Story: AJ Nelson, Senior Staff Writer, HoopDirt.com
BOSTON, MA – The following college basketball coaches have been named recipients of the Week 3 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week Award, presented by Just Play Solutions. These coaches are now eligible for the HoopDirt.com National Coach of the Year Award, also presented by Just Play Solutions, which will be announced at the end of the 2025-26 college basketball season.
This season marks the eleventh year of the HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. This week’s winners are listed below, followed by all previous weekly honorees from earlier in the season.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The week 3 winners are:
NCAA D1: Jon Scheyer – Duke University
With victories over a couple of ranked opponents this past week, Coach Scheyer has Duke off to its best start since the 2017-18 campaign. The then-4th ranked Blue Devils kicked off the week with a home matchup against then-No. 15 Florida in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday. After Florida took a two point lead with under a minute to play, Duke sophomore Isaiah Evans drilled a three with 21 seconds remaining to propel the Blue Devils to a 67-66 victory. Duke’s schedule didn’t get any easier after the win, as they hit the road to take on then-No. 7 Michigan State in a Saturday afternoon showdown. The Blue Devils were able to come away with an impressive 66-60 win in a back-and-forth battle to improve to 11-0 on the season. As Duke had beaten No. 22 Arkansas in their last game of the previous week, the win over Michigan State marked just the 2nd time in program history that the Blue Devils beat three nationally ranked teams in a three game span in the regular season. They will look to keep it rolling when they host Lipscomb on Tuesday evening.
NCAA D2: Brent Owen – Lenoir-Rhyne University
A pair of hard-fought conference victories this week have Coach Owen’s Bears riding an eight game winning streak. Lenoir-Rhyne, coming off of its first win at Lincoln Memorial since 2010, opened its week with a 75-71 home victory over Catawba on Wednesday. Back in action on Saturday, the Bears amassed 20 offensive rebounds in a 95-87 win over Emory & Henry. Following two losses to ranked opponents to begin the season, Lenoir-Rhyne has now gone over a month without dropping a game. After receiving votes in the November 30 Top 25 Poll, the 8-2 (3-0 SAC) Bears will hope to have a number next to their name when they take on UVA Wise on the road on Saturday afternoon.
NCAA D3: Dean Burrows – Mississippi University for Women
Coach Burrows Owls picked up two impressive victories this week as they extended their winning streak to three. MUW began its week with a double-overtime thriller, defeating Spalding 83-80 in an instant classic that featured eight ties and 11 lead changes. Following the win, the Owls did not have much time to rest before taking on Greenville, whose unique, fast-paced style of play put them at second in the nation in scoring entering the matchup. MUW came out firing on all cylinders, setting program records for points (142), field goals made (57), assists (41), and blocked shots (10), in a 142-109 victory. The win pushed the Owls back up to .500 on the season (4-4, 2-1 SLIAC) as they head into a week off before traveling to take on Hendrix on Thursday, December 18.
NAIA: Frank Woodford – Benedictine University – Mesa
Coach Woodford’s squad remained perfect on the season as they picked up a pair of huge wins, including one over the No. 2 team in the nation. On Thursday, the Redhawks trailed Embry-Riddle (AZ) by 12 with under five minutes remaining before staging an incredible comeback and eventually taking a 71-70 victory. Benedictine was back in action on Saturday, playing host to second-ranked Arizona Christian, who entered the matchup at 10-1, with their lone loss coming to No. 3 Georgetown College. The Redhawks used a second-half surge to pull away and grab a 82-70 victory – the program’s first ever win over Arizona Christian. Now 12-0 (3-0 GSAC) on the season, Benedictine Mesa will take on Navajo Tech at home on Saturday afternoon.
JUCO: Bryan Bender – Ellsworth Community College
Fresh off of a week that saw Ellsworth Community College knock off the top-ranked team in the nation and take over the No. 1 spot in the NJCAA DII rankings, Coach Bender’s Panthers stayed hot, winning two more games to keep their perfect season intact. On Wednesday, Ellsworth successfully defended its No. 1 ranking for the first time, defeating Southwestern Community College 98-81. Returning to the floor on Saturday, the Panthers out-rebounded Madison College 54-30 en route to an 82-74 triumph. Now 12-0 on the season, Ellsworth will travel to take on North Iowa Area Community College on Wednesday night.
2025-26 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Tommy Lloyd – University of Arizona
NCAA DII: Andre Cook – St. Edward’s University
NCAA DIII: Ron Rose – Illinois Wesleyan University
NAIA: Taylor Jarvis – Missouri Baptist University
JUCO: Tae Norwood – Palm Beach State College
NCAA DI: Dusty May – University of Michigan
NCAA DII: Keffrey Fazio – Seattle Pacific University
NCAA DIII: Waleed Farid – New York University
NAIA: Tigh Compton – University of Pikeville
JUCO: Jerry Nichols – Walters State Community College
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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.
