PHOTO COURTESY OF NPR

By now, you’ve likely heard the news. Head basketball coach Bryan Hodgson announced on March 24 that he had taken a head coaching job with the University of South Florida.

Hodgson had a very successful two seasons with the Red Wolves, compiling an overall record of 45-28 and taking the Red Wolves to consecutive postseason tournaments and Sun Belt Conference Championship finals. In 2024, the Red Wolves made it to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational, and in 2025 A-State received their first National Invitational Tournament bid since 1991. The only achievement Hodgson never gained with the Red Wolves was a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The departure also comes on the heels of a recent contract extension that the Red Wolves signed with Hodgson. Because USF hired Hodgson early in his contract, the Bulls are legally required to pay $900,000 to the Red Wolves Foundation, as stipulated in the contract.

Hodgson’s departure leaves a huge vacancy at Arkansas State. Under Hodgson, Red Wolves basketball games received record attendance and unprecedented attention from national media. The ideal goal, in my opinion, is to find a coach that will keep the basketball team winning and the vibes high.

With that being said, here are my five potential candidates for the head men’s basketball coach at A-State.

Tee Butters, Assistant Head Coach, Arkansas State Red Wolves

PHOTO COURTESY OF A-STATE ATHLETICS

Butters is easily my prime candidate for the job. The main reason? Culture. Butters served as assistant coach to the Red Wolves for the past two seasons, during which time Red Wolves basketball received a complete culture overhaul. With Butters, this new basketball culture will likely be retained, and culture is a hard thing to come by in the college athletics landscape these days. 

But culture isn’t the only important thing. Winning trumps everything in sports. His experience is as an assistant coach. Before coming to Arkansas State, Butters served on the staff for the Charleston Southern Buccaneers from 2014 to 2023. During this time, the Buccaneers produced star college players like Claudell Harris Jr (now a standout player at Mississippi State) and won two Big South regular season titles.

The downside for Butters is that he has no head coaching experience. We have no clue how he would do at the helm of a team. But I’d like to point out that Hodgson also “lacked experience”, and I think it still turned out quite well for the Red Wolves. Butters is from this same system. I think he’d be worth a shot.

Preston Murphy, Assistant Head Coach, Alabama Crimson Tide

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALABAMA ATHLETICS

When it comes to Preston Murphy, my philosophy is this: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

It’s undeniable that Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats is special. In just a few years, Oats took the Tide from basketball obscurity to national title contenders. Coaches like this are hard to come by, and they tend to develop a pretty intricate (and skilled) coaching tree. Hodgson is one of them. Murphy could very well be another, because not only has he coached for one great coach, he’s coached for two.

Murphy was the assistant coach to Greg McDermott of the Creighton Bluejays from 2015-2019. The Bluejays never recorded a season with less than 20 wins in that span. Murphy has experience with winning cultures, and that is insanely important for Arkansas State to retain right now.

Murphy’s downside is the same as Butters. He lacks head coaching experience. We don’t know if he’s entirely ready for the step to head coach or not. But he knows how to win. The teams he’s been with have done nothing but win.

Andy Bronkema, Head Coach, Ferris State Bulldogs

PHOTO COURTESY OF WZZM 13

Andy Bronkema is one of the best coaches in Division II. Under his leadership, the Ferris State Bulldogs have only had one losing season since 2013, and that was in his first season. In 2018, Bronkema led the Bulldogs to a 38-1 season and won the Division II National Championship. Bronkema has been incredibly successful with the Bulldogs, and has compiled an impressive 225-85 overall record.

Hiring successful Division II head coaches has also been a successful formula for other mid-major basketball programs. Just this season, the Drake Bulldogs went 31-3 in their first season under head coach Ben McCollum. McCollum had previously won four DII titles with Northwest Missouri State. In 2023, Indiana State went 32-7 and made it to the NIT Championship game under Josh Schertz. Schertz had spent more than a decade at Lincoln Memorial University, and consistently made deep playoff runs with the Railsplitters. I think that if hired, Bronkema could have a similar amount of success with the Red Wolves as Division II head coaches before him.

Tony Madlock, Head Coach, Alabama State Hornets

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL

The old heads are going to love this one. But honestly, I love it too. 

Madlock is one of only a handful of people who can say they got A-State to The Big Dance. Madlock was an assistant coach for Dickey Nutt when the Arkansas State Indians made it to the NCAA Tournament in 1999. Madlock is also a native of Memphis and would be more likely to want to stay for an extended amount of time with the Red Wolves, given his history with the area.

Tony Madlock made it to March Madness more recently with his current team, the Alabama State Hornets. ASU won a thriller in the First Four against St Francis, then played a back-and-forth game with the Auburn Tigers before finally losing by 20. Madlock led the Hornets to their first conference title since 2011, and the win over St Francis marks their first-ever NCAA tournament win.

Madlock has head coaching experience, but let’s be honest: he could be in a stronger conference. The Southwest Athletic Conference is rich in tradition and pride, but that’s about the only things they’re rich in. Alabama State athletics operates around $3 million in debt, and Madlock has a base salary of $150,000 a year. The Red Wolves can afford to give him a raise and an opportunity to return to Jonesboro.

COMPLETE DARK HORSE CANDIDATE

Drew Stutts, Head Coach, Freed-Hardeman Lions

PHOTO COURTESY OF FREED-HARDEMAN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

Drew Stutts is the head coach at Freed-Hardeman University. FHU is in NAIA. If you don’t know what that is, think NCAA Division III, but with athletic scholarships. Stutts has had a phenomenal record in his relatively short time with the Lions. In 2019 (his first season), FHU got more wins than in their last two seasons combined. From 2019 to the present, the Lions have not had a losing season. Just last season, Freed-Hardeman won the NAIA National Championship and finished 32-7. This season, the Lions are poised to repeat as they have cruised to the Fab Four (NAIA version of the Final Four) as the number one seed. Stutts is the fastest in school history to 100 wins, with a record of 109-45. 

I get that he coaches at a pretty low level, but he is crushing teams at that level. I think it’s a crazy pick, so that’s why it’s my last one. I would like to see him get an assistant job here at A-State, however.

Jeff Purinton has a huge task ahead of him. The coach that ultimately gets the job may just be one of the most pivotal coaches in Arkansas State University’s history. This hire must be successful so that the tradition of success at Arkansas State can continue.

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