Moving On: Four Options for Men's Basketball's Next Head Coach

Belmont Vision Multimedia. (Nick Rampe)

More men have walked on the moon than have coached Belmont men’s basketball.

After seven seasons with Casey Alexander, the team will look for a new head coach for the first time since 2019 and just the 11th coach in program history.

Here are some of the rumored names and how they might fit in at Belmont: 

Evan Bradds – Assistant Coach, Duke University 

Bradds’ connection to Belmont is simple; he’s the team’s all-time leading scorer. He’s also one of the most popular names to come up in Belmont’s coaching search. The two-time Ohio Valley Conference player of the year built a successful coaching career since his graduation. He started the Boston Celtics’ G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, before working his way to Boston’s coaching staff and eventually earning a position with the Utah Jazz. He is currently an assistant coach for the No. 1 seeded Duke University Blue Devils. He doesn’t have any head coaching experience, but his alma mater could be a good place to start. At just 31, he would be one of the youngest head coaches in Division I college basketball. 

Mick Hedgepeth – Head Coach, University of Alabama-Huntsville 

Hedgepeth is another candidate with deep-rooted Belmont ties. He is another 1,000-point club member at Belmont and was inducted into the Belmont Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023. Hedgepeth currently serves as the head coach of the Division II University of Alabama-Huntsville men’s basketball head coach. He’s garnered a 55-11 regular season record in two seasons as the Chargers’ head coach and finished the 2024-25 season 32-2. He was with Belmont as recently as 2022, when he was the director of basketball operations for three seasons. He’s already made the jump from Division III to Division II, and Belmont could be where he makes the final leap. 

Brian Ayers – Associate Head Coach, Belmont University 

No current assistant coach has been with one team longer than Ayers has been with Belmont. For 28 seasons, Ayers has coached Belmont basketball, with 15 of those coming as the team’s associate head coach. Save for 33-year head coach Rick Byrd, no one knows the program better. He’s been on staff for Belmont’s entire 16-year stretch of 20-win seasons. He was pivotal in the development of players like Drew Scharnowski, Jonathan Pierre, Sam Orme, Brigham Rogers and even Evan Bradds. If Belmont loses more players to the transfer portal, Ayers could be the man to build the program back from the ground up. If Athletic Director Scott Corley wants to promote from within, he’s by far the most likely candidate. 

Nolan Smith – Head Coach, Tennessee State University 

Smith exploded onto the scene in his first year as TSU’s head coach, finishing 23-9 in the regular season and winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Tigers are a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He even gave Belmont an early-season scare, losing 79-87 in the Bruins’ second game of the season. While he’s more of a longshot candidate, Belmont could offer more resources that could be worth the 3-mile move. His Belmont ties are lacking, but he played under legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who worked with Belmont president Greg Jones at Duke University. With only one year of coaching at TSU, he could be willing to move on. 

Written by Nick Rampe