Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – HoopDirt.com is proud to announce the recipients of the Week 1 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches have been recognized for their outstanding performances, leadership, and accomplishments during the opening week of the 2026-27 college basketball season.
The Week 1 honorees have earned recognition among the nation’s top college basketball coaches and will now become eligible for the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, also presented by Just Play Solutions. The National Coach of the Year will be selected from the season’s weekly award recipients and announced following the conclusion of the 2026-27 college basketball season.
Now entering its twelfth year, the HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs have become an established tradition of recognizing excellence across all levels of college basketball. The programs celebrate the coaches who make an impact on the court through their teams’ success, preparation, leadership, and commitment to their student-athletes.
Congratulations to this week’s recipients! The Week 1 winners are listed below, along with all previous weekly honorees from earlier in the season.
Nominations for Future Weeks
HoopDirt.com welcomes nominations throughout the season. If you know a coach deserving of recognition for an outstanding week, please send nominations to [email protected].
The week 1 winners are:
DI – Roger Powell, Jr. – Valparaiso University
Fourth-year Head Coach Roger Powell has Valparaiso off to one of its most memorable starts in program history. The Beacons began the season with a dominant 80-58 victory over Western Illinois on Monday before making the trip to West Lafayette for a Friday evening showdown against Purdue. After forcing overtime, Valpo knocked down a pair of buzzer beaters – one to send the game to a second overtime and one to claim an 83-80 2OT victory. The win marked the Beacons’ first win over a power conference opponent in almost 10 years (November 21, 2016 vs. Alabama) and snapped a 19-game losing streak against Big 10 opponents. Now 2-0 on the season, Valpo will look to keep up its momentum when it visits South Dakota State on Wednesday night.
DII – No games played
DII – Not enough gamed played
NAIA – Trent Miller – Morningside University
Coach Miller’s Morningside squad couldn’t have asked for a better start to their season, taking down the top-ranked team in the nation en route to a 4-0 start. Following a win in their season opener, the 25th-ranked Mustangs took on No. 1 Grace in a neutral-site matchup in the GPAC/Crossroads Challenge on Friday, October 30. Morningside put together a complete performance against the nation’s top team, coming away with an impressive 83-68 victory. The Mustangs were able to stay hot after the huge win, erasing a 14-point halftime deficit to pick up a 94-82 win over RV Huntington the following day and defeating William Penn 95-83 on Friday, November 6. With the hot start, Morningside is sure to make a big jump in the next NAIA Top-25 poll. The Mustangs return to action on Saturday, when they host Midland in their GPAC opener.
JUCO – Brad Kitchen – Snow College
Coach Kitchen’s high-powered offense was on full display this past week, as his Badgers topped 100 points in each of their three victories. On Tuesday, Snow shot 66% from the field in a 114-56 win over Colorado Northwestern Community College. Following the win, the Badgers hit the road to take on No. 8 Indian Hills Community College on Friday at the Norris Asphalt Classic. Snow drilled a buzzer beater to force overtime, where they were able to come away with a thrilling 106-101 victory and snap the hosts’ 29-game home winning streak dating back to 2024. The Badgers then closed out their trip to Iowa with a 104-75 triumph over Sauk Valley Community College on Saturday. In his first year at the helm, Coach Kitchen has the Badgers off to a 4-1 start to the season. They will look for their fifth consecutive win when they take on Eastern Arizona College in the Region 1/Region 18 Challenge on Friday afternoon.
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
NCAA DI: Shantay Legans – University of Portland
NCAA DII: Mike Helfer – Valdosta State University
NCAA DIII: Jason Zimmerman – Emory University
NAIA: Marcus “Chief” Bryant – Keiser University
JUCO: Robert Byrd – Kilgore College
NCAA DI: Jai Lucas – University of Miami
NCAA DII: Michael Lamberti – West Liberty University
NCAA DIII: Kevin Curley – McDaniel College
NAIA: Drew Stutts – Freed-Hardeman University
JUCO: Matt Lynch – University of South Carolina Salkehatchie
NCAA DI: Jon Perry – Navy
NCAA DII: Mark Bunker – Western New Mexico University
NCAA DIII: Raul Placeres – Maryville College (TN)
NAIA: Jeff Rutter – Arizona Christian University
JUCO: Luke Mackay – New Mexico Junior College
