WEEK 4: HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions

Story: Adam Nelson (@HD_DirtKing)

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 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 4 winners are:

D1: Damon Stoudamire – Georgia Tech

Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (4-2)

Past week’s results: 67-59 W vs #21 Mississippi State, 72-68 W vs #7 Duke

Highlights: The Stoudamire era at Georgia Tech is off to a great start, as the Yellow Jackets are now 4-2 after an undefeated week vs two Top 25 opponents. Tech opened the week on Tuesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge vs Mississippi State. They led wire to wire to hand the Bulldogs their first loss of the season, which snapped a GT 2-game losing streak vs ranked opponents. Stoudamire’s squad then knocked off #7 Duke on Saturday, in a game in which they trailed by four with 2:22 left to play. Tech has now beaten ranked teams in back-to-back games for the first time since 2016-17 and downed a top-10 opponent for the first time since February of 2020.

NCAA D2: John Ellenwood – Ashland University

Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (6-0)

Past week’s results: 82-77 W vs Malone, 82-72 W at #25 Walsh

Highlights: Two second half come from behind conference wins last week for Ellenwood’s team have them off to a perfect 6-0 start to the season, and 2-0 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The 12th ranked Eagles allowed 12 straight points to Malone to start the second half on Thursday, but clawed back in the game and took the lead for good with ten minutes to go, holding on for a 82-77 conference opening win. On Saturday, Ashland again found them with a second half deficit, this time to #25 Walsh. The Eagles then out-scored the Cavaliers 44-24 in the final 16:24, to hand Walsh their first loss of the season, and remain undefeated in the G-MAC.  Ashland’s is now 6-0 to start a season for the first time since 2019-20.

NCAA D3: Brandon Linton – Tufts University

Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (8-0)

Past week’s results: 67-58 W vs #12 WPI, 75-71 W vs Clark, 79-64 W vs UMass Dartmouth

Highlights: Linton has the #23 Jumbo’s rolling, as they are off to an 8-0 start for the first time in program history (119 years). Tufts opened the week on Tuesday by beating previously undefeated #12 WPI on the road 67-58. Linton’s crew then handed another undefeated team their first loss of the season on Thursday, as the held Clark scoreless for the last 2:29 of the game to pull away with a 75-71 win. To wrap up the week on Saturday, the Jumbos went on the road and shot a season-best 59.3 percent from the floor which included 60 points in the paint to beat UMass Dartmouth 79-64.

NAIA: Matt O’Brien – Southwestern College

Weekly record (overall): 2-0 (9-0)

Past week’s results: 89-67 W vs Sterling, 79-67 W at #4 Oklahoma Wesleyan

Highlights: NAIA #11 Southwestern’s impressive start to the season continued last week with two more wins as the improve to 9-0 (4-0 KCAC). On Wednesday the Moundbuilders beat Sterling by 22, snapping the Warriors 6 game winning streak. Then Southwestern had a huge win on Saturday in a much anticipated match-up at #4 Oklahoma Wesleyan in a game that they went 15-31 (48.4% from 3). With that win, SC remains as the only undefeated team in KCAC play, and have won every game this season by double figures.

JUCO: Darren Stratton – Northern Essex CC

Weekly record (overall): 3-0 (11-0)

Past week’s results: 102-68 W vs Bristol, 88-71 W vs CCRI, 77-62 W vs MassBay

Highlights: With three more wins last week, the #2 NJCAA D3 team is now sitting at a perfect 11-0 (7-0 Region 21) on the season. The Knights opened the week at home by getting off to a fast start and led Bristol 60-34 at the half on the way to a 102-68 win. NECC traveled to CCRI on Thursday and took care of business with an 88-71 victory in what would be win #300 of Stratton’s career. Northern Essex finished the week with a 77-62 win over visiting MassBay. Dating back to last season, Stratton’s squad is 44-2, and have now won 40 out of their last 41 games.

2023-24 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners

Week 1

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

Week 2

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

Week 3

NCAA DI: David Ragland – Evansville University
NCAA DII: Jordan Fee – Gannon University
NCAA DIII: Anthony Medina – University of St. Thomas (TX)
NAIA: Chase Teichmann – Florida College
JUCO: Hayden Sowers – South Plains College

Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:

Division I

Division II

Division III

NAIA

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

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