For the second straight year, a coach who led his team to the NCAA Tournament has chosen to leave a head coaching job for an assistant role elsewhere.
This year, it’s Rick Croy, formerly the head coach at California Baptist. Croy spent 13 years leading the Lancers, guiding the program from Division II to Division I and establishing it as a competitive mid-major. But next season, he’ll step into a different role, joining Arizona State as an assistant under Randy Bennett. Bennett, notably, also made a move after reaching the NCAA Tournament, though his was an obvious step up, leaving Saint Mary’s to take over the Sun Devils program.
A year ago, Alan Huss made a similar, though more calculated, decision. A long-time assistant at Creighton, he left there in 2023 to become the head coach at High Point. Within three seasons, he had the Panthers in the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to Purdue in the first round. Shortly after the 2025 tournament, he returned to Creighton as the program’s coach-in-waiting, positioned to take over once Greg McDermott stepped down.
That move just paid off as Huss is now the Blue Jays’ head coach. He landed the job he ultimately wanted, just on a slightly different timeline. While he likely would have drawn interest from other programs, this path offered clarity, stability, and a direct line to a high-level position.
So, is this becoming a trend?
Here’s a look at the factors that are making moves like this more appealing than ever.
Big Schools Offer Opportunities
For Croy, there’s a clear reason behind the move: it’s his opportunity to coach his son.
When a coach has a high-level prospect in the family, there’s usually a shared goal, spending four years together at the college level. But JRob Croy is ranked around 125th nationally in the upcoming freshman class, which places him well beyond the typical recruiting range of Cal Baptist. While Rick Croy wanted the chance to coach his son, he also understood that a smaller program might not offer the best environment for his development.
Saint Mary’s would have been a natural fit. Before taking over at Cal Baptist, Croy served as Randy Bennett’s top assistant, helping build the Gaels into a consistent NCAA Tournament program. If he couldn’t coach his son directly, having him play for a trusted colleague in a stronger setting made sense.
Then the situation shifted.
Bennett left for Arizona State and suddenly needed to build out a new staff. That created an opening, and a logical reunion. Arizona State offers a higher level of competition in the Big 12, one of the strongest conferences in the country. Bennett gets a familiar, trusted assistant during a transition, and Croy gets the chance to coach his son at a level that matches his talent.
It’s a rare alignment.
That path likely doesn’t exist if Croy stays at Cal Baptist or takes another similar job at a smaller school. In a few years, he’ll still have opportunities to pursue another head coaching role. What he wouldn’t get back is the chance to coach his son at this stage.
Getting Experience Before Taking Over
The coach-in-waiting model has failed in plenty of places. For every Jon Scheyer or Tony Bennett, there’s a Sean Sutton, a Patrick Knight, a Hubert Davis, or an Adrian Autry. Taking over for a high-profile coach is difficult under any circumstances, and it becomes even more challenging when the successor hasn’t proven himself elsewhere.
That’s no longer the case for either Huss or Croy.
Huss has already shown he can win as a head coach. High Point is well-funded, but sustained success had been elusive. He changed that, proving the program could reach the NCAA Tournament while gaining valuable experience running his own operation.
The same applies to Croy. He guided a Division II program through its transition to Division I and turned it into a consistent winner. However long he remains on Bennett’s staff, he now brings a track record that extends beyond being an assistant.
More importantly, both coaches are now positioned from a place of strength. Huss’s decision has already paid off. Croy, meanwhile, has created multiple paths forward, whether that means eventually taking over at Arizona State or becoming a strong candidate for another head coaching opportunity.
Athletic directors value flexibility and proof of concept. Coaches who have succeeded in different roles and environments carry less risk. Huss has already validated that approach, and Croy has put himself in position to do the same.
Connecting With a Name Coach
A similar path played out recently in college football, when Sean Lewis left his role as Kent State’s head coach to become Deion Sanders’ offensive coordinator at Colorado. The partnership didn’t fully click, and Lewis eventually lost play-calling duties, but the move still worked in his favor.
Around the sport, there was a clear understanding that Lewis hadn’t been the problem in Boulder. That reputation carried weight. San Diego State offered him its head coaching job, and two years later, Lewis had the Aztecs tied for first in the Mountain West as they prepared to transition into the rebuilt Pac-12.
Huss and Croy stepped into even more stable situations, largely because both were joining coaches they already knew and trusted.
Huss returned to Creighton with a clear line of succession. He knew Greg McDermott was nearing the end of his tenure, and that the coach-in-waiting label carried real weight. Now, at just 47, he’s a Big East head coach with prior experience running his own program.
Croy’s move is more directly tied to the opportunity to coach his son, but the long-term bet is similar. At 48, he’s aligning himself with a program led by Randy Bennett, who turns 64 in June. The timeline is not guaranteed, but it’s reasonable to expect that within a few years, Bennett could be nearing retirement. That would position Croy to take over a high-level job before he turns 55.
Following the Road Map
For Huss and Croy, the goal is clear: follow a path similar to Matt Painter.
In 2003, Painter took over at Southern Illinois and immediately delivered, guiding the Salukis to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. It ended up being his only year in Carbondale. Purdue quickly identified him as the long-term answer and brought him back as Gene Keady’s successor.
That decision reshaped the program.
By the end of Keady’s tenure, Purdue had slipped. Four of his final five teams finished seventh or worse in the Big Ten, and his last season ended with a 7-21 record. The program needed a reset, and Painter provided it.
Since taking over, Painter has missed the NCAA Tournament just three times in 21 seasons. Purdue has reached the Sweet 16 seven times in the last nine years, and the Boilermakers have become one of the most consistent programs in the country.
It’s a reminder of how much the right fit matters.
For coaches like Huss and Croy, the path isn’t always linear. Sometimes, the best move isn’t the next job up, but the right job down the line. And occasionally, getting there requires taking a step back first, in order to move forward in a much bigger way.
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