Cal's Mark Madsen Not Among On3's Top 10 ACC Basketball Coaches

Who are the top head basketball coaches in the ACC now? On3 took on the task of ranking the conference’s top 10 head coaches now that some of the names have changed.

The ACC’s reputation as a strong basketball conference has been damaged in recent years as the loss of big-name coaches such as Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Tony Bennett and Roy Williams has led to mediocre results.

So four schools have changed head coaches heading into the 2025-26 season, and at least two of them are expected to have an immediate impact. Will Wade, who made McNeese State a winner after being terminated at LSU for alleged recruiting violations, is expected to turn North Carolina State into a contender, and Ryan Odom, who had success at Virginia Commonwealth, hopes to return Virginia to the top of the ACC heap.  Former NBA assistant Luke Loucks takes over at Florida State, and former Duke assistant Jai Lucas is Miami’s new head coach.

This makes the challenge for Cal and head coach Mark Madsen greater, and Madsen, like most of the conference’s head coaches, must mold a team with a lot of new faces into a cohesive unit.

Madsen has only three returning players from last season’s Cal roster – Rytis Petraitis, DJ Campbell and Lee Dort. He has had to replenish the Bears’ roster with transfers and two incoming four-star freshman prospects – Semetri Carr and Jovanni Ruff.

But this massive turnover is not unusual in the ACC. Clemson, SMU and Georgia Tech each has only three returning players. Florida State, Virginia, Syracuse and North Carolina have just two returning players apiece. North Carolina State has just one player back from last season, and Miami has none

On3 ranked the top 10 head coaches in the ACC, and Madsen is not one of them.  He is one of eight coaches listed under the heading “ACC coaches looking to break into Top 10.”

Besides Madsen, that group includes Florida State’s Loucks, Miami’s Lucas, Boston College’s Earl Grant, Georgia Tech’s Damon Stoudamire, Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry, Pittsburgh’s Jeff Capel and Syracuse’s Adrian “Red” Autry.

Here’s how On3 ranked the top 10 ACC coaches:

--- 10. Hubert Davis, North Carolina.

--- 9. Mike Young, Virginia Tech

--- 8. Kyle Smith Stanford

--- 7. Ryan Odom, Virginia

--- 6. Steve Forbes, Wake Forest

--- 5. Andy Enfield, SMU

--- 4. Brad Brownell, Clemson

--- 3. Pat Kelsey, Louisville

--- 2. Will Wade, North Carolina State

--- 1. Jon Scheyer, Duke

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