College basketball new coaches 2026: CBS experts pick long-term winners
CBS Sports analysts named Alan Huss, Jerrod Calhoun, Justin Joyner and Michael Malone as 2026 hires built to last.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
The college basketball new coaches 2026 class has plenty of fresh faces in major jobs, and CBS Sports analysts are already calling their shots on which hires are built for the long run.
CBS Sports reported that the 2026 coaching carousel produced 13 high-major changes, with the ACC accounting for five of them. The Big Ten had only one change, but it was a big one: Dusty May left Michigan in the summer for the Dallas Mavericks, and the Wolverines promoted Mike Boynton on a two-year contract as they prepare to defend a national title.
A coaching carousel is the wave of offseason hires, firings and departures that reshapes benches across college basketball. In 2026, it included North Carolina moving on from Hubert Davis and hiring former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone, plus NC State replacing Will Wade with former player Justin Gainey after Wade returned to LSU.
Which college basketball new coaches 2026 hires could last?
CBS Sports framed the question around career success at the new school, not who will pop fastest in 2026-27. The outlet’s panel landed on four names: Alan Huss at Creighton, Jerrod Calhoun at Cincinnati, Justin Joyner at Oregon State and Michael Malone at North Carolina.
Matt Norlander of CBS Sports picked Huss, citing fit and staying power at Creighton. Huss, 47, left High Point after taking the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament and returned to Omaha, where he had previously worked as an assistant under Greg McDermott, to become coach-in-waiting.
Norlander pointed to Huss’ familiarity with the program, Creighton’s fan support, its arena environment and its projected Big East revenue-sharing resources as reasons the hire could stretch a decade or more. He wrote that multiple Sweet 16 trips by 2033 would not surprise him.
David Cobb of CBS Sports chose Calhoun at Cincinnati. Calhoun went 55-15 overall and 30-10 in Mountain West play across two seasons at Utah State, reaching back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, according to Cobb.
Cobb also highlighted Calhoun’s earlier record: a 76.5% win rate over five seasons at Fairmont State, including a run to the Division II title game, and a six-year rebuild at Youngstown State that lifted the program in the Horizon League. Cincinnati has not made the NCAA Tournament since Mick Cronin’s run of nine straight trips from 2011 to 2019, according to CBS Sports.
Isaac Trotter of CBS Sports went with Joyner at Oregon State. Trotter cited Joyner’s work as an assistant at Michigan and Saint Mary’s, his ties to the Dusty May and Randy Bennett coaching trees, and a coaching résumé that includes a 171-60 record, three regular-season conference titles, six NCAA Tournament appearances and one national championship.
Trotter also pointed to Oregon State’s new Pac-12 setup and Joyner’s first roster. CBS Sports listed frontcourt additions Xavion Staton, Dennis Evans and Jackson Rasmussen, along with Legend Smiley, DeShawn Gory and Daniel Freitag, plus returning guard Josiah Lake II, who averaged more than 13 points while shooting 38% from 3 last season.
Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports picked the wild card: Malone at North Carolina. Malone had no college head coaching experience when UNC hired him, but CBS Sports noted he won the 2023 NBA title with Denver and previously coached the Sacramento Kings before being fired in 2014.
Salerno wrote that Malone’s job will be measured by the standard Hubert Davis did not meet at North Carolina: a national championship. Davis reached the national title game in his first season and the Sweet 16 in 2024, but CBS Sports described UNC as a program where national titles set the bar.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS Sports.