Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)
Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 3 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 3 winners are:
D1: David Ragland – Evansville University
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (6-0)
Past week’s results: 85-77 (OT) W vs Chattanooga, 93-74 W vs SEMO
Highlights: Ragland’s squad trailed previously unbeaten Chattanooga by 20 with just over 11 minutes left in their game on Friday before going on a 43-15 run to win in OT. With the win vs SEMO on Saturday, the Purple Aces improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 1964-65 undefeated D2 National Championship season. It’s also the first time since UE joined the Division I ranks in 1977 that they have been 6-0.
NCAA D2: Jordan Fee – Gannon University
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (5-0)
Past week’s results: 109-66 W vs Georgian Court, 97-93 W vs Lincoln (PA).
Highlights: Fee has led Gannon to quite a turnaround in year one. After taking over a program that went just 3-23 last season, Fee has the Golden Knights at 5-0 after capturing the Gary Miller Classic Championship this past weekend. Fee becomes the first coach in his first season at Gannon to take home the Gary Miller Classic championship trophy since Jerry Slocum in 1996. In this year’s championship game, Gannon trailed Lincoln (PA) by 6 with 3:34 left to play, before going on a 9-0 run to seal the deal. The 5-0 start is also the best start since Slocum started his first campaign with six straight wins. It is tied for the fourth-best start by a Golden Knight coach.
NCAA D3: Anthony Medina – University of St. Thomas (TX)
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (6-1)
Past week’s results: 68-58 W vs ETBU, 90-82 (OT) W vs #15 UMHB, 89-76 W vs McMurry
Highlights: With three more wins last week, St. Thomas (TX) has now increased their winning streak to six. After trailing at the half on Tuesday, Medina’s crew came back to beat East Texas Baptist 68-58. They then knocked off the 15th ranked NCAA D3 team in the nation Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday by outscoring them 13-5 in OT. St. Thomas closed out the undefeated week by knocking down 14 threes in their win vs McMurry on Sunday.
NAIA: Chase Teichmann – Florida College
Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (8-3)
Past week’s results: 85-84 W vs (RV) SAGU, 71-50 W vs (RV) Loyola (NO)
Highlights: An improbable buzzer beating three off an intentionally missed FT (see below) gave NAIA #25 Florida College an 85-84 win vs RV SAGU to open the week on Monday. In that game, FC trailed by 23 with 18:16 left, and were down 18 with 8:04 remaining. The next day, the Falcons held Loyola (NO) to just 31.6% shooting, and limited them to 50 points in a blowout victory. The Falcons are now on a 4-game winning streak.
JUCO: Hayden Sowers – South Plains College
Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (10-0)
Past week’s results: 9-61 W vs Ranger, 81-60 W v s Otero, 89-59 W vs Hill College
Highlights: Three blowout wins last week kept the NJCAA D1 #2 ranked Texans at a perfect 10-0 on the season. SPC shot 56.9% from the field in a 91-61 drubbing of Ranger College to start the week. They then headed to the Collin County Thanksgiving Classic where they won two games by an average of 25.5 points to keep their record unblemished. On the season, the Texans are averaging 87.8 points per game, and are shooting 53.2%.
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
NCAA DI: Ritchie McKay – Liberty University
NCAA DII: Mark Kuntz – Post University
NCAA DIII: Eric Bridgeland – University of Redlands
NAIA: Dannton Jackson – Talladega College
JUCO: Dillon Hargrove – National Park 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
