Iona, New Mexico, North Texas Reload Under New Coaches

Dan Geriot, Eric Olen, and Danyial Robinson are quickly building rosters and reshaping programs in the wake of 2025's busy coaching carousel.

We have had another chaotic coaching carousel in which we will see a whopping 55 new head coaches going into the 2025-2026 season. The domino effect of power conference schools hiring from the high and mid-majors, who hire from the low-majors and Division II ranks continues to cause ripples throughout the college basketball world.

With the coaching carousel and the transfer portal both becoming hot topics and rapidly changing environments, lets take a look at what some new head coaches are already building at their universities.

---

Use the code “BracketBusters” when checking out at Crow’s Nest Coffee Roasters to receive 20% of your order! Want two bags of coffee shipped to your door every month? Sign up for a monthly subscription here and receive 25% off your monthly subscription!

Sign up for Bracket Busters’ Discord to discuss all things Mid-Major Basketball!

---

Dan Geriot - Iona

Dan Geriot was a bit of an out-of-the-box hire for the Iona Gaels. From 2011 to 2015, he was an assistant coach at Princeton and Campbell before heading to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018. Since 2018, he’s spend time with the Cavs, the Cleveland Charge (G-League), and the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Gaels announced that Geriot would take over on March 20th, 2025 and he’s wasted no time building out the roster. He’s already added the following players from the transfer portal.

• C.J. Anthony (Cincinnati)

  • 1.4 points, 0.6 rebounds, 0.3 assists

• Keshawn Williams (Colorado State)

  • 5.1 points, 1.6 rebounds

• Toby Harris (Brandeis - DIII)

  • 18.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists

• Ryan Renfro (Lewis - DII)

  • 12.3 points, 6 rebounds, 2.5 assists

• Matt Reed (Tulsa)

  • 3.5 points, 2.4 rebounds

• Khalil Badru (New Hampshire)

  • 8.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals

Geriot is following the path of many other coaches outside of the power conferences and dipping into the pool of players outside of Division I. He’s picked up both Toby Harris and Ryan Renfro from DII and DII. Harris was an elite shooter, finishing the season shooting 40.4% from beyond the arc on 6.7 attempts per game. He had interest from many programs, including Pittsburgh, Furman, William & Mary, Toledo, Loyola Chicago, Vermont, and more. Renfro shot 54% on the season overall with limited outside shooting as he attempted just 28 three pointers.

Khalil Badru was similarly efficient to Renfro as he finished shooting 50.7% overall. He attempted just 39 three point shots, but hit 12 of them to finish shooting 30.8% from beyond the arc.

Keshawn Williams once averaged 17.9 points per game for Northern Illinois before transferring to Colorado State. He took a bench role last year, but still appeared in 36 games, providing an offensive spark off the bench. At NIU, he shot 35.3% and 33.7% from beyond the arc in two seasons as a starter. He’ll slide right back into the starting rotation for Geriot in year one.

CJ Anthony and Matt Reed will both be potential players to watch as breakout stars for the Gaels. Neither player has had a large opportunity in their previous seasons, so both will be looking to take advantage. Reed is a 6’9 forward who appeared in 27 games last season for Tulsa, starting in five. He shot 39.3% overall and 29.4% from beyond the arc. Anthony has spent the last three seasons at Cincinnati and appeared in 35 games across those three seasons. He’s averaged just 2.6 minutes per game, with limited production on the floor.

Eric Olen - New Mexico

After skyrocketing his coaching stock at UC San Diego, the New Mexico Lobos did everything they could go get Olen and it’s already working out for them. He’s added the following players in the transfer portal so far:

• Milos Vicentic (UC San Diego)

  • 3 points, 5 rebounds

• Chris Howell (UC San Diego)

  • 5.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.2 steals

• Antonio Chol (Garden City - JUCO)

  • 19.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists

• Kevin Patton Jr. (USC)

  • 3.1 points, 1.2 rebounds

Two players followed him over to New Mexico, but both are going to provide meaningful roles in his rotation next season. Vicentic appeared in just one game last year, but he was a 2024 Division II All-American at McKendree after averaging 21.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist per game. He ended up redshirting last season, but the 6’7 forward will slide into the rotation. Chris Howell started out at Saint Mary’s then transferred to UC San Diego last year. He started in all 35 games he appeared in and shot 44.8% overall and 32.8% from deep. The 6’6 guard is crafty on offense, he can get dirty in the paint and dish it out.

Antionio Chol was one of the highest regarded JUCO transfers in the portal this season. He had interest or offers from Oklahoma State, NC State, Ole Miss, Cal, Providence, Arizona State, Washington, Villanova, Virginia, Seton Hall, LSU, and more. He was a sharpshooter from deep as he averaged 39.7%

Kevin Patton Jr. played his freshman year at San Diego where he averaged 9.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals. He then transferred to USC where he averaged just 8.1 minutes a game in 27 games. He still managed to average solid statistics despite the limited playing time. I’m excited to see him get an extended opportunity to play as the 6’8 forward can shoot from deep, he is a strong rebounder, and with more development could become something special.

Danyial Robinson - North Texas

Robinson spend the last three seasons at Cleveland State where all he did was win. He finished 65-42 and appeared in the CBI all three years, finishing in the first round, the quarterfinals, and then as runner-up this season. He’s wasted no time putting together his roster at a program that continuously wins every year:

• Demarion Watson (Iowa State)

  • 1.8 points, 2.3 rebounds

• Dylan Arnett (Cleveland State)

  • 11.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 blocks

• Cahmai Crosby (Kilgore - JUCO)

  • 15.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists

• David Terrel Jr. (UTEP)

  • 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 steals

• Cole Franklin (Cleveland State)

  • 4 points, 2.6 rebounds

• Je’Shawn Stevenson (Cleveland State)

  • 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1.4 steals

• Reece Robinson (Cleveland State)

  • 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds

Robinson has brought along four players from his Cleveland State team. In particular, I’m excited to see Dylan Arnett get an opportunity to continue to develop and show his talents against top talent in one of the better non-power conferences in the country.

Outside of his players that followed him along, Cahmai Crosby was a huge pickup out of the JUCO ranks. Crosby had heard from Utah, Bradley, Western Kentucky, App State, and other solid non-power conference programs. He shot 40.3% overall and 42.1% from three point last year.

David Terrell spent the last two seasons at UTEP where he appeared in 66 games, including starting in 32 last year. He shot 48% overall and 33.3% from beyond the arc. The 6’4 guard is a masterful playmaker with a strong knack on the defensive end as he racked up 1.6 steals per game. North Texas is known for it’s strong defense, and it seems like Robinson is aiming to keep that tradition going.

Demarion Watson has spent the last three seasons at Iowa State where he appeared in 81 games and averaged 10.1 minutes per game. The 6’7 forward isn’t a strong three point shooter, but he shot 47.4% overall including 69.2% the year prior. He’s strong on the boards, so we’ll have to see how he plays in an extended role.

---

Of course, Ryan Miller at Murray State has been crushing it in his first few weeks. If you want to read more about his work so far, check out our recent article here: