WHITMAN COLLEGE HEAD COACH ERIC BRIDGELAND NAMED HOOPDIRT.COM DIII COACH OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY JUST PLAY SOLUTIONS
For Immediate Release
April 11, 2018
Whitman College (WA) Head Basketball Coach Eric Bridgeland has been named as the HoopDirt.com Division III Coach of the Year presented by Just Play Solutions for the 2017-18 college basketball season. Bridgeland qualified for the award by being named as the HoopDirt.com/Just Play Solutions of the Week for Week 7 of the season.
Coach Bridgeland led Whitman to another stellar season, finishing with a record of 29-2 and going undefeated (16-0) in regular season league play for the second season in a row. The Blues entered the season at #1 in the D3hoops.com poll and did not disappoint, winning their first 26 games of the season and holding the #1 spot for all 13 weeks of the regular season and conference tournament schedule before falling in the Northwest Conference championship game. Whitman then came away with three hard-fought victories in the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual champion Nebraska Wesleyan in the Elite Eight.
Since the 2014-2015 season, Coach Bridgeland has led the Blues to a 104-14 (.881) record, trailing only Villanova in winning percentage among NCAA programs in that span. His squad has not lost a regular season conference match-up in over two seasons, and continues to hold the league’s regular season conference winning streak record (40 games). In 10 seasons at Whitman, Bridgeland has compiled a 197-77 record and has won at least 16 games in eight straight seasons. He has received numerous honors for his efforts at Whitman, most recently including the Basketball Times Division III Coach of the Year for the 2017-2018 season.
A complete list of the 2017-18 weekly winners and past Coach of the Year recipients can be found below.
[Coach of the Week/Year written and compiled by HoopDirt.com contributor AJ Nelson]
2017-18 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Fran Dunphy – Temple University
NCAA DII: Pryor Orser – Colorado School of Mines
NCAA DIII: Kevin Bettencourt – Endicott College (MA)
NAIA (co-winner): Wayne Wagner – Viterbo University (WI)
NAIA (co-winner): Matt O’Brien – Southwestern College (KS)
JUCO: Mark White – Tallahassee Community College
NCAA DI: Porter Moser – Loyola University Chicago
NCAA DII: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State University (MI)
NCAA DIII: Justin Lunt – University of Puget Sound (WA)
NAIA: Keith Adkins – Life University (GA)
JUCO: Don Tuley – Seminole State College (OK)
NCAA DI: Chris Mack – Xavier University
NCAA DII: Darrell Walker – Clark Atlanta University
NCAA DIII: Pat Juckem – University of Wisconsin-Osh Kosh
NAIA: R-Jay Barsh – Southeastern University (FL)
JUCO: Steve DeMeo – Northwest Florida State College
NCAA DI: James Whitford – Ball State
NCAA DII: Adam Bohac – Southern Nazarene University (OK)
NCAA DIII: Hilliary Scott – Lynchburg College (VA)
NAIA: Vinay Patel – Oklahoma City University
JUCO: Tommy Guerin – Borough of Manhattan Community College
NCAA DI: Steve Pikiell – Rutgers University
NCAA DII: Jeff Burkhamer – University of West Florida
NCAA DIII: Steve Howes – Catholic University (DC)
NAIA: Kyle Blankenship – Louisiana State University – Shreveport
JUCO: Hank Plona – Indian Hills Community College (IA)
NCAA DI: Mike Young – Wofford College
NCAA DII: Bart Lundy – Queens University of Charlotte
NCAA DIII: Mike Schauer – Wheaton College (IL)
NAIA: Kelvin Starr – The Master’s University (CA)
JUCO: Evan Lavery – Rock Valley College (IL)
NCAA DI: LaVall Jordan – Butler University
NCAA DII: Rodney Watson – University of Southern Indiana
NCAA DIII: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College (WA)
NAIA: Jeff Sherman – Central Methodist University (MO)
JUCO: Brian Peabody – Pima Community College (AZ)
NCAA DI: Tad Boyle – University of Colorado
NCAA DII: Jeff Boschee – Missouri Southern State University
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose – Illinois Wesleyan University
NAIA: Jesse Watkins – College of Coastal Georgia
JUCO: Chris Hackett – Frank Phillips College (TX)
NCAA DI: Joe Mihalich – Hofstra University
NCAA DII: Lennie Acuff – University of Alabama Huntsville
NCAA DIII: Guy Rancourt – Lycoming College (PA)
NAIA: Paul Peck – Lindsey Wilson College (KY)
JUCO: Chris Lovell – Bossier Parrish Community College (LA)
NCAA DI: Mike White – University of Florida
NCAA DII: Bob Pietrack – Fort Lewis College (CO)
NCAA DIII: Jeff Brown – Middlebury College (VT)
NAIA: Nelson Jones – Allen University (SC)
JUCO: Aaron Butcher – Ancilla College (IN)
NCAA DI: Tony Bennett – University of Virginia
NCAA DII: Mike Helfer – Valdosta State (GA)
NCAA DIII: Mark Edwards – Washington University in Saint Louis
NAIA: Dante Calabria – Keiser University (FL)
JUCO: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
NCAA DI: Mike Hopkins – University of Washington
NCAA DII: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
NCAA DIII: Todd McGuinness – Case Western Reserve University (OH)
NAIA: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
JUCO: Doug Scott – Quincy College (MA)
NCAA DI: Chris Mullin – St. John’s University
NCAA DII: Lonn Reisman – Tarleton State University (TX)
NCAA DIII: David Hixon – Amherst College (MA)
NAIA: Tom Church – Indiana University Kokomo
JUCO: DaJuan Gouard – Danville Area Community College (IL)
NCAA DI: Donte’ Jackson – Grambling State University
NCAA DII: Grady Brewer – Morehouse College (GA)
NCAA DIII: John Krikorian – Christopher Newport University (VA)
NAIA: Josh Gamblin – Mid-America Christian University (OK)
JUCO: Jared Phay – College of Southern Idaho
NCAA DI: Ryan Ridder -Bethune-Cookman University
NCAA DII: Lonnie Blow, Jr. – Virginia State University
NCAA DIII: Josh Loeffler – Johns Hopkins University
NAIA: Kelly Wells – University of Pikeville (KY)
JUCO: Brent Wilson – Sullivan County CC (NY)
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
2016-17: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
2015-16: Roy Williams – University of North Carolina
Division II
2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
Division III
2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College (MA)
2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA
2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College (KY)
2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO
2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College (IA)
2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
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. HoopDirt.com currently has a Twitter following of over 30,000, and receives nearly three-million page views per month.
About Just Play Solutions
Just Play Solutions is quickly becoming a market leader in helping coaches to prepare faster and teach athletes more effectively. From our digital coaching tools to interactive mobile app coaches can build playbooks, scouting reports, integrate video and even quiz players. Working with over 325 programs from high school to the professional levels, Just Play has a solution for any budget or need. Just Play currently has products available for Basketball, Football, Soccer, Hockey and Lacrosse.
