Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 15 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by The Hoop Group. The coaches are now eligible to receive the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award presented by the Hoop Group which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2016-17 college basketball season.
Nominations for next week’s award can be emailed to: [email protected] – please include a brief statement as to why the coach should be recognized as well as any other information that may be helpful.
The Week 15 winners are:
NCAA DI: Dave Rose, BYU
Coach Rose was an obvious choice this week as his BYU Cougars picked up arguably the biggest upset win of the season, taking down top-ranked and, previously undefeated Gonzaga in Spokane. The 79-71 win gave the Cougars their 21st on the year, and was the first time in program history that BYU has knocked off the #1 team in the country. Earlier in the week, Coach Rose’s squad downed Portland on the road 97-78 in a game where they made a season high 13 three pointers. With the big dance right around the corner BYU will look to finish the season strong and keep their momentum rolling.
NCAA DII: Jeff Burkhamer, University of West Florida
Coach Burkhamer is an extremely deserving recipient of this honor, having led his West Florida Argonauts to the biggest turnaround in Gulf South Conference History. Ranked 6th in the South Region polls, the Argonauts have been making history all year. With twenty wins, they are tied for the most wins in school history and also have set the record for most conference wins in school history. Last week saw UWF defeat three opponents to close out the regular season, including Saturday’s victory over Shorter College which was Coach Burkahmer’s 400th career win.
NCAA DIII: Larry Anderson, MIT
Coach Anderson’s Engineers knocked off two national powerhouses last week on their way to capturing the NEWMAC Tournament Championship. On Saturday, they took down WPI 63-61 in the tournament semi-finals. They next day, Anderson’s crew beat Babson, the #1 team in the country, to secure MIT’s 6th NCAA tournament appearance (all coming on Anderson’s watch). The 21-6 Engineers will look to keep winning as they take on Eastern Connecticut State University in the first round of the Division III tournament on Friday.
NAIA: John Henry, William Penn University (IA)
With two wins to close out the regular season, #2 William Penn (27-3/23-3) has now won nine-straight games and broken the mark for single-season home wins with its fifteenth of the year. Coach Henry’s squad knocked off #14 Benedictine (76-68) on Wednesday and Missouri Valley (107-93) on Senior Day Saturday. The Statesmen are also riding a 23-game home winning streak and will host a Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament game on Wednesday.
JUCO: Ryan Ridder, Daytona State College (FL)
Currently ranked as the #24 DI JUCO team in the country, Coach Ridder’s Falcons (23-6) closed out the regular season with an 84-83 win over Florida State College at Jacksonville last week. The victory clinched an impressive fourth-consecutive Mid-Florida conference championship for Daytona State. The Falcons have now compiled four straight twenty-win seasons, and will looks to make some noise in this week’s NJCAA Region 8 tournament.
Previous Weekly Winners:
Week 1:
NCAA DI: Tom Crean, Indiana
NCAA DII: Brian Beaury, College of Saint Rose
NCAA DIII: David Hixon, Amherst College
NAIA: Jeff Britt, Bethel College (TN)
JUCO: John Pigatti, South Suburban College (IL)
Week 2:
NCAA DI: Chris Holtmann, Butler
NCAA DII: Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State
NCAA DIII: Tom Slyder, Northpark
NAIA: Kevin Burton, Union College (KY)
JUCO: Martin McCann, Palm Beach State
Week 3:
NCAA DI: Scott Drew, Baylor
NCAA DII: Kyle Tolin, Arknasas Monticello
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose, Illinois Wesleyan
NAIA: Craig Doty, Graceland College
JUCO: Steven DeMeo, Northwest Florida State
Week 4:
NCAA DI: Roy Williams, University of North Carolina
NCAA DII: Jerrod Calhoun, Fairmont State University
NCAA DIII: Luke Flockerzi, University of Rochester
NAIA: Kim Elders, Cornerstone University
JUCO: Patrick Smith, Moberly Area Community College
Week 5:
NCAA DI: Steve Forbes, East Tennessee State
NCAA DII: Rodney Watson, University of Southern Indiana
NCAA DIII: Charlie Brock, Springfield College
NAIA: Rollie Massimino, Keiser University
JUCO: Luke Strege, Mineral Area College
Week 6:
NCAA DI: Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech
NCAA DII: Paul Trevor, San Francisco State
NCAA DIII: Eric Bridgeland, Whitman College
NAIA: Jeff Rutter, Arizona Christian
JUCO: David Archer, Jr., Chattahoochee Tech
Week 7:
NCAA DI: Kelvin Sampson, Houston
NCAA DII: Jamie Stevens, Montana State Billings
NCAA DIII: Mark Edwards, Washington University (St. Louis)
NAIA: Kelly Wells, University of Pikeville (KY)
JUCO: Steve Green, South Plains College (TX)
Week 8:
NCAA DI: Randy Bennett, St. Mary’s
NCAA DII: Nelson Haggerty, Midwestern State (TX)
NCAA DIII: Chris Martin, Loras College (IA)
NAIA: Larry Cordaro, LSU Alexandria
JUCO: Todd Lorensen, Southwestern CC (IA)
Week 9:
NCAA DI: Kevin Keatts, UNC Wilmington
NCAA DII: Bob Pietrack, Fort Lewis College (CO)
NCAA DIII: Bob Ghiloni, Denison University (OH)
NAIA: Tony Ingle, Dalton State (GA)
JUCO: Charlie Wilson, Indian River State College (FL)
Week 10:
NCAA DI: Chris Collins, Northwestern University
NCAA DII: Chris Fife, Shippensburg University (PA)
NCAA DIII: Ken Scalmanini, Claremont Mudd Scripps (CA)
NAIA: Sean Hanrahan, Warner University (FL)
JUCO: Matt Ridge, Davidson County CC (NC)
Week 11:
NCAA DI: Josh Pastner, Georgia Tech
NCAA DII: TJ Dekmar, Goldey-Beacom College (DE)
NCAA DIII: John Krikorian, Christopher Newport University (VA)
NAIA: Justin Wetzel, Dickinson State University (ND)
JUCO: Chuck Moore, Richard Bland College (VA)
Week 12:
NCAA DI: Donyell Marshall, Central Connecticut State
NCAA DII: Joe Gallo, Merrimack College (MA)
NCAA DIII: Stephen Brennan, Babson College (MA)
NAIA: Ryan Wall, Our Lady of the Lake University (TX)
JUCO: Hank Plona, Indian Hills Community College (Iowa)
Week 13:
NCAA DI: Dave Wojcik, San Jose State University
NCAA DII: Lonn Reisman, Tartelton State
NCAA DIII: Chuck McBreen, Ramapo College (NJ)
NAIA: Bill Dreikosen, Rocky Mountain College (MT)
JUCO: Josh Mills, Ranger College (TX)
Week 14:
NCAA DI: Mick Cronin, University of Cincinnati
NCAA DII: Mike Helfer, Valdosta State (GA)
NCAA DIII: Mark Seidenburg, Delaware Valley University (PA)
NAIA: Stan Holt, Langston University (OK)
JUCO: Scott Schumacher, Blinn College (TX)
