Bryan Hodgson, who quickly rebuilt Arkansas State’s ailing men’s basketball program, was hired Monday as head coach at the University of South Florida.
After a 10-day national search, USF targeted Hodgson, who took over a 20-loss Red Wolves team in 2023 and over the next two seasons led them to a 45-28 record and a share of this year's Sun Belt Conference regular-season title.
No contract terms were announced. Basketball analyst Jeff Goodman, co-owner of the Field of 68 network, reported it’s a six-year deal.
Hodgson replaces Ben Fletcher, who took over on an interim basis following the death of Amir Abdul-Rahim in October.
USF’s announcement called the 37-year-old Hodgson “one of the nation's top recruiters and a rising head coach.”
"Bryan has been a part of winning programs at every level, demonstrating a remarkable ability to recruit top talent, develop players and build championship-caliber teams,” USF athletic director Mike Kelly said in a statement.
Among Hodgson’s plaudits are recognition as one of The Athletic's top 25 up-and-coming coaches and 50 most impactful high-major assistant coaches. Also, 247Sports.com previously named him the No. 2 recruiter in the country.
"From my first conversations with Michael Kelly and the USF leadership, it was clear that this place is strongly committed to building a winning culture,” Hodgson said in a statement.
He promised the Bulls “will play with energy, toughness, and a relentless drive to compete at the highest level.”
In 2023-24 at Arkansas State, he was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award, given to the nation's top first-year head coach. The Red Wolves went 20-17 and lost in the Sun Belt championship game — missing an automatic NCAA tournament nod — after a fourth-place finish during the regular season.
However, the program ended a 24-year postseason drought, advancing to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational.
The following season, the Red Wolves won a program-record 25 games and earned a share of the Sun Belt regular-season title. Arkansas State again fell one win shy of the NCAAs, losing in the conference title game.
The Red Wolves fell 65-63 at North Texas in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament on Sunday, a day before accepting USF’s offer.
Before Arkansas State, he was an assistant under Nate Oats at Alabama from 2019 to 2023 and played a key role in landing top 15 recruiting classes each season. Alabama advanced to the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons during Hodgson's tenure, including two Sweet 16 appearances.
From 2015 to 2019, Hodgson, a western New York native, helped Oats lead the University at Buffalo's rise as a mid-major powerhouse, with three NCAA tournament runs, three Mid-American Conference tournament championships and two regular-season titles.
“His passion, energy, and vision for USF basketball align perfectly with our commitment to excellence,” Kelly said in his statement. “We believe he is the right leader to take this program to new heights, and we can’t wait to see his impact on our student-athletes and the Tampa Bay community.”
Fletcher led the Bulls to a 13-19 record after Abdur-Rahim’s death on Oct. 24, 2024, 11 days before the team’s opener. In Abdur-Rahim’s only season, USF went 25-8 and won the American Athletic Conference regular-season title in 2023-24.
