Did Matt Langel miss his window to leave Colgate?

Matt Langel has coached Colgate's men's basketball program since 2011. The Raiders finished with a losing record in each of Langel's first six seasons before making five NCAA Tournament appearances.

Now, after a seven-year run of success in Central New York, it seems that Langel missed his opportunity to move up in the world.

The Patriot League has run through Colgate since the 2018-19 season as the Raiders have enjoyed the best stretch of basketball in the program's 125-year history under Langel. The five-time Patriot League Coach of the Year played for Fran Dunphy for four years at Penn, earning First Team All-Ivy League honors as a senior in 2000 before playing professionally overseas.

Langel returned to the States to join Dunphy's staff as an assistant in 2004, and followed Dunphy to Temple in 2006 when Mr. Big 5 left the Palestra to take over for a retiring John Chaney.

After making the Sweet 16 with Temple, losing to Kawhi Leonard's San Diego State team in overtime, Langel left North Philly to take the Colgate job. Throughout his run of success, the college basketball world has questioned when he was going to leave for a better job. This season, Colagte is 2-7 and lose by an average of 15 points per game.

It's not like Colgate hasn't had 10-loss seasons under Langel as the Raiders have never been great outside of Patriot League play. However, this year's team feels just a bit different. If this team doesn't win the Patriot League, the question surrounding Langel becomes: Did he miss his window?

It's not like Langel hasn't had his opportunity, either.

In 2023, Aaron McKie stepped down as head coach of his alma mater after four years and not as much as a conference tournament win at Temple.

Athletic director Arthur Johnson interviewed Vermont's John Becker, Missouri assistant Charlton Young, former Rutgers associate head coach Karl Hobbs and current Temple head coach Adam Fisher to replace McKie.

Others like UConn associate head coach Kimani Young, former Kentucky assistant Bruiser Flint and Florida Gulf Coast head coach Pat Chambers were interested in the opening, but were not granted interviews from Johnson.

One other name was in the mix: Langel. Colgate was coming off its third consecutive NCAA Tournament and Langel had spoken to Johnson about the Temple opening. However, he didn't interview.

Langel has gotten accustomed to life in Hamilton, sources told The Big Lead, and needed a great reason to leave the program he's built. Sources also told TBL that Langel would've taken the Temple job, but did not want to go through the same interview process as every other candidate.

Johnson told Langel he'd have to undergo the same process as everyone else, and Langel backed out of the running for the opening.

Colgate lost to Baylor in last season's NCAA Tournament while Temple, led by Hysier Miller, made a miraculous run to the American Athletic Conference title game. Temple went 5-13 in conference play last year and somehow won four games in the AAC Tournament before losing to UAB, who finished fourth in the regular season standings and lost its NCAA Tournament game to San Diego State by four points.

The door isn't closed on Langel returning to Philadelphia or leaving Colgate. The Raiders very well could, as they've done numerous times, win the Patriot League, make the NCAA Tournament and put Langel's name back in the conversation during the 2025 coaching carousel.

Dunphy, 76, reached the 600-win mark last season and won't be at La Salle much longer, opening the door for Langel to possibly relocate to the new Glaser Arena. Or, he could go elsewhere. But if Colgate's run ends this season, what happened between Langel and Temple becomes a talking point of his career.

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