Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following college basketball coaches have been named recipients of the Week 10 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches are now eligible for the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, also presented by Just Play Solutions, which will be announced at the end of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
This season marks the eleventh year of the HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. This week’s winners are listed below, followed by all previous weekly honorees from earlier in the season.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The week 10 winners are:
NCAA D1: Fred Hoiberg – University of Nebraska
With two more victories this past week, Coach Hoiberg’s Cornhuskers have completed the journey from unranked at the beginning of the season to the top five of the latest AP Top 25 Poll. Nebraska, which entered the week ranked No. 7, continued to roll through Big 10 play, defeating Washington 76-66 at home on Wednesday and Minnesota 76-57 on the road on Saturday. The Cornhuskers actually trailed Minnesota by six at halftime before outscoring the hosts by 25 in the second half. Nebraska also dished out 24 assists in the victory – the program’s most in a conference game since February of 2001. Coach Hoiberg’s squad is now 20-0 (9-0 Big 10) on the season and owns a nation-best 24-game winning streak dating back to last season. The 9-0 start to conference play is Nebraska’s best since the 1965-66 campaign. Now ranked No. 5 in the country, the Huskers await their biggest test yet as they visit Ann Arbor to take on third-ranked Michigan in a Tuesday evening showdown.
NCAA D2: Justin Mann – University of West Florida
Coach Mann’s West Florida squad ground out a pair of hard-fought wins on the road this past week, taking down two tough opponents by a combined five points. The Argonauts began their week on Thursday at West Alabama, who entered the week ranked eighth in the country. Despite a late comeback attempt by the hosts, West Florida was able to pull out a 78-75 victory in a contest that featured nine lead changes and seven ties. Back in action less than 24 hours later, the Argonauts again found themselves locked in a tight battle, this time against Alabama – Huntsville. Again, West Florida was able to emerge victorious, picking up a 78-76 win in a game that saw 10 lead changes and eight ties. Now 17-4 (10-3 GSC) on the season, the Argonauts will return to action on Saturday when they close out their road trip with a matchup against Valdosta State.
NCAA D3: Joe Reilly – Wesleyan University
Coach Reilly’s Cardinals took down the defending national champions and top-ranked team in the nation this past week, catapulting themselves into the D3hoops.com Top-25 rankings in the process. Wesleyan had only one matchup on the docket last week – a home showdown with No. 1 Trinity, who had ended the Cardinals’ season in the Final Four last year and entered Saturday’s matchup riding a 32-game winning streak dating back to last season. After Trinity took a 59-56 lead with 7:05 remaining in the contest, Wesleyan held the visitors without a made field goal for the rest of the way, culminating in a 64-62 Cardinal victory. With the win, Wesleyan improved to 15-4 (5-0 NESCAC) on the season and entered the D3hoops.com Top-25 at No. 19 in the most recent poll. Next up for the Cardinals is a huge Saturday night road matchup against No. 9 Tufts – the only other NESCAC squad yet to lose in conference play so far this season.
NAIA: Fred Lymas – Shawnee State University
Coach Lymas has Shawnee State rolling in his first year at the helm, as his Bears won another pair of games this past week to extend their winning streak to seven. Opening the week at home on Tuesday, Shawnee State used a strong second half to pick up an 84-78 victory over Kentucky Christian. Following the win, the Bears hit the road to take on a tough Indiana Southeast squad on Saturday afternoon. After ending regulation on a 4-0 run to force overtime, Shawnee State was able to pull away in the extra period for a 79-74 triumph. With the wins, Coach Lymas’ squad improved to 16-4 (8-0 RSC) on the season, already matching last season’s win total. The Bears will look for their eighth consecutive victory when they visit West Virginia Tech on Thursday evening.
JUCO: Steve DeMeo – Northwest Florida State College
Coach DeMeo guided Northwest Florida State through a difficult week in the Panhandle Conference, as his Raiders took down a pair of fellow ranked opponents to improve to 20-2 (3-1 Panhandle) on the season. No. 4 Northwest Florida kicked off its week with a top-10 matchup, traveling to take on No. 6 Gulf Coast State on Wednesday. The Raiders used an incredible performance from behind the three-point line (14/20 – 70%) to propel themselves to a 96-89 victory. Back in action on Saturday, Northwest Florida again utilized a strong showing from three (13/27 – 48.1%) to take down No. 11 Chipola by a score of 81-71. Now riding a three game winning streak, the Raiders will look to avenge their only conference loss when they take on No. 9 Tallahassee State College on Wednesday.
2025-26 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Tommy Lloyd – University of Arizona
NCAA DII: Andre Cook – St. Edward’s University
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose – Illinois Wesleyan University
NAIA: Taylor Jarvis – Missouri Baptist University
JUCO: Tae Norwood – Palm Beach State College
NCAA DI: Dusty May – University of Michigan
NCAA DII: Keffrey Fazio – Seattle Pacific University
NCAA DIII: Waleed Farid – New York University
NAIA: Tigh Compton – University of Pikeville
JUCO: Jerry Nichols – Walters State Community College
NCAA DI: Jon Scheyer – Duke University
NCAA DII: Brent Owen – Lenoir-Rhyne University
NCAA DIII: Dean Burrows – Mississippi University for Women
NAIA: Frank Woodford – Benedictine University – Mesa
JUCO: Bryan Bender – Ellsworth Community College
NCAA DI: Frank Martin – University of Massachusetts – Amherst
NCAA DII: Mike MacDonald – Daemen University
NCAA DIII: Anthony Medina – University of St. Thomas (TX)
NAIA: Kevin Williamson – Dakota State University
JUCO: Joey Cantens – Daytona State College
NCAA DI: Chris Victor – Seattle University
NCAA DII: Easton Bazzoli – Gannon University
NCAA DIII: Eric Bridgeland – University of Redlands
NAIA: Scott Moore – Grace College
JUCO: Andrew May – Snow College
Week 6
Winter Break – No Winners Selected
Week 7
Winter Break – No Winners Selected
NCAA DI: Travis Steele – Miami University (OH)
NCAA DII: Bryan Rooney – California State University, East Bay
NCAA DIII: Jeff Gard – University of Wisconsin – Platteville
NAIA: Leonard Epps – Brewton-Parker Christian University
JUCO: Andrew May – Blake Sandquist – Des Moines Area Community College
NCAA DI: Grant McCasland – Texas Tech University
NCAA DII: Blake Mellinger – UVA Wise
NCAA DIII: James Cosgrove – Trinity College
NAIA: Greg Tonagel – Indiana Wesleyan University
JUCO: Kyle Pugh – Cloud County Community College
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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.
