Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following college basketball coaches have been named recipients of the Week 12 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 12 winners are:
NCAA D1: Shantay Legans – University of Portland
It was a week to remember for Coach Legans, as his Pilots picked up their highest ranked win in program history and came from behind to win a game in the final seconds. Entering Wednesday’s home matchup against No. 6 Gonzaga, Portland had lost 30 consecutive games vs. AP Top 10 opponents and had not beaten a ranked opponent since January of 2014. The Pilots snapped both streaks in a big way, leading nearly the entire contest and holding off a late Gonzaga run to come away with an incredible 87-80 upset victory. Just three days after the historic win, the Pilots found themselves trailing Seattle by as many as 12 in the first half before cutting the deficit to eight heading into halftime. From there, Portland was able to claw back into the game and eventually convert a putback with just 1.9 seconds remaining to pull out a thrilling 54-53 triumph. With the wins, the Pilots improved to 12-14 (5-8 WCC) on the season. They will look to move another step closer to .500 when they visit San Diego on Wednesday evening.
NCAA D2: Mike Helfer – Valdosta State University
Coach Helfer picked up a milestone win this week as his Valdosta State squad extended their winning streak to three with a pair of key conference victories. The Blazers struggled from the field in Wednesday’s home matchup vs. Lee, but shot 24-29 from the free throw line to propel themselves to a 79-73 win. Back in action on Saturday, Valdosta State again used a strong performance from the charity stripe (28-33, 84.8%) to claim victory, this time by a score of 113-104 in overtime against Trevecca Nazarene. The victory marked Coach Helfer’s 400th win with Valdosta State – in his 21 seasons with the Blazers, he has compiled an impressive record of 400-206 (.660). Across his 29 year head coaching career, Helfer has an overall record of 586-289. His 14-8 (9-7 GSC) Blazers will look to continue moving up the GSC standings when they visit Delta State on Thursday.
NCAA D3: Jason Zimmerman – Emory University
Two games, two ranked opponents (including the No. 1 team in the country), two overtime victories. Coach Zimmerman’s 7th-ranked Emory squad showed why they are one of the top teams in the country as they picked up two of their biggest wins of the season last week. After going 0-2 at No. 20 WashU and No. 1 Chicago on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, the Eagles had a chance for redemption at home against the same two opponents this past weekend. Against WashU on Friday, Emory trailed by seven with just over three minutes remaining, but was able to force overtime and eventually pull out an 81-72 victory. Back in action against top-ranked Chicago on Sunday, the Eagles again found themselves trailing in the second half – this time by 13 with just over 15 minutes remaining. Again, they were able to fight back and force overtime, where they emerged with a thrilling 97-94 win. With the victories, Emory moved to 16-3 overall and 6-2 in the UAA – just a half-game behind Chicago for the conference lead. The Eagles will return home for matchups with RV Brandeis and No. 25 NYU this upcoming weekend.
NAIA: Marcus “Chief” Bryant – Keiser University
Coach Bryant guided Keiser to another pair of double-digit wins this past week as the Seahawks extended their winning streak to six. On Wednesday, Keiser jumped out to a 46-32 halftime lead over Warner, eventually coming away with an 87-76 victory. Following the win, the Seahawks hit the road to take on a tough Southeastern squad that entered the matchup at 20-4 (9-3 SUN) and averaging 87 points per game on the season. Keiser put on a dominant performance from start to finish, leading wire-to-wire and holding the hosts to just 30.2% from the field in an 81-54 triumph. With the wins, the Seahawks improved to 20-3 (10-2 SUN) on the campaign. They will look for their seventh consecutive win when they host Webber on Wednesday evening.
JUCO: Robert Byrd – Kilgore College
Coach Byrd led Kilgore to two more victories this past week as the Rangers continue to climb up the NJCAA DI rankings. Then-No. 17 Kilgore opened the week on Wednesday with a home matchup against Trinity Valley, who had handed the Rangers one of their three losses earlier in the season. After trailing by five at halftime, Kilgore was able to limit the visitors to just 18 points in the second half and come away with a hard-fought 55-49 victory. Back in action on Saturday, the Rangers put on another strong defensive performance to defeat Lee by a score of 61-59. Following the wins, Kilgore moved up to No. 12 in the latest NJCAA DI Top 25 Poll. The 18-3 Rangers will look for their sixth consecutive win when they host Bossier Parish Community College on Wednesday.
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
NCAA DI: Travis Steele – Miami University (OH)
NCAA DII: Bryan Rooney – California State University, East Bay
NCAA DIII: Jeff Gard – University of Wisconsin – Platteville
NAIA: Leonard Epps – Brewton-Parker Christian University
JUCO: Andrew May – Blake Sandquist – Des Moines Area Community College
NCAA DI: Grant McCasland – Texas Tech University
NCAA DII: Blake Mellinger – UVA Wise
NCAA DIII: James Cosgrove – Trinity College
NAIA: Greg Tonagel – Indiana Wesleyan University
JUCO: Kyle Pugh – Cloud County Community College
NCAA DI: Fred Hoiberg – University of Nebraska
NCAA DII: Justin Mann – University of West Florida
NCAA DIII: Joe Reilly – Wesleyan University
NAIA: Fred Lymas – Shawnee State University
JUCO: Steve DeMeo – Northwest Florida State College
NCAA DI: Josh Schertz – Saint Louis University
NCAA DII: Brett Ballard – Washburn University
NCAA DIII: Justin Lunt – Pacific University (OR)
NAIA: David Osborn – Trinity Christian University
JUCO: Jai Steadman – Independence Community College
About HoopDirt.com
HoopDirt.com is the largest website in the country dedicated specifically to college basketball coaching news, jobs, and rumors at all levels. HoopDirt.com brings a unique insider perspective to the world of college basketball coaching – it was founded by college coaches as a way to help the college basketball community stay informed of what is going on in the coaching profession.
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.
