By AJ Nelson, HoopDirt.com staff writer
Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 10 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 10 winners are:
NCAA DI: Lon Kruger – University of Oklahoma
Coach Kruger has guided Oklahoma to three straight wins against top-10 opponents, including two this past week. Coming off an impressive victory against No. 9 Kansas last Saturday, the then 24th-ranked Sooners held on for a huge 80-79 victory on the road at No. 5 Texas on Tuesday. Oklahoma then faced off against this week’s ninth-ranked Alabama squad on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Though the Sooners were down two starters, including top scorer Austin Reaves, they were able to come away with a 66-61 win. Oklahoma is now 11-4 (6-3 Big 12) on the season, and has skyrocketed to No. 9 in the latest AP Top-25 poll. Their next contest comes against yet another ranked opponent, as they travel to take on No. 13 Texas Tech tonight.
NCAA DII: Kelvin Jefferson – Gannon University
Two wins over a ranked opponent this week have helped Coach Jefferson’s squad get off to their best start since the 2012-13 season. On Friday, the Knights trailed No. 25 Daemen by 17 at the half, but rallied back for a stunning 76-73 victory on the road. This marked Gannon’s first win over a ranked team since the 2014-15 season, and Coach Jefferson’s first such victory. Gannon then hosted Daemen on Sunday, and after leading by three at halftime, had another huge second half, this time using it to pull away for a dominant 95-67 triumph. Now 4-0 on the season, the Knights will next take on Clarion in a road contest on Wednesday.
NCAA DIII: Clay Nunley – Roanoke College
Coach Nunley led Roanoke to a pair of victories by a combined three points this week. The Maroons knocked down a game-winning layup with just 2.3 seconds remaining for a thrilling 49-48 win over Ferrum on Thursday, before hanging on late for a 61-59 victory against Shenandoah on Saturday. After dropping their opener, Roanoke has won three straight games, and is 3-0 in conference play. They will face off against Emory & Henry at home on Tuesday evening.
NAIA: Ryan Wall – Texas A&M University – Texarkana
Coach Wall’s squad picked up two more victories this week, remaining unbeaten on the season. On Thursday, the 19th-ranked Eagles took down Jarvis Christian at home by a score of 71-60. The two teams then faced off again on Saturday, this time at Jarvis Christian. TAMUT led by 14 at the half, and was able to hold off a late comeback attempt to take a 62-61 victory. These two wins moved the Eagles to 9-0 (4-0 Red River) on the season. Next up for Texarkana is a huge series against also undefeated No. 2 LSU-Shreveport. The Eagles face LSUS on the road on Thursday, before hosting them on Saturday.
JUCO: Luke Strege – Mineral Area College
Coach Strege’s Cardinals won three games this week, including a dominant performance over the top-ranked team in NJCAA Division I. No. 19 Mineral Area took down North Central Missouri College on Tuesday and John Wood Community College on Thursday, before traveling to take on No. 1 John A. Logan College. The Cardinals were able to come away with an extremely impressive 90-74 victory, improving to 5-0 on the season. They will look to remain unbeaten when they face off against SAU Tech at home on Friday.
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
NCAA DI: Isaac Brown – Wichita State
NCAA DII: Bubba Smith – Lee University (TN)
NCAA DIII: Damion Jablonski – Whitworth University (WA)
NAIA: Chris Wright – Talladega College (AL)
JUCO: No week 7 winner awarded
NCAA DI: Tony Pujol – University of North Alabama
NCAA DII: Blake Flickner – Dallas Baptist University
NCAA DIII: Bill Sall – Calvin University (MI)
NAIA: Kyle Blankenship – LSU Shreveport
JUCO: Jeff Reinert – College of Southern Idaho
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
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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.
