Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following college basketball coaches have been named recipients of the Week 9 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches are now eligible for the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, also presented by Just Play Solutions, which will be announced at the end of the 2024-25 college basketball season.
This marks the tenth season of the HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. The list of 2024-25 weekly winners, as well as the all-time COY recipients can be found below this week’s release.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The week 9 winners are:
NCAA D1: Chris Crutchfield – University of Nebraska Omaha
Coach Crutchfield’s Mavericks began conference play on the right foot, picking up two solid road wins this week to extend their winning streak to four. In the Summit League opener at North Dakota on Thursday, Omaha jumped out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 95-85 victory. Back in action at North Dakota State on Saturday, the Mavericks trailed the heavily favored Bison by 12 with under 12 minutes remaining before fighting back to come away with an 85-80 upset. Now 8-9 (2-0 Summit) on the season, Omaha’s four road wins are the program’s most since the 2019-20 season. The Mavericks will look to make it five straight wins when they host Kansas City on Wednesday night.
NCAA D2: Bill Walker – Missouri University of Science and Technology
With two more victories this week, Coach Walker’s squad continued its historic start to the season. After heading into winter break with a huge win over then-No. 3 West Liberty, the 20th-ranked Miners picked up right where they left off, drilling 19 threes in a 112-82 win over Principia on Tuesday. Missouri S&T then returned to GLVC play, heading to Truman State on Friday. The Miners came away with an impressive 72-69 victory, improving to 10-1 (4-0 GLVC) for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign. The 4-0 start in conference play is the program’s best since joining the GLVC in 2012. Missouri S&T will look to keep it rolling when they host Drury on Saturday afternoon.
NCAA D3: John Krikorian – Christopher Newport University
Coach Krikorian’s Christopher Newport squad had a huge week, both winning the Captains Shootout and taking down the No. 1 team in the country. After blowing out Misericordia on Sunday in the opening round of the Shootout, the 18th-ranked Captains faced off against Berry in the championship game on Monday. CNU was able to hold off the visitors to claim the title, coming away with a hard-fought 79-71 triumph. The Captains then closed out the week with a huge matchup, hosting top-ranked Emory on Saturday afternoon. Tied with just over two minutes remaining, Christopher Newport finished the game on an 11-4 run to pull out an 83-76 victory and hand Emory its first loss of the season. Now 13-3 on the season, the Captains will begin a four-game road trip when they travel to take on Johns Hopkins on Wednesday.
NAIA: Bill Dreikosen – Rocky Mountain College
Fresh off a pair of victories in the Green & Gold Classic, Rocky Mountain opened conference play by taking down a top-10 opponent this week. Riding the momentum from their last-second win over Dickinson State on Sunday, RV Rocky Mountain put on a strong defensive performance against No. 6 Montana Tech, holding the visitors to almost 30 points fewer than their season average in a 63-55 victory. The win snapped an 18-game losing streak to Montana Tech that dated back to 2019. Now 12-2 (1-0 Frontier) on the season, the Battlin’ Bears kick off a three-game road trip with a matchup at the University of Providence on Thursday.
JUCO: Andrew May – Snow College
Coach May’s Badgers solidified their status as the top-ranked team in NJCAA DI this week, taking down a fellow top-five opponent in yet another two win week. Snow began its week on Thursday, traveling to Salt Lake City for a showdown with No. 4 Salt Lake Community College. The matchup lived up to expectations, as a Snow free throw with just three seconds remaining pushed the visitors to a 77-76 triumph. Back in action on Saturday, the Badgers stayed hot, defeating Colorado Northwestern Community College 79-65 to improve to 15-1 (2-0 SWAC) on the season. Snow will look for its ninth consecutive win when it faces off against Utah State University Eastern on Thursday.
2024-25 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
Week 1
Early season – no winners selected.
NCAA DI: Bill Self – Kansas
NCAA DII: Jim Crutchfield – Nova Southeastern
NCAA DIII: Steve Schweer – Illinois College
NAIA: Tony Romero – Central Christian College
JUCO: Hunter Jenkins – Frank Phillips College
NCAA DI: Ben McCollum – Drake University
NCAA DII: Justin Namolik – Shepherd University
NCAA DIII: B.J. Dunne – Gettysburg College
NAIA: Steve Drabyn – Bethel University (IN)
JUCO: Kyle Pugh – Cloud County Community College
NCAA DI: Bruce Pearl – Auburn University
NCAA DII: Ben Wilkins – Seton Hill University
NCAA DIII: Chris Bartley – Worcester Polytechnic Institute
NAIA: Tigh Compton – University of Pikeville
JUCO: Joey Cantens – Daytona State College
NCAA DI: Dennis Gates – University of Missouri
NCAA DII: Michael Lamberti – Coker University
NCAA DIII: Kent Dernbach – University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point
NAIA: Clint Galyean – Wayland Baptist University
JUCO: Cole Dewey – Indian Hills Community College
NCAA DI: Anthony Grant – University of Dayton
NCAA DII: Matt Healing – Pace University
NCAA DIII: Jesse DeLoof – University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
NAIA: Brian Van Haaften – Dordt University
JUCO: Luke Mackay – New Mexico Junior College
Week 7
Winter Break – No winners selected
Week 8
Winter Break – No winners selected
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
- 2022-23: Jerome Tang – Kansas State University
- 2021-22: Ed Cooley – Providence College
- 2020-21: Dennis Gates – Cleveland State University
- 2019-20: Joe Gallo – Merrimack College
- 2018-19: Kelvin Sampson – University of Houston
- 2017-18: Porter Moser – Loyola University Chicago
- 2016-17: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
- 2015-16: Roy Williams – University of North Carolina
Division II
- 2023-24:
- 2022-23: Jim Crutchfield – Nova Southeastern
- 2021-22: Jim Crutchfield – Nova Southeastern
- 2020-21: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2019-20: Fred Watson – Miles College
- 2018-19: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2017-18: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State
- 2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University
Division III
- 2022-23: John Krikorian – Christopher Newport University
- 2021-22: Brian Baptiste – UMass Dartmouth
- 2020-21: Brooks Miller – Trine University
- 2019-20: Elliot Steinmetz – Yeshiva University
- 2018-19: Dale Wellman – Nebraska Wesleyan University
- 2017-18: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College
- 2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College
- 2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas
NAIA
- 2022-23: Chris Wright – Langston University
- 2021-22: Stacy Hollowell – Loyola University New Orleans
- 2020-21: Delano Thomas – Shawnee State University
- 2019-20: Colby Blaine – College of Idaho
- 2018-19: Chris Briggs – Georgetown College
- 2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University
- 2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College
- 2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO
- 2022-23: Rick Cabrera – Tallahassee Community College
- 2021-22: Greg Heiar – Northwest Florida State
- 2020-21: COVID Season – No winner selected
- 2019-20: Randy Casey – Milwaukee Area Technical College
- 2018-19: Billy Gillispie – Ranger College
- 2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College
- 2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College
- 2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College
USCAA
- 2018-19: LeShawn Hammett – Penn State Wilkes-Barre
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About Just Play Solutions
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