By AJ Nelson, HoopDirt.com staff writer
Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 2 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions. These 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 2021-22 college basketball season.
This is the seventh season that HoopDirt.com has run the Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. The list 2021-22 Coach of the Week winners, as well as the list of all-time COY winners can be found following this week’s honorees.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The Week 2 winners are:
NCAA DI: Lamont Paris – University of Tennessee Chattanooga
Coach Paris’ Chattanooga squad picked up two exciting victories this week, including a thrilling road win over a tough opponent. The Mocs began their week by using a strong second half to defeat Tennessee State 69-62 on Tuesday. Back in action on Saturday, Chattanooga took down VCU on the road, thanks to a game-winning jumper with 0.1 seconds left by sophomore Malachi Smith. The impressive 56-54 victory improved the Mocs to a perfect 4-0 on the season. They will look to remain unbeaten when they take on DIII Covenant on Tuesday.
NCAA DII: Bart Lundy – Queens University of Charlotte
Just two games removed from picking up his 400th career victory, Coach Lundy guided Queens to a pair of hard fought conference wins this week. The seventh-ranked Royals opened conference play by defeating Catawba 82-71 on Wednesday. Queens took on Carson-Newman on the road in its next contest, and trailed by one with three seconds remaining. Sophomore Jamari Smith knocked down a game-winning three, keeping the Royals’ perfect record intact at 4-0 (2-0 SAC). Queens is back on the road on Tuesday, when they take on Anderson University.
NCAA DIII: Chris Carideo – Widener University (PA)
Coach Carideo led Widener to a road victory over a top-10 opponent this week, as the Pride won a pair of games and improved to 3-1 on the year. Widener pulled out a 94-88 overtime win at Misericordia on Wednesday, before traveling to take on No. 8 Swarthmore on Saturday. The Pride had five players score in double digits and outscored the hosts 34-8 in the paint on the way to an impressive 77-66 triumph. Widener returns home to take on Farmingdale State in a non-conference match-up on Saturday.
NAIA: Chris Wright – Talladega College (AL)
Coach Wright’s Tornadoes opened conference play this week with two blowout victories, improving to 8-0 on the season. No. 7 Talladega defeated Blue Mountain 74-39 at home to kick off the conference schedule on Thursday. The Tornadoes then hosted 15th-ranked Stillman on Saturday, using a dominant second half to come away with a 65-43 win. The 22-point margin of victory marked Talladega’s closest game of the season to date. The Tornadoes will take on Wilberforce on the road in a non-conference match-up on Tuesday evening.
JUCO: Allen Sharpe – Wallace State Community College (AL)
Coach Sharpe picked up his 400th career victory this week as Wallace State improved to 5-0 on the season. The Lions defeated Coastal Alabama – North on the road by a score of 68-52 on Thursday to mark the milestone victory for Coach Sharpe. In his 20th season across three programs, Coach Sharpe has amassed an impressive 400-180 record. 152 of his wins have come in his two stints with Wallace State. Sharpe’s squad returns to the floor Monday night in a conference showdown against Wallace CC – Selma.
2021-22 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Gerald Gillion – Chicago State University
NCAA DII: Jeff Brookman – Anderson University (SC)
NCAA DIII: Rich Sutter – Westfield State University (MA)
NAIA: Kurt Paulson – Carroll College (MT)
JUCO: Jeremy Shulman – Eastern Florida State College
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
- 2020-21: Dennis Gates – Cleveland State University
- 2019-20: Joe Gallo – Merrimack College
- 2018-19: Kelvin Sampson – University of Houston
- 2017-18: Porter Moser – Loyola University Chicago
- 2016-17: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
- 2015-16: Roy Williams – University of North Carolina
Division II
- 2020-21: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2019-20: Fred Watson – Miles College (AL)
- 2018-19: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2017-18: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State (MI)
- 2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
Division III
- 2020-21: Brooks Miller – Trine University (IN)
- 2019-20: Elliot Steinmetz – Yeshiva University (NY)
- 2018-19: Dale Wellman – Nebraska Wesleyan University
- 2017-18: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College (WA)
- 2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College (MA)
- 2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA
- 2020-21: Delano Thomas – Shawnee State University (OH)
- 2019-20: Colby Blaine – College of Idaho
- 2018-19: Chris Briggs – Georgetown College (KY)
- 2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
- 2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College (KY)
- 2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO
- 2020-21: No winner named – COVID season
- 2019-20: Randy Casey – Milwaukee Area Technical College
- 2018-19: Billy Gillispie – Ranger College (TX)
- 2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
- 2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College (IA)
- 2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
USCAA
- 2018-19: LeShawn Hammett – Penn State Wilkes-Barre
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About Just Play Solutions
Just Play Solutions has become the market leader in coaches’ workflow. A platform to help coaches prepare playbooks, automate scouting reports, research analytics, integrate and distribute video, manage recruiting workflow, and organize recruiting schedules. The end-to-end platform is used by over 700 customers across the country and internationally in football, basketball, and lacrosse.
