Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 15 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 15 winners are:
NCAA DI: Ryan Ridder -Bethune-Cookman University
Coach Ridder’s Wildcats took two big wins this week, setting multiple records in the process. On Monday, Bethune-Cookman defeated Morgan State 96-95 in overtime to move into a three-way tie for first place in the MEAC. After this victory, the Wildcats faced off against Savannah State in a battle for first place. Bethune-Cookman came away with a resounding 121-92 win, scoring their most points in a game since 1996. They also set single-game records for assists (33) and rebounds (59), while tying their three-pointers made record (16). BCU has now won five straight and is in sole possession of first place in the conference. They take on North Carolina A&T on Monday.
NCAA DII: Lonnie Blow, Jr. – Virginia State University
Virginia State, led by Coach Blow, won two more games this week and clinched first place in the CIAA. The Trojans took down Bowie State 75-65 on Wednesday before defeating Lincoln University 55-53 to claim the CIAA Northern Division regular season title. This win marked the sixth straight for Virginia State, who is currently ranked #2 overall in the Atlantic Region and #16 in the NABC poll. The 23-3 overall (13-3 CIAA) Trojans will face either St. Augustine’s or Chowan in the CIAA quarterfinals on Wednesday.
NCAA DIII: Josh Loeffler – Johns Hopkins University
Coach Loeffler made Centennial Conference history this week as his Johns Hopkins squad took the conference title. In the conference semifinals, the Blue Jays rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat Franklin & Marshall 50-49. They then came back from trailing by 9 at the half to knock off Swarthmore College 61-57 and take the conference title. With this win, Coach Loeffler became the first coach in Centennial Conference history to win the league championship in his first year. The Blue Jays will now head into the national tournament having won 13 straight games.
NAIA: Kelly Wells – University of Pikeville (KY)
Coach Wells’ 3rd ranked UPIKE squad knocked off two top-25 opponents and took the Mid-South Conference regular season title this week. The Bears defeated #21 Life University 99-93 on Thursday and the 23rd ranked University of the Cumberlands 93-79 on Saturday. This win marked the 3rd straight for the Bears and their 11th of their last 12. UPIKE finishes the regular season with a 27-3 record (11-3 MSC), and will take on Shawnee State in the quarterfinals of the MSC tournament on Friday.
JUCO: Brent Wilson – Sullivan County CC (NY)
7th ranked Sullivan County Community College, led by Coach Brent Wilson, went 2-0 this past week to head into the postseason on a strong note. With a 66-61 victory over Monroe-Bronx and a 77-71 win at Hostos Community College, the Generals were able to finish the regular season at 25-4. Coach Wilson’s program has won the Mid-Hudson Conference three years in a row now and has clinched a #2 seed entering the Region XV tournament this upcoming weekend. During Coach Wilson’s five years at Sullivan County Community College they have an impressive record of 118-32.
[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)
NCAA DI: Tony Bennett – University of Virginia
NCAA DII: Mike Helfer – Valdosta State (GA)
NCAA DIII: Mark Edwards – Washington University in Saint Louis
NAIA: Dante Calabria – Keiser University (FL)
JUCO: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
NCAA DI: Mike Hopkins – University of Washington
NCAA DII: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
NCAA DIII: Todd McGuinness – Case Western Reserve University (OH)
NAIA: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
JUCO: Doug Scott – Quincy College (MA)
NCAA DI: Chris Mullin – St. John’s University
NCAA DII: Lonn Reisman – Tarleton State University (TX)
NCAA DIII: David Hixon – Amherst College (MA)
NAIA: Tom Church – Indiana University Kokomo
JUCO: DaJuan Gouard – Danville Area Community College (IL)
NCAA DI: Donte’ Jackson – Grambling State University
NCAA DII: Grady Brewer – Morehouse College (GA)
NCAA DIII: John Krikorian – Christopher Newport University (VA)
NAIA: Josh Gamblin – Mid-America Christian University (OK)
JUCO: Jared Phay – College of Southern Idaho
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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