Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 12 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by The Hoop Group. The coaches are now eligible to receive the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award presented by the Hoop Group which will be announced at the conclusion of the 2015-16 college basketball season. The complete list of past weekly winners can be found below this weeks recipients.
Nominations for next week’s award can be emailed to: Coach of the Week Nominations – please include a brief statement as to why the coach should be recognized as well as any other information that may be helpful.
The Week 12 winners are:
NCAA DI: James Jones – Yale University. 
Another Ivy League weekend sweep for Jones and his Bulldogs as they now stand at 15-5 (6-0 Ivy). Friday night, they handed Columbia their first conference loss of the season 86-72. They then thumped visiting Cornell 83-52 on Saturday night. Yale is now riding a ten game winning streak and have moved to 6-0 in Ivy League play for the first time in school history. Also, four out of five of Yale’s losses this season are against teams from power conferences (Duke, Illinois, USC, and SMU). Jones has put his Bulldogs in a great position to claim the Ivy League’s automatic bid.
NCAA DII: Danny Sancomb – Wheeling Jesuit University (WVa). 
A great week for Sancomb and his #4 ranked Cardinals, as they ran their winning streak to 17-games and improved their record to 22-1 (15-1 MEC). WJU earned a tough Mountain East Conference win on the road on Thursday by beating Shepherd 82-74. Sancomb’s Cardinals then returned home on Saturday where they upset in-state rival and second-ranked Fairmont State 91-82. That win was the second win of the season over a top 2 opponent – they downed #1 West Liberty 106-83 back on January 21st.
NCAA DIII: Jamie Benton – Johnson & Wales (RI). 
There may not be a hotter team in the country than Benton’s 17th-ranked Wildcats. They are currently 20-1 (14-0 GNAC), and have not lost since the opening game of the season. Wednesday night, they hit the road in a match-up of Great Northeast Athletic Conference unbeatens where they squared off against Lasell College (12-0 GNAC at the time). They won the highly anticipated match-up easily 101-68, in a game where they led 48-24 at the half. They capped off the week by downing visiting Anna Maria College 98-63. JWU has now won 11 in a row by at least 28 points and are outscoring their opponents 91.9 – 63.4 on the season.
NAIA: Rocky Lamar – MidAmerica Nazarene University (KS). 
A 2-0 week for the #20 Pioneers, including a win over a top-ten team. Wednesday night, they travelled to Avila University where they trounced the home team 83-60. Lamar’s Pioneers returned home Saturday where they upset #7 William Penn University 87-78. That win put them into a first-place tie in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with William Penn and #17 Peru State (who they face-off with on Wednesday). Lamar, who has been the head coach at MNU since 1986, is also closing in on win #700…the NAIA Hall of Famer is currently sitting on #695.
JUCO: Matt Lee – Herkimer College (NY). 
Three wins this past week for Lee and his NJCAA DIII #9 Generals. Wednesday night, they trailed Fulton-Montgomery CC on the road by as many as 12 in the second half before they rallied late to notch a 63-60 win. Lee’s group then defeated Redemption Christian Academy 94-45 on the road Friday before heading to #6 Monroe CC on Saturday. The top ten match-up was a good one, as Herkimer was able to push their win streak to 10-games with the 63-60 win over Monroe (which also snapped MCC’s 8-game winning streak). Herkimer is now 19-3 on the season and edging closer to a top five ranking.
Past Weekly Winners (click on week for full write-up):
NCAA DI: Craig Neal – University New Mexico
NCAA DII: Stephen Joyner, Sr. – Johnson C. Smith University (NC)
NCAA DIII: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
NCAA DI: Jim Boeheim – Syracuse University
NCAA DII: Johnny Estelle – Texas A&M-Kingsville
NCAA DIII: Andrew Sachs – Salisbury University (MD)
NAIA: Dave Holmquist– Biola University (CA)
JUCO: Charles Harral – Arizona Western College
NCAA DI: Frank Martin – University of South Carolina
NCAA DII: Jim Crutchfield – West Liberty University (WVa)
NCAA DIII: Frank Marcinek – Susquehanna University (PA)
NAIA: Carson Cunningham – Carroll College (MT)
JUCO: Steve Eck – Hutchinson CC (KS)
NCAA DI: Mike Lonergan – George Washington University
NCAA DII: R.C. Kehoe – Holy Family University (PA)
NCAA DIII: David Hixon – Amherst College (MA)
NAIA: Donnie Butcher – University of the Cumberlands (KY)
JUCO: Jim Morris – Iowa Western Community College
NCAA DI: King Rice – Monmouth University
NCAA DII: Cinco Boone – Angelo State University (TX)
NCAA DIII: Grey Giovanine – Augustana College (IL)
NAIA: Carson Harris – Marian University (IN)
JUCO: Corey Symons – North Idaho College
NCAA DI: Dan Majerle – Grand Canyon University
NCAA DII: Christmas holiday – not enough NCAA DII games played to justify the selection of a winner.
NCAA DIII: Greg Mitchell – Hope College (MI)
NAIA: Bill Czech – Hope International University (CA)
JUCO: Christmas holiday – not enough JUCO games played to justify the selection of a winner.
NCAA DI: Fran McCaffery – University of Iowa
NCAA DII: Lonn Reisman – Tarleton State University (TX)
NCAA DIII: Joe Nesci – New York University
NAIA: Bob Burchard – Columbia College (MO)
JUCO: Steve Green – South Plains College (TX)
NCAA DI: Bill Self – University of Kansas
NCAA DII: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
NCAA DIII: John Baines – Elmhurst College (IL)
NAIA: Kelly Wells – University of Pikeville (KY)
JUCO: Steve DeMeo – Northwest Florida State
NCAA DI: Brad Brownell – Clemson
NCAA DII: Nelson Haggerty – Midwestern State (TX)
NCAA DIII: Jeff Brown – Middlebury College (VT)
NAIA: Rollie Massimino – Keiser University (FL)
JUCO: Chris Hackett – Frank Phillips College (TX)
NCAA DI: Roy Williams – North Carolina
NCAA DII: Luke Reigel – University of Wisconsin-Parkside
NCAA DIII: Joe Reilly – Wesleyan University (CT)
NAIA: Anthony Owens – University of Great Falls (MT)
JUCO: Philip Stitt – Marion Military Institute (AL)
NCAA DI: Mike Davis – Texas Southern University
NCAA DII: Eric Olen – UC San Diego
NCAA DIII: Zach Filzen – Lancaster Bible (PA)
NAIA: Matt Brock – Missouri Baptist University
JUCO: Jared Phay – College of Southern Idaho
