Week 14: HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Presented by The Hoop Group

Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 14 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 14 winners are:

NCAA DI: Jon Coffman – IPFW.  coffmanA monster week for Coffman and his Mastodons as they solidified their spot at the top of the Summit League.  Thursday night, they faced off with South Dakota State in a battle of the top two teams in the league.  IPFW broke open a halftime tie and was able to take over sole possession of first place with a 91-79 victory.  Coffman’s group then turned around on Saturday and beat the Summit League’s 3rd place team Nebraska Omaha 94-90.  IPFW hit a go ahead lay-up with 1:08 to play to break an 88-88 tie, and would knock down FT’s the rest of the way to seal the win.  The Mastodons continue their finest start to a season as a Division I program (2001-02) with its 22-7 (11-3 Summit) record.  It’s the second 20-win season for them since moving up to Division I, along with the 2013-14 team that finished 25-11 which was the program’s best Division I season to date.


NCAA DII: Bob Pietrack – Fort Lewis College (CO).  headshot_2_Pietrack_BobTwo wins on the road on back-to-back days for the Skyhawks as they clinched the #1 seed in the upcoming Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament, and ran their winning streak to 11-games.  Friday night, NCAA DII #9 FLC travelled to New Mexico Highlands where they downed the Cowboys 96-77.  They then made the nearly six-hour trek to from Las Vegas, NM to Silver City, NM where they routed Western New Mexico 97-61 on Saturday.  FLC is now 23-3 on the year and will close out the regular season against Adams State at home on Friday where they are a perfect 13-0.


NCAA DIII: Dan Englestad – Southern Vermont CollegeenglestadA 2-0 week for SVC which capped off an undefeated New England Collegiate Conference season (22-3 overall).  The Mountaineers defeated Elms College 93-84 on Thursday night, and then pummeled Daniel Webster College 110-57 in a game where they led by 42 at the half.  Against DWC, Southern Vermont knocked down 20-58 3’s (52.6%) as they increased their NECC winning streak to 33-games.  Englestad, a former assistant at Holy Cross, is now 63-17 in his three seasons at SVC.  The Mountaineers have a first round conference championship bye, and will host the NECC final four which will begin on Friday.  


NAIA: Chad LaCross – University of Saint Francis (IN).  lacrossRanked #3 in the country (NAIA DII), LaCross’ Cougars defeated two other nationally ranked opponents this week to clinch the Crossroads League regular season title.  On Wednesday night, they beat #13 Bethel College 81-70 on USF’s senior night. Saturday, they visited #4 Indiana Wesleyan where they got out to a 44-25 lead at the half, and cruised to a 87-74 victory.  The Cougars wrapped up the regular season at 26-4 (16-2) and are currently on a nine game winning streak.  They open up the Crossroads League tournament on Wednesday when they host Marian University.  


JUCO: Brent Wilson – Sullivan County CC (NY).  wilsonA great week for Wilson as his Sullivan County CC crew posted two quality wins. Currently ranked #8 (NJCAA DIII), they beat NJCAA DI ASA New York 82-77 on Wednesday, and then won a triple-overtime thriller against NJCAA DII Lackawanna College on Friday 118-111. Wilson, a former assistant at North Dakota and Albany, now has a 70-20 mark in his three seasons at Sullivan County, including a 24-5 record this season. Region XV Tournament play begins this weekend


Past Weekly Winners (click on week for full write-up):

Week 1

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)

Week 2:

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

Week 3

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)

Week 4

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

Week 5

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

Week 6

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.

Week 7

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)

Week 8

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

Week 9

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)

Week 10

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)

Week 11

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

Week 12

NCAA DI: James Jones – Yale University

NCAA DII: Danny Sancomb – Wheeling Jesuit University (WVa)

NCAA DIII: Jamie Benton – Johnson & Wales (RI)

NAIA: Rocky Lamar – MidAmerica Nazarene University (KS)

JUCO: Matt Lee – Herkimer College (NY)

Week 13

NCAA DI: Steve Pikiell – Stony Brook University

NCAA DII: Jim Shaw – Western Oregon University

NCAA DIII: Keith Bunkenburg – Benedictine University (IL)

NAIA: Ryan Marks – University of St. Francis (IL)

JUCO: Billy Gillispie – Ranger College (TX)