David Ragland was named the 16th head men’s basketball coach in University of Evansville history on May 24, 2022 and has made tremendous strides both on and off the court in a short amount of time. Ragland is coming off his third season at the helm of the Purple Aces squad. Under his leadership, the program has shown great improvement while accomplishing feats that have not been seen in six decades. Despite injuries taking a toll for the majority of the 2024-25 season, Ragland and his staff led the team to its highest Missouri Valley Conference win tally in nine seasons. With eight league victories, UE finished with its best mark since the 2015-16 campaign. The MVC road win tally from the season was also the best since 15-16 and featured triumphs at Belmont, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois.
In just his second season with the Aces, Ragland orchestrated an unbelievable turnaround that saw the program improve its win total by 12 games from the season prior. The 2023-24 team wrapped up the year with 17 victories, its highest win tally since 2017-18. UE opened the season with victories in its first six games, becoming the first Aces squad to do so since the 1964-65 National Championship team. In its opening game at Arch Madness, the team defeated Illinois State to win its first game in St. Louis since 2017. Following the season, Evansville was invited to the Ro CBI, marking the first postseason appearances for Evansville since winning the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament Championship.
Ragland was recognized with the Ben Jobe Mid-Season Honor in January of 2024. His work in directing the Aces to the strong start garnered national attention and saw him as one of the frontrunners for the postseason award, which is given to the top minority head coach at the Division I level.
On the individual side, UE student-athletes are receiving as much MVC recognition as any other time in program history. Following the 2024-25 campaign, four players earned prestigious league honors. Highlighting that list was Connor Turnbull, who was honored as the 2025 MVC Defensive Player of the Year. Turnbull joined Egidijus Mockevicius as the only two in UE history to earn the award. Turnbull led the conference with his season average of 1.87 blocks per game and saw that total rise even higher against league foes as he finished with 2.15 per contest. Offensively, he finished with eight or more points in 16 of the final 19 games of the season.
Over the last two seasons, the Aces other honors include two All-Newcomer Team honorees (Tayshawn Comer, Ben Humrichous), two on the All-Freshman Team (Chuck Bailey III, Gabriel Pozzato), a pair of Scholar-Athlete honorees (Cam Haffner, Humrichous), two All-Bench Team members (Bailey, Tanner Cuff), and Most Improved Team (Haffner). Humrichous was also named the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2024.
Off the court, Ragland has placed an emphasis on academics and those efforts culminated in the team earning the NABC Team Academic Excellence Award.
In a coaching career that has spanned nearly two decades, Ragland’s experience has seen him contribute to an impressive group of programs that includes Butler, Utah State, Valparaiso, Vincennes, Northern Kentucky, Bowling Green, Indiana State, and Frank Phillips College. He joins the Evansville program following a 1-year stint as an assistant coach at Butler University.
Prior to his tenure with the Bulldogs, Ragland enjoyed a successful tenure at Utah State where his squads achieved at least 20 wins in each of his three seasons while finishing with an overall mark of 74-24. The Aggies made two NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure while the 2019-20 squad posted a 26-8 mark before the postseason was canceled due to COVID-19.
Ragland has worked at two current Missouri Valley Conference institutions, including a 2-year stint at Valparaiso. His first season with the program saw them accumulated 24 victories in 2016-17 while finishing with a Horizon League regular season championship and a spot in the postseason NIT. Highlighting the roster for VU was Horizon League Player of the Year Alec Peters, who was the 54th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
From 2010 through 2014, Ragland was an assistant coach at Indiana State where the Sycamores put forth one of the top stretches by a mid-major program in recent memory. ISU recorded 80 victories along with four postseason appearances, including a spot in the NCAA Tournament in 2010-11. Ragland was an assistant at Northern Kentucky (2015-16) and Bowling Green (2014-15) following his stint with the Sycamores. He contributed to a 24-11 mark at NKU, which included an NCAA Tournament berth.
His first head coaching opportunity came at Vincennes University where he led the Trailblazers to a 44-19 record in two years at the helm. The 2009-10 campaign saw them post a 22-10 mark and a run that took the program to the NJCAA District Tournament Finals. Ragland opened his coaching career at Frank Phillips College where he was part of a squad that went 25-5 in 2004-05.
Graduating from Harrison High School, Ragland was named an All-State Honorable Mention basketball player. He began his collegiate career at Missouri Southern State College in Joplin, where his team went on to the NCAA Division II Final Four during his freshman year. Following his sophomore year, he transferred to the University of Southern Indiana where he played two seasons, propelling the Screaming Eagles to a total of 47 victories and leading the team in assists both years.
Ragland and his wife, Annie, have two children: Ava and Joshua.
