By AJ Nelson, HoopDirt.com staff writer
Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 8 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches are now eligible to receive the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award presented by Just Play Solutions which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2020-21 college basketball season.
This is the sixth season that HoopDirt.com has run the Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. This season’s previous weekly winners, and a list of all-time COY winners can be found following this week’s honorees.
This season will be a bit different, however. As college basketball adjusts to life with COVID, so will we. Not every level will be honored on a weekly basis – we will honor as many of the levels as possible provided enough games are played. It’s different than in the past, but we still hope to have enough weekly winners at each level to name a Coach of the Year (NCAA DI, D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO) at the end of the season
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The Week 8 winners are:
NCAA DI: Isaac Brown – Wichita State University
Interim Head Coach Isaac Brown led Wichita State to another impressive victory this week, moving the Shockers into sole possession of second place in the American Athletic Conference. WSU took down Tulsa, who had received votes in the week’s AP Top 25 poll, on Wednesday for the second time this season. The win snapped Tulsa’s six-game winning streak, and left Wichita State and Houston as the only teams in the AAC with just one loss in conference play. Now 8-3 (4-1 AAC) on the season, the Shockers will look to continue their strong play when they face off against Memphis on the road on Thursday evening.
NCAA DII: Bubba Smith – Lee University (TN)
Coach Smith guided Lee to back-to-back road wins against a top-5 opponent this weekend, extending the Flames’ winning streak to four in the process. Lee handed No. 5 Valdosta State their first loss of the season with an 82-70 victory on Friday before defeating them again (77-74) the following day. These two victories allowed the Flames to improve to 4-1 (4-1 GSC) on the season, with every contest having been on the road. Lee’s home opener comes on Thursday, in a matchup with Shorter University.
NCAA DIII: Damion Jablonski – Whitworth University (WA)
This week, Coach Jablonski’s squad picked up their first two wins of the season, as they took down Division II Seattle Pacific twice in a row on the road. Whitworth led by as many as 18 on the way to a 95-83 victory on Wednesday, and then held off a late comeback attempt for a 69-65 win the following day. The Pirates are now 2-3 on the season, but have yet to play any Division III opponents. They begin conference play on Friday, when they face off against Puget Sound on the road.
NAIA: Chris Wright – Talladega College (AL)
Coach Wright’s Tornadoes kicked off conference play with four wins in four days this week. Talladega defeated Rust 73-70 on Monday to begin the week, then followed up the victory with three more wins, capped off by a 74-58 triumph over Philander Smith on Thursday. Even more impressively, this was accomplished without the Tornadoes’ leading scorer. Talladega is currently 14-2 (4-0 GCAC) on the season, and ranked 18th in the Coaches’ Top-25 Poll. They will look to win their sixth straight game when they take on Voorhees in a non-conference matchup on Saturday.
JUCO: No week 8 winner awarded
2020-21 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Mark Few – Gonzaga University
NCAA DII: Jeff Horner – Truman State University (MO)
NCAA DIII: Clif Carroll – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX)
NAIA: Greg Tonagel – Indiana Wesleyan University
JUCO: No week 1 winner awarded
NCAA DI: Mike Magpayo – UC Riverside
NCAA DII: Brian Good – Wingate University (NC)
NCAA DIII: No week 2 winner awarded
NAIA: Dugan Lyne – Martin Methodist College (TN)
JUCO: No week 2 winner awarded
NCAA DI: Lamont Paris – Tennessee Chattanooga
NCAA DII: Mike DeGeorge – Colorado Mesa University
NCAA DIII: Neal Young – Covenant College (GA)
NAIA: Chris Dial – Our Lady of the Lake University (TX)
JUCO: No week 3 winner awarded
NCAA DI: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
NCAA DII: Chad Warner – Flagler College (FL)
NCAA DIII: No week 4 winner awarded
NAIA: Danny Neville – University of Jamestown (ND)
JUCO: No week 4 winner awarded
NCAA DI: Bryan Mullins – Southern Illinois University
NCAA DII: No winner – mandatory DII winter break
NCAA DIII: No week 5 winner awarded
NAIA: Mark Svagera – Briar Cliff University (IA)
JUCO: No week 5 winner awarded
NCAA DI: Frank Haith – University of Tulsa
NCAA DII: Vinay Patel – Northwestern Oklahoma State University
NCAA DIII: No week 6 winner awarded
NAIA: Will Shouse – Asbury University (KY)
JUCO: No week 6 winner awarded
NCAA DI: Shaka Smart – University of Texas
NCAA DII: Dan Ficke – Belmont Abbey College (NC)
NCAA DIII: Reni Mason – Louisiana College
NAIA: Delano Thomas – Shawnee State University (OH)
JUCO: No week 7 winner awarded
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
- 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
- 2019-20: Fred Watson – Miles College (AL)
- 2018-19: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2017-18: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State (MI)
- 2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
Division III
- 2019-20: Elliot Steinmetz – Yeshiva University (NY)
- 2018-19: Dale Wellman – Nebraska Wesleyan University
- 2017-18: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College (WA)
- 2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College (MA)
- 2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA
- 2019-20: Colby Blaine – College of Idaho
- 2018-19: Chris Briggs – Georgetown College (KY)
- 2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
- 2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College (KY)
- 2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO
- 2019-20: Randy Casey – Milwaukee Area Technical College
- 2018-19: Billy Gillispie – Ranger College (TX)
- 2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
- 2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College (IA)
- 2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
USCAA
- 2018-19: LeShawn Hammett – Penn State Wilkes-Barre
About HoopDirt.com
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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, and lacrosse.
