoff in the number of assistants who graduated prior to 1988. My guess is that many of these assistants use 40 as a benchmark as where they want to be in life. At some point, it is time to settle down.

3. Alma maters. These 918 assistants went to 506 different schools. 587 went to DI schools and 334 did not (you'll recall that we didn't have good data for 7 assistants). The following is a list of the schools with more than one DI assistant among their alumni:

Ten assistants

Indiana

Seven assistants

Duke
Illinois State
Kentucky
North Carolina-Wilmington

Six assistants

Michigan
Ohio
St. Joseph's (PA)
Stetson

Five assistants

Auburn
Boston College
Florida
Fordham
Morehead St.
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Princeton
Roanoke
Syracuse
Tulane
Villanova
Virginia
Washington

Four assistants

Alabama Birmingham
Austin Peay
Bentley
Campbell
Central Washington
Charlotte
Davidson
Dayton
Eastern Illinois
Eastern Kentucky
Furman
Hamilton
Iona
Iowa
Ithaca
Kansas
Maryland
Mississippi
Mississippi St.
Northern Illinois
Oregon State
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Radford
Randloph-Macon
Texas
UCLA
UNLV
Western Kentucky
Wooster

Three assistants

Alabama
Arizona
Arizona State
Ashland
Boston University
Bradley
Buffalo
Butler
California
Cal State-Northridge
Canisius
Central Connecticut
Central Michigan
Charleston
Clemson
Detroit
Evansville
Georgia Tech
Hampden-Sydney
Illinois
Iowa State
Kansas State
Lehigh
Louisiana Tech
Louisville
Loyola Marymount
Marshall
Massachusetts
Memphis
Miami (FL)
Michigan State
Minnesota
Montana
Montana St.
New Hampshire
Niagara
North Carolina St.
Northeastern
Old Dominion
Oklahoma State
Pacific
Richmond
St. Bonaventure
Southern Illinois
Springfield
Taylor
Texas-Arlington
Toledo
Tulsa
Virginia Tech
Washington State
Wisconsin
Xavier
Wayne St.
Wichita St.

Two assistants

Adelphia
Albany
Appalachian State
Arkansas
Asuza Pacific
Belhaven
Bowie State
Bowling Green
Brockport State
Bucknell
Buena Vista Collegel
Buffalo State
BYU
Cheyney State
Christian Brothers
Colorado
Columbia
Concordia
Coppin State
Cumberland
Delaware
Drake
Drexel
Eastern Michigan
Eastern Washington
Eckerd
Fairleigh Dickinson
Florida State
Franklin & Marshall
George Washington
Georgia
Grambling State
Harding
Holy Cross
Howard
Idaho
Indiana (PA)
Jackson State
Kent State
Lamar
Lipscomb
Luther
Livingstone
Louisiana Monroe
Marist
Marquette
Mars Hill
Merrimack
Miami (OH)
Missouri-Rolla
Monmouth
Montclair St.
Montevallo
Mount St. Mary's
New Mexico
New Orleans
Northeastern State
Northern Iowa
North Texas
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Baptist
Pepperdine
Pikeville
Pittsburgh-Johnstown
Purdue
Rhode island
Rutgers
St. Mary's (CA)
St. Michael's
Salisbury State
San Diego
San Francisco State
Santa Clara
Shippensburg
South Carolina St.
South Dakota St.
Southern Utah
S.W. Texas St.
Spring Harbor
Stanford
SUNY-Geneseo
Tarleton St.
Temple
TCU
Texas Lutheran
Texas-Pan American
Texas-San Antonio
Towson
Troy St.
Tufts
UC-Davis
UC-Santa Barbara
Valparaiso
Vanderbilt
VCU
VMI
Virginia Wesleyan
Wake Forest
Washington & Lee
Western Illinois
William Jewell
Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Whoever said "It's the journey" got it right. After all, you can look at those lists and find the bellwethers, the legendary programs, many of which have spawned a whole bunch of assistants. Of the Top 15 programs in all-time wins, here's a breakdown of how many assistants they have spawned:

Kentucky (7)
North Carolina (5)
Kansas (4)
Duke (7)
St. John's (0 -- no head coaches, either)
Syracuse (5)
Temple (2)
Pennsylvania (5)
Indiana (10)
Notre Dame (2)
Utah (0 -- no head coaches, either)
UCLA (4)
Oregon State (4)
Princeton (5)
Illinois (3).

That's a great showing for those schools -- 63 assistant coaches in all. Each of those schools has won at least 1,000 games in its hoops history.

Now look at these schools:

Illinois State (7)
North Carolina-Wilmington (7)
Michigan (6)
Ohio (6)
St. Joe's (6)
Stetson (6)
Auburn (5)
Boston College (5)
Florida (5)
Fordham (5)
Morehead St. (5)
Tulane (5)
Villanova (5)
Virginia (5)
Washington (5).

Those 15 schools have spawned 83 assistants. No, they're not the next 15 in career wins, but it goes to show you that there is a group of 15 schools outside the top 15 in career wins that, when combined, has spawned many more assistants than the schools that populate the Top 15 list in career wins. Then again, that group is hard to find. The storied programs do more than their fair share of enhancing the legacy of their programs and the sport.

You might have a better chance of getting an assistant's job at a DI school if you went to Indiana or Kentucky, but you also have a shot if you went to one of these schools: Armstrong Atlantic St., Arkansas-Pine Bluff, American International, August, Alfred, Albertson, Alma, Allen, Aurora, Alabama A&M, Barat, Bridgeport, Brandeis, Bridgewater, BYU-Hawaii, Bethany, Bloomsburg, Cal St.-Stanislaus, Campbellsville, Cal St.-Hayward, Clark, Cornell, Clark Atlanta, Carroll, California Baptist, Cal St. - Chico, Cal St. - L.A., University of Chicago, Central Arkansas, Central Oklahoma, Clarion St., Columbus St., California Lutheran, Christian Heritage, Chapman, Colorado College, Denison, Doane, DePauw, Dickinson, Drury, Dominican, Eastern Nazarene, Eastern Oregon, East Connecticut St., Elizabethtown, Emory & Henry, Ferrum, Fayetteville St., Farmingham St., Fort Lewis St., Geneva, Gettysburg, Georgia College, Grand View, George Fox, Grand Valley St., Graceland, Goucher, Harding, Haverford, Hannibal-Grange, Howard Payne, Hobart, Heidelberg, Harris-Stowe, Illinois Wesleyan, Indianapolis, Johnson C. Smith, John Jay, Jersey City State, John Brown, Kutztown, Kings, Kenyon, Kansas Wesleyan, Lewis & Clark St., Lenoir-Rhyne, Lynn, Lubbock Christian, Lane, Lehman, Loras, Lynchburg, Mary Hardin-Baylor, McPherson, Mount St. Joseph's, Maine-Farmington, Methodist, Morehouse, Manhattanville, Maryland St., Milligan, Montana Tech, Mesa St., Muskingum, Mount Union, Manchester, Malone, Moravian, Mississippi College, N.W. Oklahoma St., Nebraska-Omaha, NYU, North Greenville, Northern Alabama, New England, Nebraska Wesleyan, North Dakota St., Northern Montana, Ouchita Baptist, Otterbein, Pfeiffer, Paul Quinn, Palm Beach Atlantic, Phoenix, Point Loma Nazarene, Penn State-Behrend, Paine, Queens, Redlands, S.E. Missouri St., Salem, St. Edwards, Stonehill, St. Rose, Southern Connecticut, SUNO, St. Joe's (Maine), South Dakota, St. Norbert, Southern Nazarene, St. Thomas Aquinas, Sterling, SUNY Oneonta, Siena Heights, St. Thomas, St. Leo, Scranton, St. Ambrose, Simpson, St. Vincent, Southern Maine, Southern Indiana, Stillman, Southern Arkansas, Cal St. - Sacramento, Southampton, St. Mary (Texas), South Carolina-Spartanburg, Tennessee Wesleyan, Talladega, Texas Wesleyan, Texas St., Tiffin, Tabor, Tusculum, Tuskegee, Union, Ursinus, Virginia St., West Texas A&M, Wisconsin La-Crosse, Whitman, Williams, Wisconsin-Platteville, Western Connecticut, Winona St., Winston-Salem, Wittenberg, Western Maryland, Wisconsin Lutheran, West Georgia, Wingate, Willamette, Western New Mexico, William Penn, Wilkes, Westfield St., Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Wisconsin-Parkside, West Florida and York. All of those schools spawned one current DI assistant coach. My guess is that you haven't heard of most of them.

If you're a young man looking for his first entry into the DI coaching ranks, my advice is to persevere. There's no tried and true prescription for success in these ranks, but a saying of Mark Twain comes to mind: "95% of life is all about showing up." So, show up at the camps, at the clinics, get to know the big names, network, keep showing up, and keep at it. At some point you should impress a head coach enough to get your first assistant's job.

Regardless of where you went to school. If you want it badly enough, that desire will serve you better in the long run than having an Indiana or North Carolina pedigree.