NORTHWESTERN HEAD COACH CHRIS COLLINS NAMED HOOPDIRT.COM DIVISION I COACH OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY THE HOOP GROUP

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For Immediate Release
April 5, 2017

Northwestern University Head Basketball Coach Chris Collins has been named as the HoopDirt.com Division I Coach of the Year presented by The Hoop Group for the 2016-17 college basketball season. Collins qualified for the award by being named as the HoopDirt.com/Hoop Group Coach of the Week for Week 10 of the season.

Collins led the Wildcats to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and set a program record with twenty-four wins. Northwestern won their March Madness debut by defeating Vanderbilt 68-66 before bowing to Gonzaga 79-73 in the round of 32. Along the way to the tournament, NU won 10 Big Ten games, the most in the Collins era, and advanced to the Big Ten semi-finals for the first time in history. Collins squad opened the season by going 12-2, and finished the year with a 14-4 record at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

In his four seasons at Northwestern, the former Duke standout has compiled a 73-60 record which now includes back-to-back seasons of at least twenty wins. The Wildcats have also increased their win total in each of his four seasons. Collins spent 13-seasons as an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski at Duke where he was part of National Championship squads in 2001 and 2010.

Collins joins four other 2016-17 HoopDirt.com/Hoop Group Coach of the Year Winners; DII Ben McCollum (Northwest Missouri), DIII Stephen Brennan (Babson), NAIA Kevin Burton (Union), and JUCO Todd Lorensen (Soutwestern CC).

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HoopDirt.com/The Hoop Group weekly award 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)

Week 15:
NCAA DI: Dave Rose, BYU
NCAA DII: Jeff Burkhamer, University of West Florida
NCAA DIII: Larry Anderson, MIT
NAIA: John Henry, William Penn University (IA)
JUCO: Ryan Ridder, Dayton State College (FL)

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