Congratulations to the following coaches who have been selected as the Week 5 HoopDirt.com Coach of the Week presented by Just Play Solutions. The 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 2018-19 college basketball season.
Nominations for next week’s award can be emailed to: [email protected].
The Week 5 winners are:
NCAA DI: Rick Barnes – University of Tennessee
Coach Barnes’ Vols had a huge week, knocking off the #1 team in the country and winning an in-state rivalry match-up. Tennessee, ranked 7th in the country at the time, rallied late to defeat undefeated, top-ranked Gonzaga 76-73 last Sunday. This win launched the Vols to #3 overall as they headed into a tough road match-up against rival Memphis. They came away with a 102-92 victory, topping 100 points for the first time since 2016 and shooting an unbelievable 39-46 from the free throw line. Tennessee (8-1) is back in action on Wednesday at home against Samford.
NCAA DII: Scott Burrell – Southern Connecticut State University
Coach Burrell’s Southern Connecticut State squad stayed hot this week as they won their fourth straight game in thrilling fashion. Down 68-66 vs. Jefferson University late in the game, sophomore Ulyen Coleman knocked down a game-winning three as time expired to push the Owls to 6-5 on the season. The win marked the fifth in the Owls’ last six games and third straight on the road. Southern Connecticut returns home to face Concordia College (NY) on Wednesday.
NCAA DIII: Larry Anderson – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
After dropping their first game of the season, Coach Anderson’s Engineers have won ten straight, including two more victories this week. 8th ranked MIT defeated Rhode Island College 89-70 on the road before traveling to Bridgewater State and taking an 84-64 victory. The win marked MIT’s ninth in a row by double digits, and improved them to 10-1 on the season as they head into the break. Conference play begins on January 2nd as MIT takes on WPI at home.
NAIA: Stan Holt – Langston University (OK)
Undefeated #6 Langston University, led by Coach Holt, won three games this week and took down another top-25 opponent in a thrilling game. The Lions opened the week with a 108-88 victory on the road against Dallas Christian before knocking off Panhandle State 87-70 in a conference match-up. In their third game of the week, Langston faced off against #19 Wayland Baptist and trailed by as much as 15 before coming back to take a 72-69 win and move to 12-0 on the year – their best start under Coach Holt. The Lions are now off on break until January 3rd.
JUCO: Hank Plona – Indian Hills Community College (IA)
It was a milestone week for Coach Plona, as he picked up his 100th win at the helm of #18 Indian Hills CC, needing just 114 games to do so. Plona achieved the milestone in Tuesday night’s 94-83 defeat of Southwestern, becoming just the third coach in Indian Hills history to reach the 100-win mark. The Warriors proceeded to take down #14 Western Nebraska and Northern Oklahoma – Tonkawa to cap off the week. Indian Hills now sits at 11-3 on the season and will look to win their fifth straight on December 28th against Utah State Eastern.
USCAA: Patrick Crarey, II – Washington Adventist University (MD)
Coach Crarey’s Washington Adventist squad had a 3-0 week and won the Penn St. Beaver Holiday Tournament to improve to 8-5 on the season. The Shock first defeated St. Andrews 80-54 on Thursday before heading to the Penn St. Beaver Holiday Tournament. They took down the host 70-49 on Friday to advance to the championship game, where they came away with an 87-77 victory over Central Penn. Washington Adventist is currently ranked #3 overall in the USCAA DI poll, and will take on Simmons College (KY) next in the Pikeville Classic on Tuesday.
[Coach of the Week written and compiled by HoopDirt.com contributor AJ Nelson]
2018-19 HoopDirt.com / Just Play Solutions Coach of the Week Winners
NCAA DI: Bob Richey – Furman University
NCAA DII: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State University
NCAA DIII: Dale Wellman – Nebraska Wesleyan University
NAIA: Aaron Coombs – Oklahoma Pan Handle State University
JUCO: Anthony Figueroa – Parkland College (IL)
NCAA DI: Greg McDermott – Creighton University
NCAA DII: Stan Gouard – University of Indianapolis
NCAA DIII: Quintin Grogan – Johnson & Wales University Denver
NAIA: Mike Newell – Dillard University (LA)
JUCO: Craig Fletchall – Barton Community (KS)
NCAA DI: Eric Musselman – University of Nevada
NCAA DII: Jeff Price – Lynn University (FL)
NCAA DIII: Jimmy Smith – Millsaps College (MS)
NAIA: Rocky Lamar – MidAmerica Nazarene University (KS)
JUCO: Nkrumah Jones – Bunker Hill Community College (MA)
NCAA DI: Frank Haith – University of Tulsa
NCAA DII: Billy Taylor – Belmont Abbey College (NC)
NCAA DIII: Andrew Weber – Rockford University (IL)
NAIA: Mike McBride – Holy Cross College (IN)
JUCO: Mark White – Tallahassee Community College (FL)
Previous HoopDirt.com Coach of the Year Award Winners:
Division I
2017-18: Porter Moser – Loyola University Chicago
2016-17: Chris Collins – Northwestern University
2015-16: Roy Williams – University of North Carolina
Division II
2017-18: Andy Bronkema – Ferris State (MI)
2016-17: Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri State
2015-16: Josh Schertz – Lincoln Memorial University (TN)
Division III
2017-18: Eric Bridgeland – Whitman College (WA)
2016-17: Stephen Brennan – Babson College (MA)
2015-16: John Tauer – University of St. Thomas (MN)
NAIA
2017-18: Craig Doty – Graceland University (IA)
2016-17: Kevin Burton – Union College (KY)
2015-16: Larry Cordaro – LSU-AlexandriaN
JUCO
2017-18: Paul Cisek – Brookdale Community College (NJ)
2016-17: Todd Lorensen – Southwestern Community College (IA)
2015-16: Craig Doty – Rock Valley College (IL)
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