The Penn and Columbia men’s basketball coaching jobs are both open. There has been much speculation and more rumors.
What we know is neither team is in the postseason, but some of the candidates are. Penn has hired Georgia-based Parker Executive Search, an executive search firm.
Columbia athletic director Peter Pilling is handling the Columbia search. Pilling made a great hire on the women’s side in Megan Griffith in 2016 and should know talent when he sees it. He was at Ivy Madness on Friday and Saturday and played all conversations close to the vest. Every candidate will want to know definitively if there will be some form of NIL available.
The candidates and the odds:
Penn
Matt Langel – 2-1: Colgate head coach and the winningest coach in program history. Langel is a 2000 Penn alum, helping lead Penn to two Ivy League titles and NCAA Tournament appearances during his four-year playing career before serving on Fran Dunphy’s staff for two years there.
It would appear that the Penn job is Langel’s if he wants it. But Langel and his family are very happy at Colgate. He is well-compensated.
Dave Klatsky – 3-1: Head coach at Division I New York University, which still is in the Final Four. Penn has interest. Klatsky is a 2003 Penn alum and was an assistant for 11 years at Colgate, serving under Langel before leaving to take the helm at NYU. Klatsky will most likely take the job if offered.
Ira Bowman – 8-1: Assistant coach at Auburn, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Bowman played for Penn for two years and was 1996 Ivy Player of the Year after transferring from Providence. Bowman was an assistant for six years at Penn under Steve Donahue and Jerome Allen before his six-year tenure at Auburn. Would Bowman take the Penn job if his next step alternatively could be to a power conference team?
Andy Toole – 12-1: Robert Morris head coach and, like Klatsky, a 2003 Penn alum after playing two years at Elon. RMU is in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed in Klatsky’s 15 years there, playing No. 2 Alabama.
Fran McCaffery – 20-1: Recently fired 15-year Iowa head coach who was voted Penn’s Most Inspirational Player as a senior there in 1982 and was head sub-varsity coach there in 1982-83. Has won 548 games in 29 seasons as a head coach at Iowa, Siena, North Carolina Greensboro and Lehigh.
Columbia:
Kevin Hovde – 2-1: An assistant coach at Florida, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Hovde coached at Columbia under Kyle Smith before following him to San Francisco. Hovde met his wife, a 2009 Columbia graduate, at Columbia. Hovde is a 2011 Richmond alum and was an assistant there in 2021-22 before jumping to Florida.
Dave Klatsky – 8-1: See above.
Brett MacConnell – 20-1: Associate head coach at Princeton who previously has been offered head jobs.
Matt Kingsley – 20-1: Yale associate head coach and 1998 Wesleyan graduate who first joined 26-year head coach James Jones’ staff in 2003.
Justin Simon – 20-1: – Yale associate head coach who joined Jones’ staff in 2011 after being part of Jones’ first recruiting class.
There are other candidates for both posts. The consensus seems to be both jobs will be filled in the next two weeks.
Big oversight not calling out Coach John Krikorian as a potential for the PENN job. He has over 400 wins as a HC, a D3 National Championship at CNU, and he’s a PENN alum who also served as a PENN assistant coach. He’s a natural for the Palestra.
Coach Krikorian not mentioned for Penn? He should be on the same level as Klatsky. Krikorian checks the same boxes as Klatsky, but has more experience and success (2023 D3 National Champion). I understand picking the younger guy, but I would trade the experience for the difference in age.