All in the Family? An Analysis of Coaching Succession in Men’s Division I College Basketball

College basketball coaches are often the faces of programs and universities, and administrators often believe the ideal coaching candidate is a coach with previous ties to the hiring institution, be it as a player, coach, or alumni. But do these “in the family” hires truly outperform their externally hired peers? To answer these key questions, the current study runs a within-subject analysis of all Division I men’s basketball teams from the 2009-2018 seasons, assessing if family affiliation influences both wins and recruiting ranking. Our findings indicate an insignificant relationship between a coach’s prior affiliation to their university and winning, and a statistically significant positive (which indicates a worse ranking) relationship with recruiting ranking. Based upon these results, administrators should avoid excessive prioritization of a candidate’s previous ties to their new institution as there is limited evidence that hiring these coaches leads to a consistent boost to program success.