WEEK 16: HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Presented by The Hoop Group

Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 16 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 16 winners are:

NCAA DI: Dave Loos – Austin Peay University.  loosWhat an amazing 4-game Ohio Valley Conference Tournament run for Loos and his Governors.  Last week, they entered the tourney as the #8 seed (winning their last two regular season games to qualify) – they then proceeded to rip off four straight wins over four straight days to capture the championship and qualify for their first NCAA Tournament since 2008.  Along the way, they defeated #5 Tennessee Tech 92-72 (Wed), #4 Tennessee State 74-72 (Thurs), #1 Belmont 97-96 OT (Fri), and finally #2 UT-Martin 83-73 (Sat).  The Governors become the first-ever #8 seed to capture the OVC Tournament Championship, and did so on Loos 69th birthday!  #rally4rhyan


NCAA DII: Steve Roberts – Lander University (SC).  robertsBack-to-back one-point victories over the weekend secured the Peach Belt Conference Championship for Roberts’ squad.  On Saturday, they defeated Montevallo 71-70 in the PBC semi-finals.  It was the the first time the Bearcats’ had defeated the Falcons in their last 8 meetings and also avenged a 73-69 (OT) loss to Montevallo earlier this season.  In the championship game on Sunday, Lander hit a put back with two seconds remaining in double-overtime to defeat Augusta 87-86.  The win gave LU their first Peach Belt Tournament championship since 2007.  On a side note: Lander was picked to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the PBC pre-season poll.


NCAA DIII: Ryan Cain – Keene State College (NH).  cainCain has his unranked Owls in the DIII Sweet 16 after two wins this past week in the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.  KSC opened first round action with a 72-71 OT win against host Stockton University on Friday night.  A made FT with three-seconds left in OT gave KSC their first NCAA tournament win since 2007.  On Saturday, they held off a late charge by Middlebury College to preserve a 74-72 victory.  Keene State had lost to Middlebury back on Feb. 2 83-74, and this was their first win vs. the Panthers since 2012.  The Owls will face Christopher Newport (Va.) at Oswego State on Friday.


NAIA: Stan Holt – Langston University (OK).  stan_holt_25_mb1A 3-0 week for Holt and his 13th-ranked Lions (25-6) as they wrapped up the regular season and marched through the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament.  In the regular season finale, LU squeaked by Texas College 71-69 on Tuesday night.  They then opened RRAC Tournament play by downing #18 Our Lady of the Lake 71-65 in a game where they rallied back from a 47-33 halftime deficit.  In the second half, Langston limited the Saints to just 18 points on 7 made field goals.  In the Championship game on Saturday, they beat NAIA DI #1 LSU-Alexandria 74-72 to win their first RRAC Tournament since 2007-08.  The win also snapped LSU-A’s 18 game winning streak.  


JUCO: Anthony Figueroa – Parkland College (IL).  Figueroa--AnthonyA great week for Figueroa as his Cobras win three straight games on their way to capturing the MWAC and Region 24 Championship.  Playing three games over three days, Parkland defeated Lincoln College 73-45 in the quarterfinals, Danville Area CC in the semifinals 78-70, and finally they held off a late run by Rend Lake in the championship game to come away with the 82-78 victory.  Figueroa and his group will now await their match-up in the upcoming NJCAA DII tournament.


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)

Week 14

NCAA DI: Jon Coffman – IPFW

NCAA DII: Bob Pietrack – Fort Lewis College (CO)

NCAA DIII: Dan Englestad – Southern Vermont College

NAIA: Chad LaCross – University of Saint Francis (IN)

JUCO: Brent Wilson – Sullivan County CC (NY)

Week 15

NCAA DI: Chris Beard – University of Arkansas Little Rock

NCAA DII: Stan Spirou – Southern New Hampshire University

NCAA DIII: John Krikorian – Christopher Newport University (VA)

NAIA: Vinay Patel – Oklahoma City University

JUCO: Thomas Gray – Southwest Mississippi CC