The coaching carousel is always very erratic in college basketball. For mid-major coaches, there is always an opportunity to get a better job. If you win some games in the NCAA tournament and make their names nationally recognized, bigger programs take note. Sometimes, there are shocking switches that take everyone by surprise. Regardless of the reason, there is always movement across the NCAA. Here are five coaches that started a new job this year and how they did.

Josh Pastner: Georgia Tech

Pastner left a Memphis program that has seemed to be stuck in the middle of the road in the most middle-of-the-road conference in the country, the American. There didn’t seem to be much promise for huge success while at Memphis, so he decided to make a change. That change led him to the best conference in the country, the ACC. Like many teams with their coach in his first year, the Yellow Jackets had a roller coaster season. Their preseason included losses to Ohio and Penn State, and a blowout at the hands of Tennessee. Throw in a loss to Georgia, and it is safe to say that is a pretty bad preseason. Something clicked when they got to conference play, though. In the first game of play, they beat ninth-ranked North Carolina. After losses to Duke, Louisville, Virginia Tech and Virginia, all tournament teams, they turned it around again with wins against Florida State and Notre Dame. They finished conference play at 8-10, but only two of those losses were to teams that didn’t make the tournament. This team showed a lot of promise throughout the year, and they do not lose any of their top-three leading scorers. Josh Okogie, who scored 15.5 per game with 5.1 boards and 1.3 steals, is only a freshman. It seems as if this program is in good hands with Pastner and his tightly curled mop at the helm.

Overall Grade: B-

Brad Underwood: Oklahoma State

During his three years at Stephen F. Austin, Underwood made a national name for himself and the program. He turned the Lumberjacks into an absolute powerhouse, not only in the Southland Conference, but nationally during March. He gained bids to the tournament in all three of his years at SFA, and moved past the round of 64 twice. As a low major coach, that is a major success. Thanks to that success, he was able to make the career jump to a good high major program in Oklahoma State. As the leader of the Cowboys this year, he continued to push his offensive-minded approach to coaching. This led the Cowboys to be in the top ten in the nation in scoring at 85.5. Much of that can be attributed to their point guard and catalyst, Sophomore guard Jawun Evans, who leads the team in points and assists. They had twelve losses this season, but half of those came in one three-week stretch that included five tournament teams. Their only bad loss is Texas, and a 9-9 record in an always-solid Big 12 is nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately, they run into a red-hot Michigan team in the first round of the tournament, but with a first-year coach, OK State has to be happy about making the tournament at all.

Overall Grade: A-

Jamie Dixon: TCU

TCU has historically been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad program. They have not been to the tournament since 1998 and are 5-7 all time. Inversely, Jamie Dixon has enjoyed a ton of success as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers, especially when in the Big East. So when Dixon decided to return to his alma mater to coach, it got a lot of Texans excited. Last year, TCU started the season 8-4 before conference play thanks to a poor non-conference schedule. They finished the year 12-21. You can do the math on how abysmal that really is. This season with Dixon, the Horned Frogs took a similar scheduling approach in the preseason and came out with an 11-1 record. Unlike last year, though, they ended the year 19-15, including their signature win against #1 Kansas in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. They improved their conference record to 6-12 this year. That might seem bad on the surface, but 7 of those losses were by single digits and 2 were by only one point. We all know Jamie Dixon can coach, but this new challenge at Texas Christian is proving his true prowess.

Overall Grade: B+

Kevin Stallings: Pitt

I will open with the fact that I have never really been sold on Kevin Stallings as a coach. Last year, he was at the head of a team that had first-round NBA talents Wade Baldwin IV and Damian Jones. Along with sharpshooter Riley LaChance and dynamic big man Luke Kornet, this should have been a team that could have beaten anyone in the nation. Instead, they went 19-13, which the Kornet injury admittedly didn’t help. Still, the amount of talent Stallings had on this team should have gotten him much further than the first four of the NCAA Tournament. This year, he moved north into the ACC and took over Dixon’s vacant spot at Pitt. Other than wins against Virginia in OT and Florida State, who couldn’t play on the road all year, the Panthers essentially accomplished nothing. They were 4-14 in conference play and 16-17 overall, which is by far the worst mark of any of the highlighted first year coaches. They had an 8-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak, even with dynamic offensive talents Michael Young and Jamel Artis. Kevin Stallings does not impress me one bit, and the ACC is no place for mediocre coaches. Expect Pitt to continue to struggle with Stallings in charge.

Overall Grade: D

Bryce Drew: Vanderbilt

Bryce Drew is the other guy on this list that had a rise from mid-major to major program. Much like Underwood, he made his program, Valparaiso, a national brand with dominance in conference and success in March. This led him to take the job at Vanderbilt vacated by Kevin Stallings. With about half the talent Stallings had on his roster, Drew led this team to basically the same record at 19-15 and an NCAA tournament berth. Whether you agree or disagree with the fact they deserve to be in (they don’t at all), the Commodores made it as a nine seed. They are the first team in the history of the tournament to get an at-large bid with fifteen losses, which is confusing considering they really only played well against Florida this year. Outside of their season sweep against the Gators, the only tournament teams they have wins against are Arkansas and Iowa State. On the flip side, they have losses to Bucknell, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Missouri. That is 5 good wins and six bad losses. Along with USC, this is the best example of how bad the committee boned the bubble this year. Still, a berth is a berth, and a winning season with a coach in his first year against consistently good competition is promising.

Overall Grade: C+/B-