Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 11 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions. The 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 2017-18 college basketball season.
Past weekly and yearly winners can be found below this week’s recipients.
Nominations for next week’s award can be emailed to: [email protected].
The Week 11 winners are:
NCAA DI: Tony Bennett – University of Virginia
#2 Virginia knocked off two top-25 opponents this week, including a huge road win against 4th ranked Duke. Coach Bennett’s Cavaliers began the week by defeating #18 Clemson in dominating fashion, holding the Tigers to just 36 points in a 61-36 victory. Next up was a match-up against #4 Duke at Cameroon Indoor Stadium, where Virginia had not won since 1995. The Cavaliers came away with a 65-62 win, holding Duke to 28 points under their season average. Virginia is now 9-0 in the ACC and 20-1 overall on the season. They will look to win their 13th straight against Louisville on Wednesday.
NCAA DII: Mike Helfer – Valdosta State (GA)
Coach Helfer and his 14th ranked Valdosta State Blazers came away with two overtime victories on the road this week to extend their winning streak to 12 games. The Blazers first fought back from a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Alabama-Huntsville 97-93 in overtime on Thursday. They then returned to Alabama on Saturday to take on North Alabama. Trailing by 13 with just over 15 minutes to go, Valdosta State rallied to force overtime and eventually take a 101-99 victory. The Blazers are now 19-2 on the season and first place in the GSC with a 12-1 conference record. They are back in action against Shorter University on Thursday.
NCAA DIII: Mark Edwards – Washington University in Saint Louis
Washington University in Saint Louis, led by Coach Edwards, continued their dominance this season with two road wins against top-25 foes. On Friday, the Bears traveled to New York to take on #22 Rochester. WashU took a convincing 77-62 victory behind a well-rounded attack that featured five players with double digit point totals. Next up was trip to Atlanta to face off against 13th ranked Emory on Sunday. The Bears took sole possession of first place in the UAA with an impressive 84-67 victory. WashU is 7-0 in the conference and 16-2 overall. They return home for a rematch against Rochester on Friday.
NAIA: Dante Calabria – Keiser University (FL)
It was a big week for Coach Calabria of Keiser University, as his team went 3-0 and his interim tag was removed. Calabria had taken over the program for the late Rollie Massimino in July, and was coaching under the interim title up until January 25th, when he was named the permanent head coach. After this, he led the Seahawks to three more wins to improve to 17-6 on the season and extend their winning streak to 10 games. They defeated Southeastern 91-83 on Thursday, Ave Maria 92-77 on Saturday, and Stratford 114-74 on Sunday. The 21 threes made in the victory against Stratford marked a new program record. Keiser takes on Florida Memorial in a conference match-up on Thursday.
JUCO: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
Coach Cisek led his undefeated Brookdale Community College squad to three more wins this week, improving to 20-0 on the season. The Jersey Blues defeated Rowan College at Gloucester County 89-72 in a conference matchup on Tuesday before traveling to New England for a two game non-conference road trip. On Saturday, they took down Bunker Hill CC 88-67 in Boston, then moved on to Connecticut to face UConn-Avery Point. They came away with a 104-74 victory to remain unbeaten on the season. Brookdale will look to keep winning when they play Atlantic Cape Community College on Tuesday.
[Coach of the Week written and compiled by HoopDirt.com contributor AJ Nelson]
2017-18 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Fran Dunphy – Temple University
NCAA DII: Pryor Orser – Colorado School of Mines
NCAA DIII: Kevin Bettencourt – Endicott College (MA)
NAIA (co-winner): Wayne Wagner – Viterbo University (WI)
NAIA (co-winner): Matt O’Brien – Southwestern College (KS)
JUCO: Mark White – Tallahassee Community College
NCAA DI: Porter Moser – Loyola University Chicago
NCAA DII: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State University (MI)
NCAA DIII: Justin Lunt – University of Puget Sound (WA)
NAIA: Keith Adkins – Life University (GA)
JUCO: Don Tuley – Seminole State College (OK)
NCAA DI: Chris Mack – Xavier University
NCAA DII: Darrell Walker – Clark Atlanta University
NCAA DIII: Pat Juckem – University of Wisconsin-Osh Kosh
NAIA: R-Jay Barsh – Southeastern University (FL)
JUCO: Steve DeMeo – Northwest Florida State College
NCAA DI: James Whitford – Ball State
NCAA DII: Adam Bohac – Southern Nazarene University (OK)
NCAA DIII: Hilliary Scott – Lynchburg College (VA)
NAIA: Vinay Patel – Oklahoma City University
JUCO: Tommy Guerin – Borough of Manhattan Community College
NCAA DI: Steve Pikiell – Rutgers University
NCAA DII: Jeff Burkhamer – University of West Florida
NCAA DIII: Steve Howes – Catholic University (DC)
NAIA: Kyle Blankenship – Louisiana State University – Shreveport
JUCO: Hank Plona – Indian Hills Community College (IA)
NCAA DI: Mike Young – Wofford College
NCAA DII: Bart Lundy – Queens University of Charlotte
NCAA DIII: Mike Schauer – Wheaton College (IL)
NAIA: Kelvin Starr – The Master’s University (CA)
JUCO: Evan Lavery – Rock Valley College (IL)
NCAA DI: LaVall Jordan – Butler University
NCAA DII: Rodney Watson – University of Southern Indiana
NCAA DIII: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College (WA)
NAIA: Jeff Sherman – Central Methodist University (MO)
JUCO: Brian Peabody – Pima Community College (AZ)
NCAA DI: Tad Boyle – University of Colorado
NCAA DII: Jeff Boschee – Missouri Southern State University
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose – Illinois Wesleyan University
NAIA: Jesse Watkins – College of Coastal Georgia
JUCO: Chris Hackett – Frank Phillips College (TX)
NCAA DI: Joe Mihalich – Hofstra University
NCAA DII: Lennie Acuff – University of Alabama Huntsville
NCAA DIII: Guy Rancourt – Lycoming College (PA)
NAIA: Paul Peck – Lindsey Wilson College (KY)
JUCO: Chris Lovell – Bossier Parrish Community College (LA)
NCAA DI: Mike White – University of Florida
NCAA DII: Bob Pietrack – Fort Lewis College (CO)
NCAA DIII: Jeff Brown – Middlebury College (VT)
NAIA: Nelson Jones – Allen University (SC)
JUCO: Aaron Butcher – Ancilla College (IN)
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
2016-17: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
2015-16:Roy Williams – University of North Carolina
Division II
2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
Division III
2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College (MA)
2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA
2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College (KY)
2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO
2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College (IA)
2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
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About Just Play Solutions
Just Play Solutions is quickly becoming a market leader in helping coaches to prepare faster and teach athletes more effectively. From our digital coaching tools to interactive mobile app coaches can build playbooks, scouting reports, integrate video and even quiz players. Working with over 325 programs from high school to the professional levels, Just Play has a solution for any budget or need. Just Play currently has products available for Basketball, Football, Soccer, Hockey and Lacrosse.
