Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)
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 2023-24 college basketball season.
This is the ninth season that HoopDirt.com has run the Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. The list of 2023-24 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:
D1: Ritchie McKay – Liberty University
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (5-0)
Past week’s results: 88-74 W vs Furman, 83-66 W vs Wichita State, 71-61 W vs Vermont.
Highlights: Captured the Myrtle Beach Invitational with three wins this week. All three victories were vs teams that had previously been undefeated. The title was the Flames first in-season tourney win since 2019. McKay’s squad is also 5-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
NCAA D2: Mark Kuntz – Post University
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (5-0)
Past week’s results: 84-69 W vs AIC, 109-107 (OT) W at STAC, 83-64 W vs Mercy.
Highlights: A 3-0 week, including sweeping both games in the St. Thomas Aquinas Classic, has Post off to their best start in program history (5-0). Their signature win this week came at STAC, where they defeated the hosts 109-107 in OT after Bol Akot knocked down a jumper with two seconds left to secure the win (Akot finished with the game with 41).
NCAA D3: Eric Bridgeland – University of Redlands
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (4-0)
Past week’s results: 83-58 W vs #24 Middlebury, 82-62 W vs #25 Wisconsin Oshkosh.
Highlights: Bridgeland’s Bulldogs had two impressive wins vs Top 25 teams last week in the Great Lakes Invitational. The wins vs #24 Middlebury, and #25 Wisconsin Oshkosh, combined with their 99-65 victory over #20 East Texas Baptist on 11/12 give Redlands three straight wins vs nationally ranked opponents. During their the run vs ranked teams, the Bulldogs average margin of victory is 26.3. On the season, they are beating opponents by 27.2ppg. Their next game is next Saturday vs #9 NYU.
NAIA: Dannton Jackson – Talladega College
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (5-1)
Past week’s results: 76-72 W at Tougaloo, 69-66 W vs Shaw, 54-47 W vs Fayetteville St.
Highlights: Three more wins this week for Jackson’s crew which included taking both games in the HBCU All-Stars Challenge. In their first game of the week, TC went on a 7-2 run vs Tougaloo with just over 2 minutes left to claim the 4-point win. The Tornadoes found themselves in a similar situation on Friday vs Shaw, trailing with just over 2 minutes to play and once again pulled out the victory at the end. Talladega capped off the undefeated week by beating Fayetteville State in the final game of the HBCU All-Stars Challenge hosted by Morehouse.
JUCO: Dillon Hargrove – National Park College
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (8-0)
Past week’s results: 114-83 W vs CBC, 92-72 W vs Spoon River, 91-85 W vs Des Moines Area.
Highlights: Hargrove has NPC ranked for the first time in school history (#20 NJCAA D2), and they lived up to their ranking this week. With three more wins, NPC is now 8-0, and had a huge 95-81 win at #3 Des Moines Area CC on Saturday. In their upset win vs DMACC, Hargrove’s squad forced 25 turnovers, and shot 52/5% for the game. This season, NPC has also knocked off two NJCAA D1 opponents – Jones County, and Northwest Mississippi).
2023-24 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Mark Byington – James Madison University
NCAA DII: Alfred Jordan – Clark Atlanta University
NCAA DIII: Caleb Kimbrough – Hampden-Sydney College
NAIA: Darnell Archey – University of Mobile
JUCO: Kris Baumann – Odessa College
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
- 2022-23: Jerome Tang – Kansas State University
- 2021-22: Ed Cooley – Providence Colleg
- 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
- 2022-23: Jim Crutchfield – Nova Southeastern
- 2021-22: Jim Crutchfield – Nova Southeastern
- 2020-21: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2019-20: Fred Watson – Miles College
- 2018-19: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2017-18: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State
- 2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
- 2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University
Division III
- 2022-23: John Krikorian – Christopher Newport University
- 2021-22: Brian Baptiste – UMass Dartmouth
- 2020-21: Brooks Miller – Trine University
- 2019-20: Elliot Steinmetz – Yeshiva University
- 2018-19: Dale Wellman – Nebraska Wesleyan University
- 2017-18: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College
- 2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College
- 2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas
NAIA
- 2022-23: Chris Wright – Langston University
- 2021-22: Stacy Hollowell – Loyola University New Orleans
- 2020-21: Delano Thomas – Shawnee State University
- 2019-20: Colby Blaine – College of Idaho
- 2018-19: Chris Briggs – Georgetown College
- 2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University
- 2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College
- 2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-Alexandria
JUCO
- 2022-23: Rick Cabrera – Tallahassee Community College
- 2021-22: Greg Heiar – Northwest Florida State
- 2020-21: COVID Season – No winner selected
- 2019-20: Randy Casey – Milwaukee Area Technical College
- 2018-19: Billy Gillispie – Ranger College
- 2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College
- 2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College
- 2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College
USCAA
- 2018-19: LeShawn Hammett – Penn State Wilkes-Barre
