UNION COLLEGE (KY) HEAD COACH KEVIN BURTON NAMED HOOPDIRT.COM NAIA COACH OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY THE HOOP GROUP

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For Immediate Release
April 1, 2017

Union College (KY) Head Coach Kevin Burton has been named as the HoopDirt.com NAIA Coach of the Year presented by The Hoop Group for the 2016-17 college basketball season. Burton qualified for the award by being named as the HoopDirt.com/Hoop Group Coach of the Week for Week 2 of the season.

During the 2016-17 campaign, Burton led Union College to a 35-3 record, and captured the NAIA DII National Championship. The Bulldogs got off to a 2-3 start to the season before ripping off 33-straight wins including knocking off second-ranked Cornerstone University (MI) 72-69 to capture the title. Burton’s crew also had 26 double-digit wins during the streak, and won over half of their games (18) by 20+ points. Union also finished a perfect 20-0 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference on their way to winning the first national championship in any sport in school history.

Burton has been the head coach at Union College since 2012 where he has gone a remarkable 136-34. After going 15-14 in 2012-13, the Bulldogs have now gone four straight seasons with 28 or more victories, and have won four straight AAC regular-season and tournament championships. Burton and his Bulldogs have also not lost a conference road game in three years, accumulating 29-straight victories since they last lost away from home on 2/14/14.

 

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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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