Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following college basketball coaches have been named recipients of the Week 11 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 11 winners are:
NCAA D1: Josh Schertz – Saint Louis University
Coach Schertz’s Billikens set or extended a number of program records this past week as they won another pair of games to improve to 21-1 (9-0 A-10) on the season. On Tuesday, then-No. 21 Saint Louis trailed George Washington by 10 at halftime, but used a 15-0 run midway through the second half to grab a seven point lead. After the visitors responded with a run of their own to tie the game, Saint Louis knocked down a three with just three seconds remaining to secure a thrilling 79-76 victory. Back in action on Friday, the Billikens came out firing on all cylinders, shooting 62.5% (35-56) from the field and 60.7% (17-28) from three in a 102-71 home win over Dayton. The victory marked the program-record seventh time this season that Saint Louis has surpassed the 100-point plateau. The Billikins’ 21-1 record is the best 22 game mark in program history and their 9-0 A-10 record ties them with the 2013-14 squad for the program’s best start in A-10 play. They continue to climb up the AP Top-25 rankings, checking in at No. 19 in the most recent poll. Saint Louis will look to extend their winning streak to 16 when they visit Davidson on Tuesday night.
NCAA D2: Brett Ballard – Washburn University
With two more wins this past week, Coach Ballard’s top-ranked Washburn squad has started the season 22-0 for the second consecutive year. The Ichabods found themselves down eight with 5:13 remaining at Fort Hays State on Thursday, but were able to fight back and knock down a pair of free throws with 0.9 seconds on the clock to force overtime. Washburn then held the hosts without a field goal in the overtime period, picking up an 81-73 victory and keeping their perfect season intact. Returning to the floor on Saturday, the Ichabods jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead over Nebraska-Kearney and never looked back, coming away with an 89-67 triumph. Washburn’s 22-game winning streak is tied for the third-longest in program history, trailing only a 25-game streak in 1987 and a 23-game streak between Dec. 1987- Mar. 1988. The Ichabods close out their three-game road trip with a matchup against Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon.
NCAA D3: Justin Lunt – Pacific University (OR)
Coach Lunt’s Boxers snapped a three-game losing streak in a big way this past week, winning a trio of games, including a huge come-from-behind victory over a ranked opponent. On Tuesday, Pacific defeated Linfield 63-56 on the road before returning home for a tough matchup against No. 24 Whitworth on Friday evening. Despite trailing by as many as 21 in the first half and 11 with just five minutes remaining, the Boxers were able to come away with a thrilling 86-85 victory and hand the visitors their first conference loss of the season. Pacific then closed out the week with a 67-60 win over Whitman, marking the first time since 2008 that the Boxers defeated Whitworth and Whitman back-to-back. Now 9-11 (5-6 NWC), Pacific will look to move a game closer to .500 on the season when they visit Lewis & Clark on Friday.
NAIA: David Osborn – Trinity Christian University
Trinity Christian’s impressive season continued on this past week as Coach Osborn led the Trolls to a couple of hard-fought wins, including a buzzer-beater victory over a tough opponent. The Trolls began their week at Indiana South Bend, where they fended off a late comeback attempt by the hosts thanks to a buzzer-beating layup to claim a 75-73 victory. Following the exciting win, Trinity Christian returned home to take on Judson on Saturday. The Trolls used a strong performance from three (12/24 – 50%) to come away with an 82-68 triumph. With the wins, Trinity improved to 12-10 (9-5 CCAC) on the season. Coach Osborn’s squad has already surpassed its conference win total from the last two seasons combined (6) and is nearing the last two seasons’ combined win total (14). The Trolls will look to extend their winning streak to three when they host Viterbo on Wednesday evening.
JUCO: Jai Steadman – Independence Community College
Coach Steadman led Independence to three big victories this past week as the Pirates vie for first place in a crowded KJCCC. On Monday, Independence took down Coffeyville for the first time since 2021, holding the visitors to just 34.4% from the field in an 81-67 triumph. After the win, Indy hit the road for a Wednesday matchup at Hutchinson. The Pirates trailed by as many as 17 in the first half as eight with just over two minutes remaining, but were able to fight back and force overtime, where they knocked down a jumper with just less than half a second remaining to claim a 91-89 victory. Indy then closed out the week with a wire-to-wire 87-75 road victory over Pratt on Saturday. Following the three-win week, the Pirates find themselves just a game back of first place in the KJCCC. They will look to stay hot when they host Fort Hays Tech Northwest 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
NCAA DI: Fred Hoiberg – University of Nebraska
NCAA DII: Justin Mann – University of West Florida
NCAA DIII: Joe Reilly – Wesleyan University
NAIA: Fred Lymas – Shawnee State University
JUCO: Steve DeMeo – Northwest Florida State 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.
