Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 16 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 2018-19 college basketball season.
This is the final week where winners will be selected. Coach of the Year winners will be announced shortly.
The Week 16 winners are:
NCAA DI: Johnny Dawkins – University of Central Florida
Coach Dawkins’ squad picked up a huge win this week, snapping the nation’s longest home winning streak and likely punching their ticket to the tournament. The Knights opened the week with a 75-63 victory at South Florida, before visiting 8th ranked Houston and their 33-game home winning streak. Trailing by five at the midway point, UCF opened the second half on an 11-0 run and came away with a 69-64 victory. This shocking win was the 22nd on the season for the Knights and their 12th in conference play. The season win total ties the program record and the 12th AAC win marks a new program record. UCF now sits at 22-6 on the season (12-4 AAC) and has jumped into the #25 spot in the AP Rankings.
NCAA DII: Fred Watson – Miles College (AL)
In his first year with Miles, Coach Watson has revitalized the program, winning 21 games on the season and capping it off by taking the SIAC title this week. The Golden Bears defeated Tuskegee 54-39 in the SIAC quarterfinals before knocking off Albany State 65-59 to advance to the championship for the first time since 2006. The championship game was never in question, as Miles pulled away early and came away with a 70-46 victory over LeMoyne-Owen. The Golden Bears reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 1994-95 season, and Coach Watson tied the program wins record for a first-year coach. They await a match-up in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament.
NCAA DIII: Jean Bain – Brandeis University (MA)
Coach Bain led his squad to four wins in five days, taking the ECAC championship in his first year with the program. Brandeis rolled through the ECAC Division III tournament, knocking off John Jay 75-49, Marywood 86-77, and Drew 77-62 before heading to the championship. The Judges defeated Rutgers-Newark 72-60 to take the ECAC title for the first time since 2011. In Coach Bain’s first year with the Judges, he improved their win total by 11 games from last year, finishing at 18-11 (7-7 UAA) on the year. The 18 wins were the program’s most since 2011, the same year they last won the ECAC tournament.
NAIA: Vinay Patel – Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma City, led by Coach Patel, won three hard-fought games this week to grab the SAC title for the 10th time in program history. The Stars were able to take down Langston 84-73 in the tournament quarterfinals before knocking down a go-ahead three with 28.7 seconds remaining to defeat Panhandle State 73-69 in the semifinals. A game-winning layup with 4.6 seconds left gave Oklahoma City the conference championship, as they came away with a 74-73 victory over John Brown to clinch a berth in the NAIA Division I Tournament for the fifth straight year. The conference title was the Stars’ first under Coach Patel. Up next for Oklahoma City is a first round match-up in the NAIA Division I Tournament.
JUCO: Brent Wilson – SUNY Sullivan (NY)
In their first year at the NJCAA DII level, Coach Wilson’s Generals won the Region XV Tournament, taking two big victories this weekend. SUNY Sullivan defeated Ulster County CC 92-85 on Saturday and Orange County CC 83-73 on Sunday for the championship. The Generals went 16-0 at home this season and finished 8-0 in conference play. Having moved up from NJCAA DIII this year, this will be SUNY Sullivan’s first appearance in the NJCAA DII District II Tournament which starts on Saturday.
Coach of the Week written and compiled by HoopDirt.com contributor AJ Nelson
2018-19 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Bob Richey – Furman University
NCAA DII: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State University
NCAA DIII: Dale Wellman – Nebraska Wesleyan University
NAIA: Aaron Coombs – Oklahoma Pan Handle State University
JUCO: Anthony Figueroa – Parkland College (IL)
NCAA DI: Greg McDermott – Creighton University
NCAA DII: Stan Gouard – University of Indianapolis
NCAA DIII: Quintin Grogan – Johnson & Wales University Denver
NAIA: Mike Newell – Dillard University (LA)
JUCO: Craig Fletchall – Barton Community (KS)
NCAA DI: Eric Musselman – University of Nevada
NCAA DII: Jeff Price – Lynn University (FL)
NCAA DIII: Jimmy Smith – Millsaps College (MS)
NAIA: Rocky Lamar – MidAmerica Nazarene University (KS)
JUCO: Nkrumah Jones – Bunker Hill Community College (MA)
NCAA DI: Frank Haith – University of Tulsa
NCAA DII: Billy Taylor – Belmont Abbey College (NC)
NCAA DIII: Andrew Weber – Rockford University (IL)
NAIA: Mike McBride – Holy Cross College (IN)
JUCO: Mark White – Tallahassee Community College (FL)
NCAA DI: Rick Barnes – University of Tennessee
NCAA DII: Scott Burrell – Southern Connecticut State University
NCAA DIII: Larry Anderson – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NAIA: Stan Holt – Langston University (OK)
JUCO: Hank Plona – Indian Hills Community College (IA)
USCAA: Patrick Crarey, II -Washington Adventist University (MD)
NCAA DI: Kelvin Sampson – University of Houston
NCAA DII: Eric Bovaird – Chaminade University (HI)
NCAA DIII: Carl Danzig – University of Scranton (PA)
NAIA: Jared Ronai – Mount Vernon Nazarene University (OH)
JUCO: William West – Prince George’s Community College (MD)
NCAA DI: Johnny Jones -Texas Southern University
NCAA DII: Jim Crutchfield – Nova Southeastern University (FL)
NCAA DIII: Tom Spanbauer – SUNY Cortland
NAIA: Jayson Artaz – Bethel College (KS)
JUCO: Jeff Brustad – Monroe College (NY)
NCAA DI: Chris Mullin – St. John’s University
NCAA DII: Scott Davenport – Bellarmine University (KY)
NCAA DIII: Matt Siverling – Wisconsin-Eau Claire
NAIA: R-Jay Barsh – Southeastern University (FL)
JUCO: Mark Bunker – Scottsdale CC (AZ)
USCAA: Don Silveri – Villa Maria College (NY)
NCAA DI: Kermit Davis – Ole Miss
NCAA DII: Bart Lundy – Queens University of Charlotte
NCAA DIII: Greg Dunne – SUNY Brockport
NAIA: Ty Harrelson – Wayland Baptist University (TX)
JUCO: Mike Burris – Olney Central College (IL)
USCAA: LeShawn Hammett – Penn State Wilkes-Barre
NCAA DI: Nate Oats – University of Buffalo
NCAA DII: Tobin Anderson – St. Thomas Aquinas College (NY)
NCAA DIII: Jeff Brown – Middlebury College (VT)
NAIA (Co-Winner): Donnie Butcher – University of the Cumberlands (KY)
NAIA (Co-Winner): Kevin Easley – Life University (GA)
JUCO: Chris Oney – Pearl River CC (MS)
NCAA DI: Steve Henson – University of Texas at San Antonio
NCAA DII: Mark Dowey – Northeastern State University (OK)
NCAA DIII: Damien Strahorn – Colby College (ME)
NAIA: Denis Shaefer – Grand View University (IA)
JUCO: Corey McKendry – Schoolcraft College (MI)
USCAA: Jonathan Pena – Berkeley College (NY)
NCAA DI: Mark Few – Gonzaga University
NCAA DII: Andre Cook – St. Edwards University (TX)
NCAA DIII: George Barber – Greenville University (IL)
NAIA: Eric Echelbarger – Indiana University Kokomo
JUCO:Billy Gillispie – Ranger College (TX)
NCAA DI: James Jones – Yale University
NCAA DII: Mike McDonald – Daemen College (NY)
NCAA DIII: Matt Logie -Whitworth University (WA)
NAIA: John Teasley -Stillman College (AL)
JUCO: Steve DeMeo – Northwest Florida State College
USCAA: Paul Hogan – NHTI, Concord’s Community College (NH)
NCAA DI: Mike Krzyzewski – Duke University
NCAA DII: Bryan Rooney – Cal State East Bay
NCAA DIII: Shawn Cassidy – Concordia University Wisconsin
NAIA: Danny Neville – University of Jamestown (ND)
JUCO: Lance Madison – Lamar State College-Port Arthur (TX)
NCAA DI: Wes Miller – UNC Greensboro
NCAA DII: Gerald Holmes – Bloomfield College (NJ)
NCAA DIII: Todd Peretz – Mitchell College (CT)
NAIA: Chris Briggs – Georgetown College (KY)
JUCO: Eric Murphy – Florida Southwestern University
USCAA: Anderson Bynum – Clinton College (SC)
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
2017-18: Porter Moser – Loyola University Chicago
2016-17: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
2015-16: Roy Williams – University of North Carolina
Division II
2017-18: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State (MI)
2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
Division III
2017-18: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College (WA)
2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College (MA)
2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA
2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College (KY)
2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO
2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College (IA)
2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
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