By AJ Nelson, HoopDirt.com staff writer
Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 4 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 2019-20 college basketball season.
This is the fifth season that HoopDirt.com has run the Coach of the Week and Coach of the Year programs. The previous 2019-20 weekly winners, and a list of all-time COY winners can be found following this weeks honorees.
To nominate coaches for future weeks, please email [email protected] with your selection(s).
The Week 4 winners are:
NCAA DI: LaVall Jordan – Butler University
Already more than halfway to last year’s win total, Coach Jordan’s Bulldogs knocked off a pair of SEC foes this week. Butler defeated Ole Miss 67-58 on the road on Tuesday before returning home to take on Florida. A 76-62 Butler win moved the nation’s longest home non-conference winning streak to 56. The 18th ranked Bulldogs are now 9-0 on the season, with five wins coming against teams from power conferences. They will look to remain undefeated in another tough matchup tomorrow at No. 11 Baylor as part of the Big East – Big 12 Battle.
NCAA DII: Mike Donnelly – Florida Southern College
Coach Donnelly guided Florida Southern to two more wins this week, including a back and forth overtime thriller to move to 8-1 on the season. Coming off last Saturday’s victory over No. 7 Valdosta State, the Moccasins began the week with an 86-76 victory over Saint Leo on Wednesday. Riding a four game winning streak, Florida Southern faced off against Lindenwood on Saturday. In a game that featured 19 lead changes and 13 ties, the No. 22 Moccasins eventually came away with a 98-96 overtime victory in what was Coach Donnelly’s 75th win with the program. Florida Southern will look to win their sixth straight in a conference matchup with Lynn on Saturday.
NCAA DIII: Landry Kosmalski – Swarthmore College (NY)
Coach Kosmalski’s squad won two very different games this week to remain undefeated on the season. On Wednesday, the top-ranked Garnet trailed by two with 32 seconds remaining to Ursinus before two big defensive stops led to four unanswered points and an 88-86 Swarthmore triumph in regulation. There was far less excitement in Swarthmore’s next game, as they jumped out to a 17-2 lead and took a 95-63 victory over Gettysburg. The Garnet are now 8-0 on the season and take on Johns Hopkins in a conference showdown tomorrow night.
NAIA: Tae Norwood – Keiser University (FL)
In his first season at Keiser, Coach Norwood has guided the Seahawks to an eight game win streak that includes two conference victories this week. On Thursday, Keiser pulled away in the second half to take an 80-61 win over Thomas before a matchup with Coastal Georgia on Saturday. Another big second half propelled the Seahawks to a 90-77 victory and improved their record to 9-1 (4-0 TSC) on the season. Keiser will attempt to make it nine in a row when they face off against Florida National tomorrow night at home.
JUCO: Billy Gillispie – Ranger College (TX)
Coach Gillispie’s squad won four games in a five day span this week to remain unbeaten so far this season. Over the four games, Ranger outscored opponents by an average of 32 points per game and won every contest by at least 20, including a 104-49 victory on Tuesday. Ranked No. 1 in NJCAA DI, RC is 15-0 on the season and has had only one game decided by single digits. Now halfway through the regular season, the Rangers do not play again until December 31st.
2019-20 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Walter McCarty – University of Evansville
NCAA DII: Mark Downey – Northeastern State (OK)
NCAA DIII: Josh Merkel – Randolph-Macon College (VA)
NAIA: Kelly Wells – University of Pikeville (KY)
JUCO: Kyle Cooper – Western Texas College
NCAA DI: Tony Bennett – University of Virginia
NCAA DII: Tobin Anderson – St. Thomas Aquinas College (NY)
NCAA DIII: Bosko Djurickovic – Carthage College (WI)
NAIA: Stacy Hollowell – Loyola University (LA)
JUCO: Anthony Fletcher – Eastfield College (TX)
NCAA DI: Juwan Howard – University of Michigan
NCAA DII: Matt Healing – Pace University (NY)
NCAA DIII: Keith Bunkenburg – Benedictine University (IL)
NAIA: Todd Lorensen – Mount Marty College (SD)
JUCO: Cole Dewey – Otero Junior College (CO)
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
- 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
- 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
- 2008-19: 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
- 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
- 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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