Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following college basketball coaches have been named recipients of the Week 8 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 2025-26 college basketball season.
This season marks the eleventh year of the HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. This week’s winners are listed below, followed by all previous weekly honorees from earlier in the season.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The week 8 winners are:
NCAA D1: Travis Steele – Miami University (OH)
Coach Steele’s RedHawks continued their dream season this week, winning another pair of games to move to 17-0 on the campaign. On Tuesday, Miami defeated Western Michigan 87-76 to extend their home winning streak to 24 games dating back to last season – surpassing the program’s previous best 23-game home winning streak set across the 1996-1998 seasons. The RedHawks then closed out the week at Akron, where they hadn’t come away with a victory since 2011. Miami snapped that streak emphatically, leading the hosts by as many as 27 en route to an 87-73 victory. Now one of just six remaining unbeaten DI teams in the nation, Miami has already easily surpassed its previous best start to a season (10-0). The Redhawks will aim to make it 18-0 when they host Central Michigan on Tuesday evening.
NCAA D2: Bryan Rooney – California State University, East Bay
Coach Rooney’s squad extended the longest winning streak in program history this week, picking up two more victories to improve to 14-0 (8-0 CCAA) on the season. The 10th-ranked Pioneers opened their week at home against Chico State on Thursday, picking up a thrilling 73-71 win in a contest that came down to the final seconds. Back in action on Saturday, Cal State East Bay had a much easier go of things, scoring their most points in a game since the 2021-22 season in a 95-53 victory over Cal Poly Humboldt. The Pioneers will look for their 15th consecutive win when they take on UC Merced on the road on Thursday.
NCAA D3: Jeff Gard – University of Wisconsin – Platteville
It was a week to remember for Coach Gard’s Pioneers, as UW-Platteville defeated a pair of ranked teams by double-digits to remain unbeaten in conference play. The Pioneers, who entered the week receiving the most Top-25 votes of any team not ranked in the D3hoops.com Top-25, hosted No. 17 UW-Eau Claire on Wednesday. UW-Platteville put on a dominant offensive performance in an 88-55 victory, becoming the first team to surpass the 80-point threshold against UW-Eau Claire all season. The Pioneers’ schedule didn’t let up after the win, as No. 6 UW-La Crosse visited Platteville on Saturday. UW-Platteville shot a season-high 59.2% from the field in a huge 89-78 win. Now 11-3 (3-0 WIAC), the Pioneers will likely have a number next to their name when they visit No. 21 UW-Oshkosh on Wednesday.
NAIA: Leonard Epps – Brewton-Parker Christian University
Coach Epps’ squad kicked off their first full week of conference play on a high note, picking up a trio of hard-fought wins, including one over a ranked opponent. The Barons found themselves down nine at the half to No. 18 Life on Tuesday, but outscored the visitors 41-26 across the final 20 minutes to come away with an impressive 67-61 victory. Returning to the floor on Thursday, Brewton-Parker shot 15-34 (44.1%) from three in a 79-66 win over Abraham Baldwin Agricultural. The Barons then closed out their homestand with another efficient performance from behind the three-point line, shooting 10-23 (43.5%) from three in an 83-71 victory against Thomas. Now 13-3 (5-1 SSAC) on the season, Brewton-Parker will begin a four-game road trip with a matchup against Faulkner on Thursday night.
JUCO: Blake Sandquist – Des Moines Area Community College
Coach Sandquist picked up the 100th win of his head-coaching career this past week as his Bears extended their winning streak to 10 games. 2nd-ranked Des Moines Area Community College began the week with a 94-76 victory over North Iowa Area Community College on Wednesday, turning the ball over just six times in the win. The Bears then defeated Iowa Lakes by a score of 80-64 on Saturday for Coach Sandquist’s 100th career win. In just his fourth season with DMACC, Sandquist has compiled an incredible 100-19 record. His teams have been ranked in the NJCAA DII Top-10 for 32 consecutive polls dating back over two-and-a-half years. He will look for win No. 101 when DMACC visits No. 11 Iowa Western on Wednesday night.
2025-26 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Tommy Lloyd – University of Arizona
NCAA DII: Andre Cook – St. Edward’s University
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose – Illinois Wesleyan University
NAIA: Taylor Jarvis – Missouri Baptist University
JUCO: Tae Norwood – Palm Beach State College
NCAA DI: Dusty May – University of Michigan
NCAA DII: Keffrey Fazio – Seattle Pacific University
NCAA DIII: Waleed Farid – New York University
NAIA: Tigh Compton – University of Pikeville
JUCO: Jerry Nichols – Walters State Community College
NCAA DI: Jon Scheyer – Duke University
NCAA DII: Brent Owen – Lenoir-Rhyne University
NCAA DIII: Dean Burrows – Mississippi University for Women
NAIA: Frank Woodford – Benedictine University – Mesa
JUCO: Bryan Bender – Ellsworth Community College
NCAA DI: Frank Martin – University of Massachusetts – Amherst
NCAA DII: Mike MacDonald – Daemen University
NCAA DIII: Anthony Medina – University of St. Thomas (TX)
NAIA: Kevin Williamson – Dakota State University
JUCO: Joey Cantens – Daytona State College
NCAA DI: Chris Victor – Seattle University
NCAA DII: Easton Bazzoli – Gannon University
NCAA DIII: Eric Bridgeland – University of Redlands
NAIA: Scott Moore – Grace College
JUCO: Andrew May – Snow College
Week 6
Winter Break – No Winners Selected
Week 7
Winter Break – No Winners Selected
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About Just Play Solutions
Just Play Solutions has become the market leader in coaches’ workflow. A platform to help coaches prepare playbooks, automate scouting reports, research analytics, integrate and distribute video, manage recruiting workflow, and organize recruiting schedules. The end-to-end platform is used by over 700 customers across the country and internationally in football, basketball.
