Staff Directory
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- Alma Mater:
- Richmond, '11
- Hometown:
- Kennett Square, Pa.
Kevin Hovde was hired as the 24th head coach of Columbia men’s basketball in March 2025.
Hovde (HUV-dee) returned to the Lions after helping the University of Florida Gators win a National Championship in 2025 as an assistant coach. He served on Kyle Smith’s staff at Columbia from 2011-16.
In Hovde’s first season at the helm of the Lions in 2025-26, Columbia went 16-12 and secured the program’s first winning campaign in 10 years. The Lions had the eighth-best rebounding margin in the country and ranked inside the top 35 nationally in offensive rebounds per game and rebounds per game. In 14 Ivy League games, Columbia led the conference in offensive rebounds. Eight of Columbia's wins came by 15 or more points.
Hovde earned his first-career victory in his debut as head coach at New Haven on Nov. 7, 2025. On Jan. 4 in the Ivy League opener, Columbia erased a nine-point second half deficit in a 104-99 victory at Cornell. It was just the second time Columbia ever scored 100 points on Cornell and the first time Columbia scored over 100 points in an Ivy League game since Feb. 6, 1993, vs. Harvard. It also marked the first time Columbia scored over 100 points in a road Ivy League game since Feb. 19, 1972, at Harvard.
On Nov. 26, the Lions scored 106 points at Fairfield, marking their first 100-point game against a Division I opponent since Nov. 15, 2010 (108 vs. Maryland Eastern Shore) and their first on the road since Dec. 8, 2009, at Wagner. Columbia shot an impressive 62.5 percent from the field against the Stags—their first road game shooting over 60 percent since Feb. 27, 2016, at Penn. Columbia averaged 93.8 points over a four-game span from Nov. 21 to Nov. 29. Columbia last averaged 90-plus points over a four-game span during the 1976-77 season.
Senior Kenny Noland averaged a team-best 17.1 points per game in 2025-26 and was tied for second among Ivy League scorers, earning him a spot on the All-Ivy League Second Team and All-Met Second Team. Noland led the Lions in assists, field goals made, three-point field goals made, free throws made, and minutes per game. His 72 three-pointers were the third-most in the league.
First-year Connor Igoe became Columbia's first Ivy League Rookie of the Year since 1987. The Brooklyn, New York, native had five double-doubles on the season, which were the most by a first-year in the Ivy League and tied for second in the conference overall. Igoe played in all 28 games and started the final six games of the season, averaging 19.8 minutes per game. He and fellow first-year Miles Franklin each earned five Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards on the season.
Hovde spent three years with the Gators and worked alongside another former Columbia assistant and Florida head coach, Todd Golden, for nine seasons. UF went to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons and won the 2025 SEC Tournament Championship before its run in the Big Dance. Florida was a No. 1 seed out of the West Region in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and ranked in the top five nationally in fastbreak points, scoring margin, and scoring offense.
Florida's offense averaged 84.8 points per game in 2024-25 and ranked second in the country in offensive efficiency a season after the Gators averaged a program-record 85.7 points a game under Hovde's direction.
The Gators tallied four top-25 wins in 2023-24 and ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense, rebounds per game, offensive rebounds per game and offensive rebounding percentage.
Hovde came to Florida after spending the 2021-22 season at his alma mater, Richmond, under the direction of his former head coach Chris Mooney. While there, he helped the Spiders to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following an Atlantic 10 Tournament championship.
Hovde was on the staff at the University of San Francisco for five years, originally joining Smith with the Dons, and was promoted to the team’s associate coach on Golden’s staff from 2019 to 2021. He helped the Dons to a 22-12 record in 2019-20 and a win over fourth-ranked Virginia on November 27, 2020 – the program’s first win over a top-five opponent in 39 years. From 2016-17 to 2018-19, the Dons posted three consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in more than 35 years.
During his time at Columbia, he joined the program as the director of basketball operations in 2011 and was promoted to assistant coach the following season. In 2015-16, his final season at Columbia, the Lions finished 25-10, setting a school record for wins, and won the postseason CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Hovde played at Richmond from 2006-11. Arriving as a walk-on, Hovde earned a scholarship after his first year. He appeared in 99 games over four seasons, scoring 195 total points. As a senior in 2011, Hovde and the Spiders won the Atlantic 10 and advanced to the NCAA’s Sweet 16.
Hovde met his wife Jackie while at Columbia. She graduated from Columbia in 2009 and was a two-sport letterwinner in field hockey and basketball. They have two daughters, Lyla and Penny.
| Columbia | 2025-present | Head Coach |
| Florida | 2022-25 | Assistant Coach |
| Richmond | 2021-22 | Assistant Coach |
| San Francisco | 2019-21 | Associate Head Coach |
| San Francisco | 2016-19 | Assistant Coach |
| Columbia | 2012-16 | Assistant Coach |
| Columbia | 2011-12 | Director of Basketball Operations |
| Richmond | 2006-11 | Student-Athlete |
