Top 10 Sexiest Mid Major Coaches of 2023

It’s the time of year again, folks! (The day after) Valentine’s Day marks the ninth annual sexiest coaches poll! Who will top the charts this year?

By Steph Crandall@Drummerette Feb 15, 2023, 2:07pm PST

/ new

NCAA Basketball: Missouri Valley Conference Championship- Loyola Ramblers vs Drake Bulldogs — Drew Valentine is the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.

We’re back with year nine of the Sexiest Mid Major Coaches poll! This year was a real challenge. Not only was there a tie, but we came ever so close to a second tie for first place!

However, there was one clear winner in the end, and that’s all thanks to you guys who voted!

So let’s cut to the chase! Who has been crowned this year’s Sexiest Mid-Major Coach?

10. Jase Coburn (Portland State Vikings)

NCAA Basketball: West Virginia at Portland State

Coburn is in his first season as Portland head coach after being part of the coaching staff since 2013. Congrats on the promotion, Coach!

The Vikings are currently battling in the middle of the Big Sky standings, sitting at 5-8 (11-15 overall). With five games remaining in the regular season, where will Coburn’s team end up? Can they make their way up the standings?

9. Jared Grasso (Bryant Bulldogs)

Grasso and his Bulldogs took the place of my beloved Hartford Hawks in the America East conference this year. Not only are they thriving in their new conference home, they’re giving some of the top teams trouble this season.

With four regular seasons games remaining, can the Bulldogs battle it out to stay in the top three of the America East?

8. Darian DeVries (Drake Bulldogs)

NCAA Basketball: Drake at Mississippi State

You want wins? This guy has wins! In his first four seasons with the Bulldogs, they’ve won 95 games, the most of any four-year period in school history! Not to mention the first time in school history that they had four straight 20-win seasons.

Not bad if you ask me.

Drake currently sits at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings, barely ahead of Bradley. Their 21-6 overall record gives them just enough advantage to come out on top.

7. Scott Davenport (Bellarmine Knights)

Can you say winningest coach in school history?!

As of the 2021-22 season, he sits very comfortably at 398-130 overall making him the all-time winningest coach both in terms of total wins and winning percentage.

The Knights are currently in the middle of the pack in the ASUN standings with a 7-7 conference record.

6. Bob Richey (Furman Paladins)

NCAA Basketball: Charleston Classic Seventh Place Game

Richey is currently in his sixth season over at Furman, and he’s doing one hell of a job!

The Paladins are comfortably at the top of the Southern standings at 12-2 (21-6 overall). They currently have an eight game win streak that they could easily continue the toughest challenge before the conference season ends being Samford in their last game of the season.

Will Furman win their way to a conference championship? Only time will tell.

5. Levell Sanders (Binghamton Bearcats)

NCAA Basketball: Binghamton at Connecticut

Sanders and the BU Bearcats are the America East surprise team of the season! As someone who has been keeping up with America East basketball since about 2008, this is the first time Binghamton has made waves in the conference since I was still in school.

In only his second season as head coach, the Bearcats are in second in the standings (7-4, 11-13 overall). However, they’re not that comfortable as UMass Lowell and Bryant are both battling to keep home court advantage come conference tournament time.

4. Dr. Brett Reed (Lehigh Mountain Hawks)

Reed has an impressive resume, including being the second longest-tenured coach in the Patriot League, as well as being the fastest coach to 100 wins. He is one of the two coaches in the entire country with a doctorate.

The Mountain Hawks are currently second in the Patriot League standings, just below Colgate with a 9-5 (14-11) season so far. Their biggest challenge before conference tourney time is going to be tomorrow’s game against Navy.

3. Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s Gaels)

NCAA Basketball: San Francisco at St. Mary’s

Bennett just notched 500 wins as a head coach! That’s quite the feat!

The Saint Mary’s Gaels are comfortably at the top of the West Coast Conference leader boards at 11-1 (22-5 overall) and sit 17th nationally in the AP and USA Today/Coaches polls. They have one final test before conference tournament time, playing Gonzaga as their final game of the season.

2. Bill Coen (Northeastern Huskies)

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Salt Lake City Practice

Want to see what a sexy coach looks like? How about:

All-Time Northeastern record 260 wins
2018 CAA Coach of the Year
2010 and 2013 USBWA District I Coach of the Year
2013 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Finalist
2013 and 2018 NABC District 10 Coach of the Year
No. 2 all-time in the CAA (regular season + postseason) with 175 wins

While the Huskies aren’t exactly topping the standings this year, they currently sit at 4-7 (8-17 overall). There was a clear winner amongst the fans. Coen received 48.5% of the vote only coming shy to...

1. Drew Valentine (Loyola Chicago)

No context poll for @mid_madness #cbb #DrewValentine #BillCoen
— Steph Crandall (@Drummerette) February 13, 2023

As the current youngest head coach in NCAA Division I, Valentine is this year’s Sexiest Mid Major Coach of 2023!

You guys voted and there was a very clear winner! After a tie between Coen and Valentine, I took to Twitter for the final showdown. A slim margin of 51.5% of you were very clear, that this man is in fact, a sexy coach!

The Ramblers aren’t exactly topping the standings like some of the others. In fact, they actually sit at the bottom of the Atlantic 10. They have five games remaining, including Friday against Dayton. Check out ESPN2 to watch this year’s sexiest coach in action!